Dear Abby

Posted on July 12, 2010
Filed Under Column as I See 'Em, Media, Uncategorized, Weird. Wacky. Wild. | By Ashley Singh

Most kids hope for a car for their sixteenth birthdays. When Abby Sunderland turned sixteen, she dreamed of a different kind of freedom—Abby wanted to circumnavigate the world on her boat she adequately named Wild Eyes. Abby grew up around boats, her father being a shipwright and owner of a yacht management company. She is the second of seven children and has been sailing since she was six months old. She began single-handling when she was thirteen and hasn’t looked back since. It has been her mission since then to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world…solo, without stopping once on land.

Fueling her passion for her adventure is her brother Zac, who became the youngest person to solo circumnavigate the world in July 2009, sailing 27,500 nautical miles in 13 months. His record was soon broken when British teenager Mike Perham later did the same. Maybe under all that sibling rivalry is a little bit of feminism. Only one other girl has ever achieved the coveted title of youngest person ever to sail around the world; Australian Jessica Watson did it on May 21, 2010 non-stop and unassisted.

The quest to circumnavigate the world is one that has been held for centuries. Anyone who’s taken an American history course knows that it all started with the desire to discover the New World and to uncover what lay ahead. Of her mission, Abby says,

“I had begun to think that dreams are meant to be no more than dreams and that in reality dreams don’t come true. Then my brother (Zac) left on his trip. It was amazing to see all the support that he got from around the world and to see how everyone worked together to help make his dream reality. Watching him do this really made me believe that I could too.”

When Abby’s boat was in the Indian Ocean, it got struck by massive waves on June 10, where she was rescued two days later by a French fishing boat. The fishing boat took her to Reunion Island, where she was reunited with her brother Zac. Wild Eyes was lost to the unforgiving sea and while she is disappointed that she did not get to complete her adventure, she doesn’t regret a minute of it.  Says Sunderland:

“Any sailor that goes out to the water knows that being hit by a rogue wave is a risk, no matter where you are…That was a risk that I was willing to take…You can’t eliminate risk, you can do a lot to minimize it but it’s always there.”

Currently, Abby is settling into a normal life at home with her newest sibling, a baby brother named Paul-Charlie. What I admire most about Abby’s journey is that she was willing to take it. She knew the risks involved and she still had the courage to laugh in the face of danger. And even though she is not the youngest person to sail around the world, she doesn’t regret a moment of it. I used to think that her family was crazy for letting her go on such a trip, but now I really commend them for having so much faith in their daughter. Keep sailing, Abby!

Pic Via the BS report

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