Teen sailor Abby Sunderland’s family was filming a reality show

We should have seen this coming.

The 16-year-old girl who got lost at sea while sailing around the world, Abby Sunderland, was filming a reality show. There were actually two reality shows in the works for the Sunderland family, Adventures in Sunderland, and Abby’s Journey, both being promoted on Magnetic Entertainment Studio’s website.

Abby’s father Laurence Sunderland admitted to Page Six that the family (which includes seven children and one on the way) was flat broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show about their children attempting daredevil feats and stunts.

Zac Sunderland, Abby’s older brother first set the record for youngest person to solo-circumnavigate the globe at age 17. That record was broken in 2008 by Michael Perham, a slightly younger 17-year-old. 16-year-old Abby was positioned to snatch back the record for the Sunderland family, even though an older 16-year-old from Australia, Jessica Watson, had set sail three months prior.

Jessica finished her circumnavigation, and was able to hold the record because of Abby’s troubles in the Indian sea. Her boat, Wild Eyes, got caught in a storm, and got knockedout of satellite-phone reception.