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  • (water splashing) 2

  • 34 year old Victoria Murden 3

  • of Louisville, Kentucky embodies an all-American 4

  • spirit of adventure, but with her video camera rolling, 5

  • her quest to push the limits 6

  • of her own endurance nearly killed her. 7

  • I've been thirsty and I've been hungry 8

  • and God knows I'm scared. 9

  • Normally, Tori is accustomed 10

  • to racing on calmer waters. 11

  • But in October 1997, she was approached by Sector, 12

  • an Italian company known for 13

  • its extreme, no-limits competition. 14

  • (air horn blares) 15

  • The challenge, to be the first woman 16

  • to row solo across an ocean. 17

  • The proposition was intimidating, 18

  • to row the North Atlantic going west to east 19

  • is no cake walk. 20

  • (air horn blares) 21

  • On June 14th, Tori Murden took 22

  • the first strokes in a 3,600 mile odyssey 23

  • from North Carolina to France 24

  • aboard a 23-foot boat she named "The American Pearl". 25

  • I knew that, okay, in the next three months, 26

  • it's just me in this boat on this wide, wide piece of water. 27

  • That is my dessert for the evening. 28

  • Tori packed 120 freeze-dried meals 29

  • and a solar-powered desalinator provided fresh water. 30

  • At the end of 58 days, Tori had rowed 31

  • more than halfway across the Atlantic. 32

  • But of all the obstacles she faced, 33

  • none proved more menacing than the fury of the sea. 34

  • (crashing) 35

  • And I'd been through some pretty heavy storms 36

  • and capsized three times. 37

  • You'll have to take my word for it, these waves 38

  • are just a little too big. 39

  • When Tori did capsize, "The American Pearl" 40

  • was designed to right itself and though terrified, 41

  • her water-proof cabin kept her safe. 42

  • A big wave would come over the top 43

  • and it would spin the boat. 44

  • And I'd be upside down for a couple of seconds 45

  • and the boat would rock and then it would 46

  • eventually roll back upright. 47

  • I'm outside and I'm alive! 48

  • For inspiration, Tori kept 49

  • a piece of home close by. 50

  • That little flag on that boat took such a beating 51

  • and it was so comforting to look out on deck 52

  • in the morning and see that flag still there. 53

  • But the weather steadily worsened 54

  • and while we breathed a sign of relief 55

  • as Hurricane Danielle passed by the East Coast, 56

  • on September 5th, Tori was brutally engulfed by the storm. 57

  • 6:30 a.m., I'm definitely in something 58

  • big and bad and ugly. 59

  • 30-foot waves slammed into Tori's boat, 60

  • tossing her like a ragdoll. 61

  • (squeaking) 62

  • Smash into the boat and there would be this chaos 63

  • that would ensue of the boat turning 64

  • and things flying around the cabin. 65

  • (crashing) 66

  • Last capsize, I took the rib off the top 67

  • of my ceiling with my back. 68

  • I was absolutely sure that i was not going 69

  • to live through the storm. 70

  • I was absolutely convinced that my life was over. 71

  • I mean I'm gonna live or I'm gonna die 72

  • on the whim of nature. 73

  • And that's it, huh? 74

  • Frightened, Tori uttered 75

  • what she thought may have been her last words. 76

  • Go ahead and chase your dreams. 77

  • I mean they don't always work out right 78

  • but go ahead and chase your dreams. 79

  • You gotta do it. 80

  • Though fear was evident in her eyes 81

  • and in her voice, Tori resisted 82

  • activating her distress beacon. 83

  • And I thought, I can't ask another human being 84

  • to come out into this storm and get me. 85

  • I've lost track of the number of capsizes. 86

  • But after 11 capsizes in 12 hours, 87

  • and a severe shoulder injury, Tori signaled for help. 88

  • I was so badly beaten that, you know, 89

  • I didn't think I could make it through another storm. 90

  • The container ship, "Independent Spirit", 91

  • en route to Philadelphia, came to her rescue 92

  • and plucked her from the churning seas, 93

  • some 900 miles from France. 94

  • I was fighting back tears 'cause I thought 95

  • this is the wrong shore and this is the wrong boat. 96

  • But the folks in Philadelphia 97

  • gave Tori a hero's welcome. 98

  • And I was dumbfounded because in my mind 99

  • I had failed to do what I set out to do 100

  • but we all face oceans. 101

  • We all run into those big waves. 102

  • We all hit storms and it doesn't seem 103

  • like you're gonna make it through. 104

  • You will. 105

  • (water splashing)

(water splashing) 2

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