Home is the Sailor

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven't written in so long. As you can imagine, things have been pretty crazy over the past week or two. I would have posted more but on the second boat I was on, the Osiris, I was having some trouble with the email. This blog is going to be like a short novel, but I figured you guys wouldn't mind.

I'm back home now with no more plans to go anywhere too soon. Before I get going with all the happenings of the past weeks, I want to just let you all know how grateful I, and my whole family are for your support. It has really helped us recently. It's tough to be in the spot light of the media. While not all the media support me there have been a lot that have been kind and done a great job and I would just like to thank them for that. Things have already begun to calm down and before long there will be a new story for everyone to start following.

It feels weird to be sitting at home in the office writing a blog. It feels like years since I've been here, and only days since I was wedging myself into my chart desk seat with my lap top writing in about weather conditions, getting excited over big blows and complaining about calm weather and the cold.

Well, I'm not sure how long ago my last blog was

so Ill just go over it all. I spent about three days on the French fishing boat, Ile de la Reunion. It was a nice boat and there were a few people that spoke English pretty well. There wasn't much to do on board for an English speaking young girl, but all the crew were nice and I enjoyed my time while I was on board. We got to Kerguelen Island around 4 in the morning. It was still dark so I couldn't see the island but the Osiris was right by us. They lowered their dinghy into the water and came over to pick me up. Almost everyone spoke a little English, but no one quite as good as on board the Ile de la Reunion.

The first few days on board the weather wasn't all that great. We pounded along making painfully slow speed, but I didn't feel in a rush to get to land. Everybody on board was great. At first it was pretty cold and rough so pretty much everybody stayed down below. After awhile it started to get warmer out. We had a couple of BBQs on deck and brought out a bunch of lines and started playing around tying a bunch of knots and splicing lines, it was a lot of fun. The last few days were a lot like being back on the equator, plus 13 French men and a BBQ.

The rough weather didn't last long and soon it was dead calm out and we were racing along making up for lost time. All too soon, there was land out the window. I was excited to see it but at the same time not sure of what to expect. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be. There was a bit of media waiting at the dock when we pulled in. I was glad to have Zac and a few other members of my team there because even with the help of the police, it was hard to walk down the dock! We held a press conference there and it went really well. I hadn't spoken a long stream of English in so long that by the end of my statement I wasn't sure I wanted to stop talking! After that was all over we headed back to the hotel.

The next day we were going to try and go Hobie sailing, but almost everything is closed on the weekends in La Reunion. We did find one open place, and went jet skiing instead of sailing. It was fun, but a far cry from saili

ng. We got on a plane that night and got to Paris the next day. We had about a 4-6 hour layover there and decided that we should make the most of our time and go see the Eiffel Tower. We took a few trains to get there and got to spend about half an hour there and then took a few different trains to get back. It wasn't exactly leisurely site seeing, but it was fun, and now I have really been to Paris, not just through the airport.

We got back in time to hop on our next plane which would take us all back to LA. It felt strange to think that in 12 hours I would be home. It had taken me months to get where I was and only hours to get back. When we arrived in LA we learned that our flight details had been posted on the internet. Because there was so much media waiting and there were concerns about security, the authorities helped us avoid the main entrance. While I would have been happy to talk to the press, we were all relieved we wouldn't have to fight our way through a bunch of

cameras after such a tiring few days and long trip.

Back home there were a few people over; my team, a few friends and some of our neighbors. It was a nice homecoming - small, but nice. Eventually people started to leave, and I went to bed in my old bed. After a couple hours sleep Zac and I were up and on our way to the LA press conference. My mom had gone into labor earlier that morning and so she and my dad had to stay home.

The press conference there went just as well as in La Reunion, though when I was asked about the movie, Twilight, I was a little puzzled.... After the press conference there, we gave home a call to see

if we had a new brother yet. We did! Paul-Louis Charles Sunderland - big name for a little guy.

From the press conference there Zac and I went to the airport where we hopped on a plane to head to New York for the Today Show. We got there pretty late, got to sleep a few hours and then went in for the show. It was a lot of fun and we met lots of interesting people. All the people at NBC were really nice. Zac and I spent the day walking around New York which was quite a bit of fun, but by the end of the day I had a pretty bad cold and was ready to go back home.

The plane ride was somewhat miserable but at least it was short. We got home late but little Paul was awake. It was the first time Zac or I had seen the little guy. I couldnt touch him because I was sick, but I was able to view from a distance.

So, we're all back here now with no plans to go anywhere soon. Every time I leave the house Katherine gets a little worried and asks when I'll be home. Well, that's all for now. I'll be back soon with some pictures and more news.

Abby