The moment the ship left the river and went into the sea my troubles started. There was strong wind and the sea was rough. A storm was approaching. I was very frightened and felt seasick. I began to regret my decision to leave home. I thought every wave was going to sink the ship. I promised myself I would go home and apologize to my parents as soon as I stepped on dry land again.

The storm was over by the morning. I was still seasick during the day and I was thinking about the terrible storm. The evening, however, was very beautiful and the sea was very peaceful. I thought that was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen.

That night I slept well and I was no longer seasick. One of the sailors came to me and we started talking. He asked me what I thought of the light wind last night. I told him I was very scared of the storm and he offered me a drink called punch. I got drunk and forgot how scared I had been. I also forgot my decision to go back home. Instead I was dreaming about more travels by sea.

The next few days the wind was blowing against us and we couldn’t move much. A week later the wind increased and we decided to set off. The very next day there was a great storm. I was terrified and this time I could see that the other sailors were also very scared. The captain was walking in and out of his cabin. He was quietly saying prayers.

I was so scared I couldn’t do anything else but lie in my bed and hope we would survive. When I heard the captain talk to himself I got up and looked out the window of my cabin. The waves were as tall as mountains. I saw other ships which looked like toys. The waves were moving them around violently. Our sailors cried out that a ship had sunk in front of us. I was terribly afraid and regretted that I hadn’t gone home after the first light storm.

The storm was getting worse and now all the sailors were praying we would survive. Suddenly someone shouted that there was a leak in the ship and water was coming in. Everyone was called down to pump the water out. I was paralyzed with fear, and I couldn’t get out of my bed. Then the men came and told me to go down and help, so I went. I was pumping out the water when the captain ordered someone to shoot a fire gun. It was a signal that we were in danger. I thought we were sinking, because the ship was broken. I thought we were all going to drown. I fainted with fear. It was only hours later that I regained my senses.