The winds were blowing from west to east, pushing Abby's boat toward the rocks as Abby struggled with the autopilots below. If Wild Eyes reached those islands, she wouldn't run aground, keel in the sand. She would be smashed into pieces.

I will definitely attempt to sail around the world again. In fact, I can't wait for the chance to try again.

It seems like people my age are over-protected today, even to the point where a lot of parents refuse to put their kids in the position to make important decisions, to aspire to great things, because they don't want to put them in a position to fail.

But none of that kept me from picturing what a tsunami might look like if it did rise up and roar toward my little boat like some watery blue version of the Great Wall of China.

The terrifying physics of going up-mast in heavy seas are inescapable.

Being at sea is like watching the whole world in high-definition.

Slowly, my brain let me in on the fact that I had just come this close to dying.