Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that Youth Care would lock me up. It was all a frightening and traumatic experience. So often, these terrible memories come to me. I can't ignore them.

I'm still not used to the idea of being the youngest circumnavigator.

At sea, I feel comfortable and I come to rest.

I love my parents. But they have their life, and I have mine.

I am a family person; we are a big family, and I need my friends around me.

There's nothing glorious about war. There's nothing glorious about holding your friends in your arms and watching them die. There's nothing glorious about having to leave your home for 6 to 8 months while your family's back here and you're away.

We would not have been a successful family without my father and stepfather, who were working-class men with better dreams for their children. We just wore them out.

For when a child is born the mother also is born again.