In that moment it dawned on me that everything has to line up perfectly for something to turn out this awful.

If a big wave came at the wrong moment, it would sweep me off into forty-eight-degree water, where I might last twenty minutes. Drowning quickly might be better.

The things that happen on the sea take you beyond yourself, beyond human capability.

Going up the mast is one of the most dangerous things you can do as a solo sailor.

There are a number of places on marine charts where even the most weathered sailors point and say, "Right there, nothing can go wrong. Everything has to go right." One place is the turbulent passage south of Cape Horn. Another is the dead center of the Indian Ocean.

Fewer people have successfully solo-circumnavigated the globe than have journeyed into space.

I wanted to break the record, of course, and become the youngest person to sail around the world solo and unassisted.