We've covered our share of teens making extreme-sports waves in this space, but none are holding headlines like Abby Sunderland. The 16-year-old Californian attempting a solo sail around the world got her boat good and torn up by a storm in the Indian Ocean last week (the delightfully dreadful word for this is "dismasted") and was rescued over the weekend. From the fishing boat that pulled her in, Sunderland got cute with her detractors on her personal blog:
There are plenty of things people can think of to blame for my situation; my age, the time of year and many more. The truth is, I was in a storm and you don't sail through the Indian Ocean without getting in at least one storm. [...] Storms are part of the deal when you set out to sail around the world.
As for age, since when does age create gigantic waves and storms?
Abby's safe and headed home, but her situation has only grown dicier. A growing chorus of haters suggests that the entire rescue episode was a ploy for a forthcoming reality show about the Sunderland family -- a show for which Abby's dad was drawing up paperwork shortly after she set sail, according to the New York Post.
Holly, 30, Aquarius. South Georgia, by way of the 213 and the cradle of the atomic bomb. I've been a stagehand, a bartender, a sketch writer, a video editor, a propagandist, a political intern, and a sportswriter. I 