The 16-year-old girl who attempted to sail solo around the world returned Tuesday to the port from which she launched her voyage five months ago.
Abby Sunderland flew home to Southern California Monday night. She spoke with reporters Tuesday at a hotel in Marina del Rey, the same port from which she set sail in the 40-foot boat Wild Eyes on Jan. 23.
"My trip didn't end because of something I did wrong or because of something anybody did wrong," she said. "I can't really say if I'd do anything differently.
"You can only plan so far on an adventure."
The voyage ended halfway through her journey earlier this month when a rogue wave in the Indian Ocean snapped her mast. After three days adrift, she was rescued by a fishing boat and taken to the French island of Reunion.
Sunderland said she wasn't frightened.
"I was prepared," she said Tuesday. "I knew what to do in case of that problem. Because of that, I felt comfortable out there."
Sunderland's next adventure: driving lessons.
"From here on out, I'm just going to be focussing on school, a driver's license and all that," Sunderland said.
Before leaving Reunion, Sunderland told reporters the wave "ended my trip but it didn't end my dream." She still hopes to sail around the world someday, just as her 18-year-old brother, Zac, did last year.
Since her voyage went awry, Sunderland's parents have come under relentless criticism for letting their teenage children attempt such dangerous voyages. Abby Sunderland has defended them, saying she was as experienced as most any older sailor and, like them, knew the risks involved.
"I've been preparing for this trip long before I even bought a boat," Sunderland said.
When her brother completed his voyage last year he was the youngest person to do so. His record has been broken twice since then, most recently by a 16-year-old Australian girl.
When she left port last January, Abby Sunderland hoped to return with the record. She had to abandon that plan when her boat developed problems and she had to pull into port in South Africa for repairs. Sunderland, who has been sailing since she was a toddler, decided to continue the journey, however, simply to realize her dream of circling the world.
That ended when she was caught in a storm in the Indian Ocean that battered her boat with waves as high as 3-story buildings. She had to give the vessel up to the sea when she was rescued.
