Most of us consider it a successful trip when we go somewhere without missing an exit.

Cole Brauer navigated around the entire planet.

In 2024, the American sailor spent 130 days alone aboard a 40-foot sailboat, battling enormous waves, brutal weather, mechanical problems, and the minor inconvenience of having nobody else around to take a shift.

Now, the record-breaking sailor is telling the story in a new memoir.

Cole Brauer Sailed Around the World Alone

Cole competed in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge aboard her Class40 sailboat, First Light.

The race began and ended in A Coruña, Spain, taking sailors around the three great capes at the southern tips of Africa, Australia, and South America.

According to the Global Solo Challenge, Cole crossed the finish line on March 7, 2024, after 130 days, 2 hours, and 45 minutes at sea.

She finished second.

In the process, Cole Brauer became the first American woman sailor to race solo, nonstop around the world by the three great capes.

Not bad for four months' work.

Then Two Storms Got in the Way

Sailing around the world doesn't come with too many quiet Tuesdays.

As Cole approached Cape Horn in January 2024, she found herself facing two massive storm systems.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Cole said she nicknamed the storms "Thing One" and "Thing Two."

"And they were trying to kill me," she said.

Ultimately, Cole chose to protect herself and First Light over trying to race through the dangerous weather.

She took a four-day detour, traveling about 200 miles north to avoid the first storm before heading 400 miles south to escape the second.

The decision likely cost her the chance of finishing first.

But, it may also have been the reason she finished at all.

The Drake Passage Was Still Waiting

Getting around those storms didn't mean Cole could relax.

She still had to navigate the waters around Cape Horn and the Global Solo Challenge Drake Passage.

The Global Solo Challenge said that Cole and her shore team monitored the changing weather conditions as she approached Cape Horn. 

Eventually, she chose a route farther offshore to avoid the heavier seas that can develop in shallower water.

Cole spent days calculating the right window to make the passage, knowing the conditions could bring winds of around 80 knots and waves as high as 50 feet.

Those are the kinds of Drake Passage dangerous storms that can make our complaints about a choppy ferry crossing seem slightly less compelling.

Cole successfully rounded Cape Horn on Jan. 26.

But, she still had to sail all the way back to Spain.

First Light Tells the Story

Two years later, Cole is taking readers back aboard the boat without requiring any of us to confront a 50-foot wave.

The Cole Brauer solo sailing memoir, First Light: Sailing Solo But Not Alone, will be released on September 15th.

The First Light book by Cole Brauer recounts her 27,000-mile journey, including mechanical breakdowns, food poisoning, extreme cold, and months spent alone at sea.

The memoir also explores her experience making her way through the traditionally male-dominated world of professional sailing.

Not a Bad Way to Finish Second

Cole didn't win the Global Solo Challenge.

She finished second, made American sailing history, and brought First Light safely home after more than 27,000 miles at sea.

The official race results put her final time at 130 days, 2 hours, and 45 minutes.

The rest of us can experience those four months from a considerably safer location, most likely the couch.

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