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.

Abby Sunderland

Categorized in : People Kids Decision

I am twelve thousand miles wiser, twelve thousand miles more resilient, and I have twelve thousand miles more faith in God.

Abby Sunderland

resilient twelve faith-in-god

I was so thankful that my parents trusted me enough and had enough faith in my abilities to let me follow my passion and try to do something great, even if I might fail.

Abby Sunderland

passion parent trying

On June 10, the worst storm in the series swept across the middle of the Indian Ocean and Wild Eyes was directly in its path.

Abby Sunderland

ocean june eye

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

Abby Sunderland

solo space people

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

Abby Sunderland

capability humans sea

The seriousness of my situation started to sink in, and again I fought panic. I pushed it down, but it was harder this time, like my insides were an open can of shaken soda and I was trying to keep it from bubbling up out of the top.

Abby Sunderland

panic soda trying

Wild Eyes was built for speed and I was flying down walls of water twenty and thirty feet high.

Abby Sunderland

wall eye feet

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

Abby Sunderland

records break world

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.

Abby Sunderland

wall blue looks

The open ocean often takes you past your physical limits and when it does, sailing becomes a mental game.

Abby Sunderland

ocean games past

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

Abby Sunderland

solo dangerous sailor

All the ingenuity, all the high-tech gear, all the jury-rigging sometimes the sea would rip it all away until there was only you, the Creator, and His mercy.

Abby Sunderland

rip gears sea

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

Abby Sunderland

terror sea fall

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.

Abby Sunderland

eight twenties water

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

Abby Sunderland

heavy physics sea

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.

Abby Sunderland

able would-be helping

One day that same year, I told my dad that someday, I would sail around the world alone.

Abby Sunderland

dad one-day years

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.

Abby Sunderland

eye running wind

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

Abby Sunderland

waiting trying world

When a sailor overcomes crushing adversity, there's a massive sense of accomplishment.

Abby Sunderland

crush adversity accomplishment