Newest danger for Zac Sunderland comes from shore *

Remember Zac Sunderland, the 16-year-old sailor from Thousand Oaks who's on a solo trip around the world? We last saw him in the Marshall Islands, eating pig blood stew with some new friends.

Zac, who has sailed on to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, is feeling a bit unsafe right now, and it's not because of dangerous seas. Pete Thomas, who's been following Zac's quest to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe, has this update:

Sunderland, 16, who departed from Marina del Rey in June, was headed toward Darwin, Australia. He made the unplanned stop [in Port Moresby] because of engine problems he is still trying to sort out. Fortunately, he was taken under the wing of Americans working in the city, and became a guest of the posh yacht club.

Zac’s only reference to danger in his blog is this passage:

“There has been a lot of concern over safety in Port Moresby (POM). As I looked out of my cockpit I saw an armed guard standing in a guard tower overlooking the marina. Another armed guard was pacing back and forth across the breakwater outside the marina. I learned 2 things; POM definitely is a dangerous place and also that I would be safe where I was. The security at the Yacht Club is pretty elaborate. It has the feel of a military compound.”

Sunderland tried sailing out Wednesday but...

The rest of the post is here, in our outdoors blog, Outposts. 

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo Ringo H.W. Chiu / For the Los Angeles Times

* A previous version of this post referred to the Seychelles, when Zac was actually in the Marshall Islands. Thank you to reader Julia Stick for pointing out my mistake.