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 SUNDERLANDOn 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 SUNDERLANDOn October 19, 2009, my sixteenth birthday, Wild Eyes officially became mine! Now it was really happening.
ABBY SUNDERLANDWhen I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear.
ABBY SUNDERLANDI 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 SUNDERLANDI 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 SUNDERLANDWild Eyes was built for speed and I was flying down walls of water twenty and thirty feet high.
ABBY SUNDERLANDFewer people have successfully solo-circumnavigated the globe than have journeyed into space.
ABBY SUNDERLANDThe winds were blowing from west to east, pushing Abby’s boat toward the rocks as Abby struggled with the autopilots below.
ABBY SUNDERLANDI wanted to break the record, of course, and become the youngest person to sail around the world solo and unassisted.
ABBY SUNDERLANDIf 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 SUNDERLANDThe things that happen on the sea take you beyond yourself, beyond human capability.
ABBY SUNDERLANDOne day that same year, I told my dad that someday, I would sail around the world alone.
ABBY SUNDERLANDI am twelve thousand miles wiser, twelve thousand miles more resilient, and I have twelve thousand miles more faith in God.
ABBY SUNDERLANDI’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 SUNDERLANDWhen a sailor overcomes crushing adversity, there’s a massive sense of accomplishment.
ABBY SUNDERLANDIn that moment it dawned on me that everything has to line up perfectly for something to turn out this awful.
ABBY SUNDERLAND