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Michael Perham has done something that no other 14-year-old has ever done. He has single-handedly sailed a boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Michael piloted a small sailboat, by himself, for weeks at a time, sailing from Gibraltar (which is located at the southern tip of Spain), down the African coast and then across the Atlantic Ocean to the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. The entire trip took about six weeks, and there were several stops along the way for repairs. The actual crossing, which went from Cape Verde (a series of islands off the western coast of Africa) to Antigua, started on December 15, 2006 and ended on January 3, 2007. That’s two and a half weeks on the open ocean! Michael covered about 2,500 miles during the crossing and nearly 5,000 miles during the whole trip.

When you first hear about Michael, one question you might have is, "What would ever give you the idea to do something like this?" Michael got the idea as he watched another teenager – 15-year-old Sebastian Clover - sail across the Atlantic in 2003. As he watched Sebastian set the world record as the youngest person to cross the Atlantic, Michael asked his father if he could do it too. Luckily, Michael already had a good start. At age seven, Michael was already learning to sail with his father’s help. He learned the basics in a small sailing dingy, and then learned how to windsurf. Gradually, he moved up to bigger boats. He took sailing classes. He prepared for the RYA Yachtmaster exam -- a test you take to show that you can handle a boat in any situation. He practiced sailing and sailed for thousands of miles to get ready.

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Michael made his Atlantic crossing in a Tide 28, which is made in England. It is 28 feet long - small enough to be towed on a trailer behind an SUV and small enough for a single person to handle the sails. The boat has one mast, with one large triangular sail. In front of the main sail, there can be either a jib or a spinnaker, depending on the wind. To cross the Atlantic, Michael had to learn how to change the sails and set the sails in any kind of weather. Changing a sail is no small thing. The spinnaker is about 450 square feet – that’s about 10 king-size blankets all sewn together. Imagine trying to handle that alone, in the wind, with waves as high as eight feet bouncing the boat around.

The Tide 28 has an open cockpit where you can stand or sit to handle the wheel. Below deck, there is a small galley (kitchen), an even smaller head (bathroom), two tables (a folding dining table and a chart table) and two berths (small rooms) for sleeping, one at the bow (front) and one at the stern (back). For a long trip like this, one of those berths might be filled with supplies, extra gear, spare sails, rope and more.

Speaking of the kitchen, what do you eat when you’re alone on a boat for six weeks? According to Michael, he stocked up on lots of canned food at a grocery store in England called Tesco. The advantage of canned food is that all you need to do is pour it in a pot and heat it for five minutes. And if you are really crunched for time, you can eat it cold out of the can. But where do you get the time to open a can of food if you are the only one on the boat? Who steers while you are eating? And what about bathroom breaks, or sleeping? This is where technology comes in. Many sailboats have automatic steering systems. Some systems are very simple, using the sail or a large wind vane to pull on ropes and steer the boat. You set the boat up at a certain angle to the wind, and then the boat keeps heading at that angle without the skipper needing to be at the wheel. A system like this works great for short breaks.

But you still have to worry about running into things, or the wind changing direction. A radar system, like the one Michael used on his trip, can help avoid collisions with other boats. And a GPS system with an alarm, which Michael had, too, can help make sure you stay on course. Michael also had a VHS two-way radio and a satellite phone, which is what he used to talk with his ultimate backup system. His father, Peter, was usually about two miles away, sailing along behind Michael in an identical sailboat. Having his father available was important for two reasons. The obvious one is safety -- if Michael's boat were to break a mast or capsize, or if Michael were to get blown into the ocean in bad weather, his father would be there to help. But the more common problem for anyone sailing alone is sleep.

Although sailing alone at age 14 is rare, many adults compete in grueling solo races. These races often involve great distances, and some of them go completely around the world. The biggest problem in these races is sleep. If you are the only person on the boat, you’re never going to be able to sleep for long. You have to change course, change sails, fix problems and watch out for collisions constantly. You also have to deal with changes in wind and weather. And when the weather is bad, you have to watch the boat every second.

At one point Michael was sailing in Force 9 winds (about 50 mph) with waves averaging 25 feet high on the open ocean. In his words, a storm like this can "really knock your teeth out." The thing to do in a situation like that is to put down the sails and put out a sea anchor. A sea anchor is like a small nylon parachute that you put in the water to hold the boat steady. Michael put his sea anchor out, but it ripped apart about 30 minutes later. So he tied a big bucket to the line and it worked fairly well.

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To solve the sleep problem, both in storms and fair weather, Michael and his father took turns. One would keep watch for an hour while the other slept, and then they would switch. They would use their radios to coordinate their watches. You can probably guess that after several days of this you can become exhausted. This is the problem with sleep that any solo racer faces.

Along the way, they had a fair number of other problems. Rudders broke, steering systems failed, satellite phones went dead and ropes snapped. At one point Michael's father was 70 miles behind because of rudder problems. Fortunately, they were still near Africa and could stop at the island of Lazarote for repairs. At another point, Michael's self-steering system broke, forcing him to steer the boat himself full-time. In a situation like that, the only thing you can do to eat and sleep is pull down the sails and stop the boat. Fortunately, they were about two days away from the Cape Verde islands and could stop for repairs. Then, about 400 miles out from Antigua, the rope holding Michael's jib snapped. This slowed Michael down, but he was able to make it to the finish line.

When they arrived in Antigua, Michael and his father were greeted by dozens of boats, a band, and hundreds of people waiting at the marina. He also got to share a meal with local officials, including the Prime Minister of Antigua. Then it was time to fly home and get back to school to catch up on all the work he missed. Michael had broken a world record by becoming the youngest person ever to sail across the Atlantic. He also had the experience of a lifetime. And he enjoyed it so much that he is getting ready for a new adventure - sailing around the world!