HONOLULU -- A 16-year-old boy arrived Friday in Honolulu after sailing for nearly a month from California by himself.

He is trying to set a record on a voyage that he hopes will take him around the world.

Zac Sunderland is trying to set the record for youngest person to sail around the world solo.

"It's pretty boring, actually, but, you know, I'm just reading a lot. I have a phone on the boat, too, a computer, different stuff," Sunderland said.

The teen has more than 15,000 hours of sailing experience. His parents said it was his idea to go for the record.

"I asked my wife to try and talk him out of it, and when she said 'I think he really wants to do this,' I said, 'OK, I'm going to be in,'" Laurence Sunderland said.

"But when we flew here, over the Pacific for five hours, I was kind of like, 'Whoa! This is huge. This is huge,'" Marianne Sunderland said.

Sunderland left Marina Del Rey, Calif. on June 14. This was his first landfall and the first leg of his voyage.

So while Sunderland has talked daily with his family, this was the first time they've actually seen him in nearly a month.

Sunderland will be in Hawaii for a few days before leaving next week to sail to the Marshall Islands. He has allowed himself a year for the voyage.