Carlos Cuadrado picked up his first racket at the age of seven. From that moment on, his life became a constant training regimen. By the time he was ten, his days began before dawn. Court, school, court again, dinner, and repeat. “If you train more than the others, you’ll be the best,” his father used to say. At eighteen, he conquered the Junior Roland Garros in the shortest and most crushing victory in history. The future was his. Until injuries forced him into early retirement, taking not only his career but also his identity.
In an attempt to escape the void left by the sport, he sold everything he owned, bought a boat, and—despite having almost no sailing experience—set off on the greatest adventure of his life: to sail around the world. In these pages, Carlos takes us on an epic journey across untamed oceans, through storms that test the very limits of human endurance, and into encounters with remote cultures that taught him new ways of seeing life. From starry nights on the open sea to the threat of pirates in dangerous waters. From battling exhaustion on nonstop passages to solitude as a teacher. Every experience is a lesson in courage and reinvention.
This is a story that goes far beyond a voyage around the edges of the planet. It is a journey of personal transformation, a constant struggle against the unpredictable tide of challenges that life sets before us.