Sailor Abby Sunderland has been found, alive and well, by a spotter jet over the Indian Ocean.
Her sailboat, Wild Eyes, was damaged by 30-foot waves that snapped off the mast and cut off communications, but the teen is reported to be in “good spirits.”
The 16-year-old junior from Thousand Oaks, California, activated two emergency beacons early Thursday morning.
Communication was cut off for 20 hours before she was spotted by the chartered Qantas Airbus plane about 2,300 miles west of Australia.
The searchers were able to make radio contact and a French fishing boat is expected to reach her within the next day.
Previously: Travel News: Teen Sailor Abby Sunderland Missing
Sunderland’s parents, Laurence and Marianne, posted the following on their daughter’s blog: “We have just heard from the Australian Search and Rescue. The plane arrived on the scene moments ago. Wild Eyes is upright but her rigging is down. The weather conditions are abating. Radio communication was made and Abby reports that she is fine!”
The teen, whose whose older brother Zac sailed around the world solo last year at age 16, set sail in January attempting to be the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe, nonstop and alone. Her goal was thwarted when she had to stop in Cape Town, South Africa, to get repairs on the boat’s autopilot.
Sixteen-year-old Australian Jessica Watson claimed the title in May.
By Sarika Chawla for PeterGreenberg.com.
Related links: Los Angeles Times, ABC News, Perth Now, Abby’s Blog: SoloRound.Blogspot.com
Related links on PeterGreenberg.com:
