WHO'S FOOTING THE BILL FOR HER "RESCUE" ?

What if deaths were occasioned by this selfish act?

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"16-year-old girl sailor rescued in Indian Ocean"

"French fishing boat reaches Californian who was trying to sail around
world"


By Thomas Watkins
Associated Press
June 12, 2010



THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - A French fishing vessel rescued a California
teenager Saturday from her crippled sailboat in the turbulent southern
Indian Ocean, bringing relief to her family but ending her around-the-
world sailing effort.

Laurence Sunderland, the father of 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, told
reporters outside his home that the Australian Maritime Safety
Authority had contacted him to confirm the rescue more than 2,000
miles from the western Australia coast. Her boat abandoned, she’ll
spend at least a week on a series of boats headed for Reunion Island
east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

“She got out of her vessel with the clothes on her back, and we are
just really excited and ecstatic that Abigail is in safe hands,� he
said. “She was in good spirits ... She talked to her mother.�
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“It was incredible to hear her and to hear she was still in good
spirits,� Mary Anne Sunderland said later on NBC’s “Today� show.

Sunderland has been stranded in heavy seas since Thursday, when she
set off a distress signal after the mast collapsed, knocking out her
satellite communications. The elder Sunderland said the family was not
going to elaborate on the problems that led to the emergency.

The Australian group said the French ship Ile De La Reunion brought
Sunderland on board from her stricken craft Saturday afternoon at the
site (about 2:45 a.m. PDT).


Video
Relief, criticism for parents of teen sailor
June 11: NBC’s George Lewis reports.

Nightly News

French authorities called it a “delicate operation� and at one point
the fishing boat’s captain fell into the ocean. “He was fished out in
difficult conditions� and is in good health, said a statement from the
French territory of Reunion Island. Laurence Sunderland said the crew
used its dinghy in the transfer.

He said her boat will now likely be sunk because of the difficulty
towing it a great distance.

Sunderland will leave the French fishing boat in about two days to
board a maritime patrol boat that will take her to Reunion Island,
according to a statement from the office of the French Indian Ocean
island’s top official. The transfer will take place off the Kerguelen
Islands, with the exact timing depending on weather and ocean
conditions.

The island’s Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue
said Sunderland likely would not arrive for at least a week.

Despite a lag in getting to see her, Laurence Sunderland said the
family is “just ecstatic that she is alive and well and survived the
ordeal.�

Sunderland set out from Los Angeles County’s Marina del Rey on Jan.
23, trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe
solo and nonstop.

Soon after starting her trip, Sunderland ran into equipment problems
and had to stop for repairs. She gave up the goal of setting the
record in April, but continued, hoping to complete the journey.

Zac Sunderland, her brother, held the record for a little more than a
month last year until Briton Mike Perham completed his own journey.
The record changed hands again last month, when 16-year-old Australian
Jessica Watson completed her own around-the-world voyage.

Image: Laurence Sunderland
Nick Ut / AP
Laurence Sunderland reacts to the news of his daughter Abby's
impending rescue at his home Friday in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Outside the family home early Saturday, news crews gathered to hear
word of the rescue from the family, which had been receiving updates
by telephone from Australian rescue officials. Eight pink balloons
were tethered to the white picket fence in front of the single-story
house and beneath them was placed a large, hand-painted sign that
read: “Thank God Abby’s alive.�

She had been keeping in contact with her parents through satellite
communications and had made several broken calls to her family in
Thousand Oaks, reporting her yacht was being tossed by 30-foot (9-
meter) waves — as tall as a 3-story building. An hour after her last
call ended Thursday, her emergency beacons began signaling.

Rescuers in a chartered jet flew from Perth on Australia’s west coast
and spotted Sunderland’s boat, Wild Eyes, on Thursday. She was able to
radio to the plane to say she was in good health and had plenty of
food supplies.

Her parents have come under criticism from some observers for allowing
the high-risk adventure.

Veteran sailors questioned the wisdom of sending a teenager off alone
in a small boat, knowing it would be tossed about for 30 or more hours
at a time by the giant waves that rake the Southern Hemisphere’s
oceans this time of year.

Her father defended the voyage.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/376508...ife/GT1/43001/