Great mariner's thrilling, first-hand account of the wreck of his ship off the coast of South America, the 35-foot "brave little craft" he built from the wreckage, and its remarkable, danger-fraught voyage home. A 19th-century maritime classic brimming with courage, ingenuity, and daring.
Bio:
Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 - on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey, Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.
Joshua Slocum's achievements have been well publicised and honoured. The name Spray has become a choice for cruising yachts ever since the publication of Slocum's account of his circumnavigation. Over the years, many versions of Spray have been built from the plans in Slocum's book, more or less reconstructing the sloop with various degrees of success.
Similarly, the French long-distance sailor Bernard Moitessier christened his 39-foot (12 m) ketch-rigged boat Joshua in honor of Slocum. It was this boat that Moitessier sailed from Tahiti to France, and he also sailed Joshua in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race around the world, making great time, only to abandon the race near the end and sail on to the Polynesian Islands.
Ferries named in Slocum's honour (Joshua Slocum and Spray) served the two Digby Neck runs in Nova Scotia between 1973 and 2004. The Joshua Slocum was featured in the film version of Dolores Claiborne.
An underwater glider-an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), designed by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, was named after Slocum's ship Spray. It became the first AUV to cross the Gulf Stream, while operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Another AUV has been named after Slocum himself: the Slocum Electric Glider, designed by Douglas Webb of Webb Research (since 2008, Teledyne Webb Research).
In 2009, a Slocum glider, modified by Rutgers University, crossed the Atlantic in 221 days. The RU27 traveled from Tuckerton, New Jersey, to Baiona, Pontevedra, Spain - the port where Christopher Columbus landed on his return from his first voyage to the New World. Like Slocum himself, the Slocum glider is capable of traveling over thousands of kilometers. These gliders continue to be used by various research institutions, including Texas A&M University's Department of Oceanography and Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG), to explore the Gulf of Mexico and other bodies of water.
A monument to Slocum exists on Brier Island, Nova Scotia, not far from his family's boot shop. Slocum is commemorated in museum exhibits at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum near his birthplace. Several biographies about Slocum are published.
The Slocum River in Dartmouth, Massachusetts was named for him, as was a newly discovered plant in Mauritius while he was there: "Returning to the Spray by way of the great flower conservatory near Moka, the proprietor, having only that morning discovered a new and hardy plant, to my great honor named it 'Slocum'". Slocum himself discovered an island by accident, and named it Alan Erric Island.
Slocum was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011. (wikipedia.org)
