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… — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
I'm one-hundred-fifty miles off Cape Horn, both autopilots are broken, and my boat is drifting toward one of the nastiest chunks of ocean on the face of the earth. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
The terrifying physics of going up-mast in heavy seas are inescapable. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
But none of that kept me from picturing what a tsunami might look like if it did rise up and roar toward my little… — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
Going up the mast is one of the most dangerous things you can do as a solo sailor. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
The seriousness of my situation started to sink in, and again I fought panic. I pushed it down, but it was harder this time,… — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
When I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
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… — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
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… — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
One day that same year, I told my dad that someday, I would sail around the world alone. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
When a sailor overcomes crushing adversity, there's a massive sense of accomplishment. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
Terror ripped through me as I was falling, falling, falling toward the sea. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
I wanted to break the record, of course, and become the youngest person to sail around the world solo and unassisted. — Abby Sunderland Copy Share Image
