Abby Sunderland - Help save 'Wild Eyes' campaign

by Media Services on 14 Jun 2010 US solo sailor, Abby Sunderland is seeking public donations to save her crippled boat, 'Wild Eyes' from the Indian Ocean.

The family claims they can't afford to pay back the Australian Government for her $300,000 rescue, they have launched an appeal on Abby's blog site called 'Save Wild Eyes' which asks visitors to help raise the money necessary towards the cost of towing the stricken vessel from the Indian Ocean back to the nearest port.

According to the site, every dollar donated will be put towards the cost of the recovery.

The appeal has so far raised $2,460 from 75 members from the public, mostly from the US. Donations have also come in from Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand.

The site is also hosting a poll asking visitors if Wild Eyes should be saved and brought home to be reunited with Abby, with 61% of the 10,000 respondents saying yes and 39% saying no.

Abby's mother Marianne Sunderland, who is pregnant with the family's eighth child, said the family did not have the money to compensate Australian rescue officials, with the rescue costing $300,000, according to The Courier Mail.

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the Government would not seek reimbursement for the cost of Abby's rescue.

'That is not the way that the law works,' Mr Albanese told Channel 10's Meet the Press.

'If there was an Australian lost at sea, we would want the international laws on maritime to kick in and for every effort to be made to save that person.'