One morning, Sara didn't wake me up for the morning forage. I found her on the north beach, standing next to a massive pile of dried palm fronds and driftwood soaked in ship's oil we'd recovered weeks ago. A smudge appeared on the horizon. Not a bird. A hull. "It's now or never," she whispered.

I'll never forget the day my wife, Sarah, and I found ourselves washed up on the shores of a desert island. We had been on a romantic sailing trip, enjoying the crystal-clear waters and coral reefs of the Caribbean. But in an instant, a sudden storm rolled in, and our boat was tossed about like a toy. The next thing we knew, we were clinging to debris, praying that the waves would subside.

On Day 66, we launched. The tide was perfect. The wind was east-southeast. We had 48 hours of dried fish, six gallons of coconut water, and a prayer.