# Keep your fingers crossed for Abby Sunderland (16 y.o. lost on round-the-world sail attempt) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682 "2010-06-10T18:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/61 "2010-06-12T05:46:28Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I heard on the news tonight that they would scuttle the boat if they had to abandon it. It would be a danger to shipping if left floating. Huh. That sort of surprises me. How much of a danger to shipping would a 40 foot sailboat be in that latitude? From what I know about the boat though, it could float around for years. I doubt the boat Crazy Eyes would go down easily. Would such a boat have a way to just pull the plug and send it down? Perhaps just open the water tight doors and let nature take it down? Fire hoses from the rescue boat and flood it? Short of shooting it full of holes, how would you sink her? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/62 "2010-06-13T10:03:37Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Huh. That sort of surprises me. How much of a danger to shipping would a 40 foot sailboat be in that latitude? Down there, the only other boats around are fishing vessels who might not be much bigger than the 40’ sailboat. It’s (to my knowledge) not a commercial shipping lane so there’s no big’uns around, only fishers and other mad kids trying to break the world record circumnavigation shit. :rolleyes: IOW, an abandoned 40’ vessel might pose a BIG problem for others. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/63 "2019-01-03T09:31:39Z")
Updating this thread: > [@](#): > > Eight and a half years after it was abandoned in the middle of the Indian Ocean when 16-year-old solo sailor Abby Sunderland had to be rescued in rough seas, a yellow yacht named Wild Eyes has been found floating upside down off the coast of South Australia. > > The 40-foot yacht was encrusted with barnacles, the signature eyes on the hull scratched and faded. Its mast snapped off in the wild weather that forced Sunderland’s rescue midway through her world record attempt to be the youngest solo sailor to circumnavigate the globe in 2010… > > She said on Thursday that she was curious to see whether any of her video equipment, which was recording her journey, had survived. She had closed the hatch of the racing yacht before disembarking, which may have protected the inside. > > “It would be great to try and retrieve the boat but given the costs I don’t think that will happen,” she said. “I always knew the boat was high quality and very safe so it doesn’t really surprise me that it’s still floating.” > **[Teen's round-the-world yacht Wild Eyes found floating eight years after boat...](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/03/teens-round-the-world-yacht-wild-eyes-found-floating-eight-years-after-boat-abandoned)** > > Yacht spotted near Kangaroo Island off South Australian coast after being abandoned by 16-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland in 2010 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/64 "2019-01-03T16:54:41Z")
Thanks for the update. I find these kinds of things very fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/65 "2019-01-03T17:59:15Z")
Heh – > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Sunderland released a book about her ordeal on April 12, 2011. The book is co-written with Lynn Vincent and is titled **Unsinkable** : A Young Woman’s Courageous Battle on the High Seas. Bolding mine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682/66 "2019-01-03T19:24:57Z")
Was the boat abandoned because of the weather? I would think they would tow it to port. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-for-abby-sunderland-16-y-o-lost-on-round-the-world-sail-attempt/542682.md?page=3)