The swells were amazing! As big as three-story apartment buildings!
Abby Sunderland
Abby Sunderland
I knew that even
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
There are a number
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.
Abby Sunderland
The winds were blowing
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
On October 19, 2009,
On October 19, 2009, my sixteenth birthday, Wild Eyes officially became mine! Now it was really happening.
Abby Sunderland
One day that same
One day that same year, I told my dad that someday, I would sail around the world alone.
Abby Sunderland
All the ingenuity, all
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
Slowly, my brain let
Slowly, my brain let me in on the fact that I had just come this close to dying.
Abby Sunderland
When I saw the
When I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear.
Abby Sunderland
The terrifying physics of
The terrifying physics of going up-mast in heavy seas are inescapable.
Abby Sunderland