Describe the feelings of young Robinson Crusoe during his first voyage.

Robinson Crusoe begins his first voyage upon the invitation of a friend and his friend’s father, beginning his career as a sailor. On his first night aboard the vessel, he experiences the turbulence of the ship as it enters the sea and feels stark terror, in addition to seasickness, believing this turbulence to be a result of a terrible storm in which he will soon die. In his fear, Crusoe prays to God and swears that if God will save him from the terrible storm, he will return home and beg his father’s forgiveness, just as the prodigal son did in the Biblical parable. He feels especially guilty for having dismissed his father’s advice and love now that he is in, as he perceives, such a dangerous situation. However, the following morning, Crusoe talks with his friend and finds out that the terrible storm he thought he had experienced in the night was merely a bit of wind. Feeling foolish about his overreaction, he ceases to feel regret or fear, and instead of following through on his pledge to return home, he becomes drunk with his friend and completely neglects the vow he made the previous night.
On the eighth day of this same trip, he experiences a real storm, one which even the seasoned sailors express fear and awe of. The ship begins leaking and sinking, and Crusoe again feels intense fear and horror. The ship sinks, and the crew is rescued and taken to land near Yarmouth. The captain of the sunken vessel, the father of Crusoe’s friend, advises Crusoe never to go to sea again, as the storm was a sign of ill luck and portended bad events in Crusoe’s future. Despite Robinson Crusoe’s uneasiness about the captain’s predictions, he does not want the shame of enduring his family’s and neighbors’ talk about his failure and bad choices, so he chooses to go to sea again.