Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Jessica

Outstanding!

We are out at the Holy City, installing the Webcam, and just got connected. Much anxiety.

A message posted on Jessica's blog.

Thank goodness for answered prayers!

Abby has posted again, this time from the French fishing vessel Ile-de-la-Reunion

"I have started writing. At first I decided that I wasn't going to write a book. But then I started to think about all the good times Wild Eyes and I have had together. All that's left of the voyage of Wild Eyes are my memories, eventually they will get fuzzy and I won't remember all the details. I don't want that to happen. Wild Eyes and my trip have been the best thing I have ever done or been through and I don't ever want to forget all the great times we have had together, or the bad ones for that matter."

"The story of Wild Eyes is over, but my story is still going. I'm still out on the ocean headed to a little island called Kerguelen and then will be on another boat for ten days up to an island near Madagascar. From there I will eventually make it home."

Check the last item under Popular Culture in the Kerguelen wiki! And yes, I've read some of the books.

Sunderland "reality" show preplanned before Abby's misadventure
13 June 2010

Sunderland "reality" show was preplanned before Abby's misadventure: Adventures in Sunderland (Reality TV Show) Distribution Rights: Magnetic Entertainment Exec Producer: Magnetic Entertainment "A family oriented Adventure show, based on the Sunderland Family of Thousand Oaks, CA. We follow the family in their day-to-day lives as shipbuilder Laurence Sunderland and mother/teacher Marianne try to balance work and family."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/sail_kid_parents_set_cour_for_tv_crGRuKCVBcBCM5v3s23ULK


I heard she was never even in the balloon, I mean boat.

Ken provides yet another dose of reality.

Long before Abby Sunderland set sail on her around-the-world attempt in January, Sunderland was approached by Magnetic Entertainment about the possibility of a reality show, he said. His wife, Marianne, was against it, he said, but they eventually agreed a show focusing on "inspiring kids doing inspirational things" was a story that needed to be told.

Sunderland's son, Zac, became the youngest person to sail around the world at age 17.

Magnetic did some initial filming but could not sell the show, said Sunderland, a shipbuilder. He also had a falling out with the partners over the angle they wanted to take, he said.

"They were assuming Abigail was going to die out there," he said. "They were relying on her dying, and so we cut the ties."

==============
Oh, after it's over, he cuts the ties.......

Nothing parents do with/to their kids - and I mean nothing - surprises me any longer. Maybe I'm just jaded and cynical about the overall quality of parenting nowdays - or lack thereof - but it seems that the entertainment industry is in perpetual collusion with Crappy Parents 'R Us to see who can be the most irresponsible with their children.

Actually the Sunderlands are really good people. I have met the dad and have patients who know them well in the sailing community. Abby posted that there is no reality show going forward. Laurence really loves his kids and has encouraged them to be adventurers. Nothing wrong with that IMO. Beats sitting around doing drugs drinking or watching TV. I wouldn't be too harsh on them. I hope someone gives them a million dollars to tell the kids stories. Real life adventures and not Hollywood reality crap.

It is really difficult to sort through all of the media interviews, releases, commentary...and possibly sour grapes due to deals gone south, so I have been pretty much ignoring it. However, I do have one question that has been nagging for a bit: Why did they push forward with the trip, even though the window was nearly closed for the "traditional" departure months for such a trip? (Nov-Dec)When addressed, the query is mostly waved off as "you can get bad weather at any time". This is true (as we see in our glorious mountains) however, logic would dictate that seasonal influences would definitely be against you, much like there being more of a chance of a thuderstorm in July than there would be in October, when one hikes Whitney.If the trip was for accomplishment, adventure, and self-reliance, would a nine-month delay matter that much? I can only conclude that perhaps prudence was set aside for a shot at the age record.

The official report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau states that Jessica & the bulk carrier Silver Yang were equally responsible for their collision.

Team Abby has posted some answers to criticism.

Here is an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald about extreme kids.

An 11-year-old bullfighter!

From Abby's blog (although signed by Abby, written by her mother):

"TOO FAR SOUTH AND TOO LATE IN THE YEAR

We have removed the previous comments here from Abby's meteorologist/router as the comments in it were from a personal email between us and not meant for public viewing. We apologize for the major inconvenience this has caused. Abby's parents take FULL responsibility for Abby's sailing strategy and in no way blame, nor should anyone else, the team that was behind her."

So apparently even her parents did not trust Abby's ability to create and execute a sailing strategy. Sort of like the coach who calls in the plays for the team on every down, because the quarterback doesn't know how.

In hindsight, Ken, that was a good call.

For some reason she was unable to use a wind-powered autopilot, which ran up an energy deficit. That required nearly 2 weeks at Cabo for more batteries & fuel. Above a certain windspeed the hydraulic system went on standby & she needed to stay up & hand-steer. And then she hit the early Southern Winter. I don't know this, but she was probably down below desperately trying to get some juice for the system when the wave hit & everything came tumbling down.

Here is a picture of Abby leaving the fishing boat at the Kerguelen Islands.

Abby's blog has a family post signed:

Laurence & Marianne Sunderland.

"We will continue to update our blog with Abby's progress and in due course Abby will be available to tell her story."

Jessica's blog now has an entry (under Latest News) which is pretty much an advertisement for the book True Spirit.

New post on Abby's blog, she is expected on Reunion Island June 24-25th, will be on her way home soon after.

Time magazine chimes in the the adventure/age equation.
This article was sent to me. Written by a sailor, it has a different point of view.