It's not often you hear this in the middle of winter: "The bad news... I'm headed to Cabo san Lucas..."
That was the entry Saturday in Abby Sunderland's blog. The 16-year-old Thousand Oaks girl is attempting to sail around the world, but the voyage took a detour.
Abby had to stop in Cabo San Lucas during the weekend because of a power problem aboard her yacht, "Wild Eyes." On her blog Saturday, Sunderland wrote that she plans to stop on the tip of the Baja peninsula for a "new battery or two."
She wrote that the yacht's solar panels and wind generators are not supplying enough power.
Abby can still become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. She is attempting to break the record of 17-year-old Mike Perham of Britain, who also stopped on land during his solo cicumnavigation.
Perham broke the record held by Abby's brother, who sailed around the world last year.
"Don't start worrying, since I'm still north of the equator I won't have to give up on the non-stop attempt. I will be re-staring from Cabo as soon as I can," Abby wrote. "I was really upset about having to stop. I've hardly even started and I'm already heading in! I had finally gotten settled in, things were going somewhat smoothly and I was having fun. But I am glad that my team will be there waiting when I get in and I'll be back out here soon, hopefully with a few less problems."
Abby's route has her sailing along the western edge of South America, around Cape Horn and then across the Southern Ocean, considered for having some of the roughest seas in the world. The trip could take about six months.
