Terror ripped through me as I was falling, falling, falling toward the sea.

Terror ripped through me as I was falling, falling, falling toward the sea.

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

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

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.

I will never forget the feeling of walking into my home, a place that while drifting helpless in the middle of the Indian Ocean I wondered if I would ever see again.