Teen Sailor Reunited With Brother on Dry Land

(June 26) -- The California 16-year-old whose failed attempt to sail solo around the world triggered an international rescue mission and fierce criticism of her parents arrived back on dry land today and was reunited with her older brother, a fellow sailing adventurer.

A French patrol boat brought Abby Sunderland ashore today on the French island of Reunion off the coast of east Africa. She was rescued June 12th by another French fishing boat 2,000 miles west of Australia, after her sailboat's mast snapped in a storm.

Sunderland's 17-year-old brother Zac flew to Reunion to meet her, climbing aboard the patrol boat and hugging Abby as she began to cry. Zac briefly held the record last year for the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world -- the same record Abby had been trying to break when disaster struck.

"I'm really disappointed that things didn't go as planned," Abby Sunderland told reporters. She left California in January. Her accident in the middle of the Indian Ocean "ended my trip but it didn't end my dream," she said. Her comments were carried by several news agencies.

But Sunderland avoided answering reporters' questions about whether she would attempt another circumnavigation of the globe anytime soon.

She thanked everyone who helped rescue her, and said she was aware of "the public debate about the cost of rescues."
At one point, Australian rescuers chartered a Qantas airliner to scan the Indian Ocean to find her. Several commercial fishing boats also diverted from their charted courses to help ferry her to safety, at a total cost of about $500,000.

"I know that the USA would do the same for a citizen of any other country as these countries did for me," she said.

The teen also addressed criticism of her family, calling it "ungrounded." Sunderland's parents have been criticized for allowing their young daughter -- and son, last year -- to attempt such a dangerous trip alone. They were also accused of exploiting their children after rumors surfaced that they had signed a contract for a reality TV show.

"They have put up with a ton of stuff to help me follow my dream," she said.

Sunderland's father is shipwright who runs a yacht management company in California. He and Sunderland's mother stayed home in their town of Thousand Oaks, because they are soon expecting their eighth child.

"I am absolutely totally over the moon with how quickly the plane and boat reached Abigail," Sunderland's father Laurence told The Associated Press by telephone. "I think the guys did a fantastic job with the rescue and we are so grateful to them."

Meanwhile his 16-year-old daughter told reporters today that she's hoping to write a book about her journey.
"The past few months have been the best of my life," she said. "I was on an adventure. You can only plan so far."