“In that moment it dawned on me that everything has to line up perfectly for something to turn out this awful.”

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

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.

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.

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.

When I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear.

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.

I had begun to think that dreams are meant to be no more than dreams and that in reality dreams don’t come true. Then my brother (Zac) left on his trip.

The winds were blowing from west to east, pushing Abby’s boat toward the rocks as Abby struggled with the autopilots below.

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.

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 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.

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

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

On October 19, 2009, my sixteenth birthday, Wild Eyes officially became mine! Now it was really happening.

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

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

Several thousand people had been locked up unjustly and, by an incredible coincidence, all in the same prison. On the other hand, they knew an awful lot about how to knife somebody.

I know I have an awful lot to learn from the people of Minnesota.

The legs that I have made are far more perfect than the ones nature would have given me – my mother’s side of the family have awful legs.

Abba’s last tour was a success but awful for me.

Yet it is awful to love a person who is a torture to you. And a fascinating person who loves you and won’t hear of anything but your loving him and living right by his side through all eternity!

When I was sectioned for six months, that was one of the worst experiences of my life, not being able to go out and have freedom. Having experienced it, it’s almost inexplicably awful.

The awful thing is that you can never be aware of what you are not aware of.

The difference between tragedy and comedy: Tragedy is something awful happening to somebody else, while comedy is something awful happening to somebody else.