Sentence

Simple

It was a strange way to start sailing. (p.37)

Ex: It has a subject and a verb which it is joined with an object, but it isn’t having a coordinator or a subordinator because it is a complete independent clause.

Compound

The wind and seas had reversed and we had to buck the huge waves now coming out of the south. (p.80)

Ex: The two independent clauses have a subject and a verb within the sentence and it joined together with a coordinator.

Complex

I was halfway there when we got hit. (p.97)

Ex: It is an independent clause that is joined with a dependent clause which in this case the dependent clause is an adjective clause that describing the noun. “When we got hit” is a dependent clause and “I was halfway there” is the independent clause.

Compound-Complex

I had closed the companionway, but hundreds of gallons went down into the boat and I could hear the twelve-volt bilge pump working to get rid of the water, putting out a little half-inch stream while gallons poured in through the louvered doors of the companionway. (p. 100)

Ex: This sentence structure is make out of two independent clauses and one dependent clause that joined with the coordinator and subordinator. In this case, there are three independent clauses and one dependent. “I had closed the companionway” is one independent clause. “But hundreds of gallons went down into the boat and I could hear the twelve-volt bilge pump working to get rid of the water, putting out a little half-inch stream” is two others independent clauses that are joined with a coordinator. “While gallons poured in through the louvered doors of the companion way” is a dependent clauses which is an adjective clause.

Perplexes

I was suddenly standing on a boat that made sense; the rolling and pitching had stopped and while I could still hear the wind roaring and tearing, it was back past the stern, and the boat was once again in the lee of the island in quiet water (p. 100)

Ex: This sentence is neither a compound, complex, or a compound-complex sentence. I don't know which one is the sentence be in the structure.

The striking passage

“They were true monsters, steepsided, galloping, twenty, thirty feet high, almost vertical walls with breaking tops that caught the boat and held her down on her side with me in the water, clawing to get back on, ripping my nails, cutting my hand, now fighting to live, not sail, not obey the call of the sea, nothing noble or high-flown now but just to live, get on the boat and live.” (Paulsen, p.97)

This passage strikes me because it tells when the author caught in the storm and the boat has been hit with the waves that knock him in the water, but he was trying to hold on and fight against the storm to get on the boat. His main goal is to stay alive even though he was hurted by the storm, but he wanted to be live. His will to fight for his life has showed me that do not give up so easily but to fight if there is a chance to be alive.