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Calif. teen sailor thought rescue might take weeks

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The California teenager who was plucked from her disabled sailboat in the turbulent southern Indian Ocean said Sunday she is in awe of the effort to rescue her and thought it might take much longer before she was saved.

Writing on her blog, Abby Sunderland said she had only hoped for a ship to pass her by within a few weeks.

Instead, a coordinated international response was launched to find the 16-year-old. A French fishing vessel rescued her more than 2,000 miles west of Australia on Saturday, three days after she set off her emergency beacons.

"Everyone on board has been really friendly," she wrote. "They have come a long way out of their way to help me and I am so thankful that they did."

Sunderland's boat, Wild Eyes, was disabled when a wave smashed down its mast and knocked out her satellite communications.

She set out from Marina del Rey on the Los Angeles County coast on Jan. 23, trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo and nonstop

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Rescuers in a chartered jet flew from Australia's west coast and spotted Sunderland's boat on Thursday. She was able to radio to the plane to say she was in good health and had plenty of food supplies.

Sunderland spoke with her parents for about 20 minutes after her rescue Saturday

"She sounded tired, a little bit small in her voice, but she was able to make jokes and she was looking forward to getting some sleep," her mother, Marianne Sunderland, told reporters outside the family home northwest of Los Angeles.

Sunderland will leave the French fishing boat in about two days to board a maritime patrol boat that will take her to Reunion Island, according to a statement from the office of the French Indian Ocean island's top official. The transfer will take place off the Kerguelen Islands, with the exact timing depending on weather and ocean conditions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_re_us/lost_sailor_found
 
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