Following almost a full day in which the loved ones of Abby Sunderland feared this 16-year sailor was lost at sea, a search plane made contact with Sutherland last week and assured the world:
Abby is alive and well.
Reports indicate a giant wave knocked Abby unconscious for a short period of time on Thursday before she recovered and activiated a pair of emergency satellite beacons. Since then, a French fishing vessel has scooped up Sunderland and rescued her from the harsh conditions of the Indian Ocean.
Aboard this new boat, Sunderland found time to update her blog and wrote:
"As you probably already know I had a pretty rough couple of days. The long and short of it is one long wave, and one short mast (short meaning a two-inch stub).... I just wanted to let everyone know I am safe and sound on a great big fishing boat headed I am not exactly sure where."
Abby has spoken to her parents and the family is trying to figure out the most logistical way of getting her home to California.
In her blog entry, the teenager - who was attempting to become the youngest person to ever navigate the globe on a solo sail - also addressed critics who believed she was too young to take on such an adventure.
"The truth is, I was in a storm and you don't sail through the Indian Ocean without getting in at least one storm," she wrote. "Storms are part of the deal when [you] set out to sail around the world alone.
"Since when does age create gigantic waves and storms?"
You tell us, readers: Should Abby Sunderland ever have been on the ocean by herself in the first place?
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