Olivia Aftergood is welcomed back by her father David Aftergood at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Monday. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)A Calgary teenager recalled watching in shock from a life-raft as the sailing ship she had been studying aboard sank off the coast of Brazil.

"Nothing went through my mind. It was a total blank. I just stared at that boat until it was totally gone. I couldn't process anything until I was on land," said Olivia Aftergood, 16, on Monday.

Everyone aboard — 64 students, teachers and crew — survived the sinking of the SV Concordia on Wednesday. The students arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Monday morning, where their parents waited anxiously.

Olivia was reunited with her father David Aftergood, who had flown from Calgary to meet her. It was an emotional moment, he said.

"Seeing her for the first time, live, and holding and touching her, hugging her and telling her how much we love her. We were so happy to see her," he said. "She is 16 and she is not going to leave my side until she is 40."

Olivia joined the ship two weeks before it sank with plans to continue her high school studies while at sea. She was inspired by her older brother's positive experience with the Class Afloat program, run by West Island College International of Lunenburg, N.S.

"It was awesome. Even though I was only on there for two weeks, it was probably the best moments of my life," Olivia said.

'Happened in about 30 seconds'

The SV Concordia, capsized about noon Wednesday after being caught in a microburst — a rare and sudden downdraft of air in a small area.

The 57.5-metre steel vessel sank within 20 minutes, but all 48 students, eight teachers and eight crew were able to get into life-rafts before the boat went down.SV Concordia, built in 1992, is seen under sail in Halifax in 2000. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

"It happened in about 30 seconds, maybe even less. But, like, I was a newbie. And I just remember all the re-training students, were like yeah, the boat normally tips. But then it started to tip even more and then they were like, OK, this isn't normal," Olivia said.

"When somebody told me to go in a life-raft I just did it. I just went. I never even thought about what was happening. I just followed directions and like, did what I was told … [We] put on emergency suits to make sure, you know, we all stayed warm. Then we climbed down to the life-rafts and just waited for help."

Olivia was in a state of shock in a life-raft with about 20 other people. The rest of the life-rafts were tied together, but there wasn't time to join hers.

"So we drifted apart. We didn't see the other life-rafts or people until we were all on land," she said.

Tried to stay positive

The life-rafts drifted on the south Atlantic amid strong winds, heavy rain and high waves for up to 40 hours. At times, Olivia worried about not being rescued.

"There is always moments, but we tried to stay positive," she said. "Our second mate who was in our life-raft, Rob, was just, like, trying to make sure we never thought about that. We were always talking about what we were going to do when we got home, what we were going to eat, what we were going to say to our parents. We just always looked forward to the future."

The students, teachers and crew were located by a Brazilian military helicopter on Saturday and picked up by merchant ships and Brazilian naval vessels.

David Aftergood only had praise for the program and the students, mostly Canadians from different parts of the country. Five students from a Calgary-based private school called West Island College were aboard the ship. There were 17 Calgary students in total on the boat.

"I think she is a hero. I think they are all heroes. I think they did tremendous, following instructions, doing what they were supposed to do. I think it's a testament to this program that all 64 of them were rescued without any serious injuries," he said.