Boats won't reach Abby Sunderland for almost two days, but brother is optimistic
Two boats are headed toward Abby Sunderland's vessel but won't be there for another 40 to 48 hours, said her brother Zac Sunderland, speaking briefly to reporters from the doorway of the family's Thousand Oaks house. At first light, the Australian Coast Guard also intends to fly over the area, he said.
The family remains optimistic that the 16-year-old is still alive because a beacon triggered when the boat sinks has not been set off.
Abby Sunderland sailed into a storm Thursday in the Southern Indian Ocean and lost contact with her family. She apparently activated emergency beacon locating devices on Thursday after losing contact over satellite phone with her family.
Zac Sunderland said his sister had three emergency beacons. Two are on the boat and one is on her life vest. Two of the beacons have been manually set off.
The third is a deep-water automatic beacon that is triggered by salt water and goes off when the boat has reached a depth of about 15 feet. That beacon has not gone off. The boat is built with water-tight compartments and his sister could be huddled safely in one of those, even if the vessel has capsized, Zac Sunderland said.
"It's weird not being able to help and being at a distance," Zac Sunderland said.
The family was huddled inside the house in a room equipped with a navigation station and computers. His parents were on the phone with the Coast Guard. Zac Sunderland was making calls to Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa, to start an emergency rescue effort from there. Zac Sunderland said he has a personal relationship with people there because he stopped there during his solo sail around the world when he was 17.
Two ships are about 400 miles – and two days – away from her location.
Los Angeles sector Coast Guard Lt. Ana Thorsson said Sunderland's emergency beacon signal was picked up by her agency in Northern California. Sunderland was about 2,000 miles southwest of Australia.
A voluntary international merchant ship rescue network, known as AMVER, is expected to join the search effort, Thorsson said.
While there may not be government rescue ships in the immediate vicinity, she said, "There's almost always merchant vessels out there."
-- Al Seib and Catherine Saillant in Thousand Oaks; My-Thuan Tran and Rich Connell in Los Angeles
Photo: Abby Sunderland and brother, Zac, share quality time in Ensenada, Mexico, before she helps sail Wild Eyes, background, to the United States to prepare the yacht for a solo-circumnavigation trip. Credit: Los Angeles Times|
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EDITOR'S PICKS:
I offer my rarely used prayers,and my sincere confidence that this young lady and her boat will be recovered safely.
Posted by: forest milbourn | June 10, 2010 at 06:33 PM
To all involved in the successful rescue of Amy Sunderland: May God be with you in your preparations for the recovery of this brave, devoted young lady...
Posted by: forest milbourn | June 10, 2010 at 06:37 PM
Boats??? I would think they'd send aircraft to help find her.
Posted by: rick | June 10, 2010 at 10:20 PM
Ohh Lord,
She was really Lucky...No Not Lucky...It was not just her time.
Nature was just an excuse, there where lot of other risks out there in the open sea.
Posted by: LeninRajendraSingh | August 06, 2010 at 10:12 AM