Zac Sunderland is attempting to be the youngest person in history to sail around the world alone.
Though the goal is simple, achieving it is not.
Sailing around the world is one of the oldest and most difficult adventures of all time. Man has tested himself against this task for over 500 hundred years. Sailing around the world alone is akin to climbing Mount Everest, sledding across the Arctic, or canoeing the Nile River.. The difficulty and the danger cannot be underestimated. Out of all the billions and billions of people that live or have lived, more people have gone into space than have sailed alone around the world. Less than a handful of people have done it under the age of 20.
No one has accomplished this under the age of 18.Even in this day of modern gadgetry, there is still one simple truth: Zac must sail his boat around the world. He must spend weeks and weeks at sea. He must battle storms, pirates, illness, loneliness, hunger, and fear, to survive in the most hostile environment on the planet.
Zac is 17 years old, and he is growing up in Southern California. A year and a half ago, he had a dream to sail around the world. It would have been easy to dismiss such a far fetched fantasy, but Zac took his own money, earned like most kids from summer jobs, and bought a 36 foot sailboat. He named his boat Intrepid. His parents had hoped he would find something that would create a fire in him, a passion that would direct him away from all the negative and harmful influences that are so prevalent in our society, but even they were stunned by the scope of his dreams and desires.
Though they first questioned his dream, Zac was not to be deterred, and he worked endless 18 hour days preparing his boat.
His hard work and the seriousness which he approached the preparations caught people's attention and suddenly it seemed the whole nation was caught up in Zac's dream.
In this time of war and historic economic upheaval, here is one young man who has set his mind to a fantastical goal, and stands as a reminder that life is about going forward against great odds and winning. Zac's dream, a dream of adventure, discovery, and challenge, is one of the simple truths of being human. There is no agenda, no political motivation, just the simple desires of a young man to go exploring, to see new places and meet new people.
It is a simple testament to what is important, to working towards your goals. Most of all, with perseverance and faith in God, anything is possible.
For more about Zac please visit www.zacsunderland.com |
