b'Kate. We experienced near disaster when our boat capsized, and all of us got to seriously think about what survival on a life raft might be like should we be forced to abandon ship. Fortunately, the boat was able to right itself, and we were able to sail on after several days of floating like a cork in the hurricane.This box, Hard Against the Wind, was inspired by my personal experiences, and the true story of survival of the crew of the whaling ship Essex which was sunk by a sperm whale 2,000 nautical miles from South America in 1820. The Essex was rammed twice by a sperm whale and eventually sank after several hours. All twenty crew members escaped in three small boats and were adrift at sea for over 99 days. They were short on water and food and only survived by resorting to cannibalism. Eight of the twenty men were eventually rescued in 1821. The amazing thing about all of this to me was that three of the survivors eventually returned to the sea and to whaling. The book, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville was also, in part, inspired by the sinking ofthe Essex.The Essex, a three masted frigate, was 88 feet in length and 25 feet wide. No one knows exactly what the captains quarters and the ships hold looked like. As a result, I used my imagination and based my boxs design on several books written by the Essexs survivors. I also conducted additional research at the Mystic Seaport Museum where the original whaling ship, The Morgan, has been restored and is on permanent display.137'