An Australian rescue crew in a Quantas airlines Airbus 330 spotted her boat upright late Thursday evening, family friend William Bennett told media gathered at the family home in Thousand Oaks. Rescue crews, who made contact with Abby via radio, told the family she was alive and well, he said.
"The family is overjoyed," Bennett said.
Planes, boats and prayers from around the world headed toward Sunderland and her rescue beacon bobbing in the rough seas of the Indian Ocean on Thursday.
An international rescue operation was launched to find the 16-year-old Thousand Oaks teen, who was about halfway through her quest to become the youngest person to sail around the world when something went seriously wrong Thursday morning.
The passenger plane was dispatched from Australia at first light after her satellite phone stopped working. Shortly after she lost communication, she deployed two rescue beacons calling for help, which means she or her boat are badly hurt, said Jeff Casher, one of Abby's support crew.
"She set this off not because she lost communication but because something is wrong," he said.
When rescuers found the 40-foot sailboat Wild Eyes its mast was broken.
Casher said either a French fishing boat that was speeding across the ocean or a military vessel should be able to reach her within 24 hours. She told rescuers she had a space heater and about two weeks worth of food.
She is about 2,000 miles west of Australia.
At the Blessed Hope Chapel in Simi Valley, where the Sunderland family have been longtime members, friends gathered late Thursday night for a prayer service. Word she had been found reached them via text message after 11 p.m. and Pastor Joe Schimmel raised his hands in jubilation. He then called her family.
"The boat's upright. She's fine," he told those who had gathered to pray for her.
Before the service started Tom Witt of Thousand Oaks, there with his 16-year-old daughter, Audrey, who grew up with Abby, said he went to the Sunderland home earlier in the day when he got the news. "She's an incredibly brave young lady and I hope she is OK. Our thoughts and prayers were with her and her family throughout the day," he said.
Lenny Breton, who was adjusting sound equipment in preparation for the service, said like other members of the 300-plus member congregation, he was notified by e-mail of the situation. "As with a lot of members, I'm here because there is power in prayer," he said.
As the 10 p.m. service began, the pastor reminded everyone that God is in control. "We just know that Abby is in his hands and nobody can snatch her from his hands," the pastor said.
Casher speculated earlier in the day that one of three things likely happened that caused Abby to call for help. As she detailed on her blog, the seas had been particularly tough over the past few days. Her boat listed into the water several times and winds reached 60 knots.
Casher said her keel or mast may have been damaged or broken off, or Abby could have been injured to the point where she couldn't sail when the boat tipped over. Even if the boat is tipped completely over, it will be able to float, he said.
Earlier in the day, her brother Zac -- who himself sailed around the world solo and briefly held a record as the youngest person to do so nonstop -- said Abby has the sailing prowess and mental toughness to weather the problems.
Abby manually deployed two beacons, one that was on the boat and the other that was attached to her and they both are close together, meaning she is likely still with the boat. A third beacon, which goes off automatically when submerged, was not deployed, meaning the boat is likely floating.
The beacons show the boat moving about 1 mile an hour, which means it is coasting, not sailing, Casher said. Her boat has moved about 12 miles since the beacon went off.
The ocean temperatures are about 55 degrees, but Abby has the survival gear to withstand the cold, he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard doesn't have any boats nearby but is assisting by using software that could help track the boat by looking at ocean conditions.
Abby has been writing about her journey on her blog and noted how the weather had turned nasty recently.
"The weather looks like it could pick up a lot in the next few days," she wrote in a Monday post titled 'Update from the Middle of the Indian Ocean.' "I could have winds up to 60 knots, so I'm getting things all tied down and ready for some big winds."
On Wednesday, she wrote under "A rough few days," "The wind is beginning to pick up. It is back up to 20 knots and I am expecting that by midnight tonight I could have 35-50 knots with gusts to 60 so I am off to sleep before it really picks up."
Abby and Casher had spoken early Thursday morning as they worked to fix her engine that had gone out during the storms. Numerous times in the adventure the two had "Apollo 13" moments, where they figured out how to fix the boat with limited supplies. Once she got the engine fixed, "she perked right up to her same old self," he said.
They lost connection shortly thereafter and he called back about 15 times until there was no longer a signal on Abby's end.
At a news conference Thursday, Zac, 18, declined to address the criticism of some who questioned his parents' decision to allow their children to undertake a dangerous voyage.
Zac had his own drama on his journey, including outrunning pirates. Although he did set a record, about two months after he was finished, a 17-year old Brit bested his feat.
Abby set sail from Marina del Rey in January in hopes of making her own history as the youngest person to sail around the world nonstop.
But in April, she had to stop in Capetown, South Africa, for repairs, which effectively ended her nonstop goal. She was still trying to do the trip as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe.
Casher said that while Abby is sometimes shy on land, she is free and happy at sea.
"She perks up anytime she can drive that boat," he said. "She's in her zone."
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