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.

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

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

The swells were amazing! As big as three-story apartment buildings!

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

I knew that even if I was able to call for help, I was in a place so remote that it wasn't likely there would be anyone who could help me. And even if there were, it could take weeks.