''Islander'' was the 34-foot

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast ...

with which Harry Pidgeon sailed around the world single-handedly from 1921 to 1925. Pidgeon thus became the second person, after

Joshua Slocum 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 w ...

, to do so. He accounts for his adventures in his book, Around the World Single-Handed: The Cruise of the Islander (1932).

History

''Islander'' was modelled on ''Sea Bird'', a 25-foot V-bottom boat that was designed by Charles D. Mower with input from Captain Thomas Fleming Day. Pidgeon built ''Islander'' from 1917 to 1918 using only $1,000 of materials. ''Islander'' was built mostly from

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

, and Oregon

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

. Writing about his voyage later, Pidgeon commented that ''Islander'' "proved to sail well, and all remarked on the ease with which she handled."

References

Yawls Individual sailing vessels 1910s sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in the United States Sailing yachts of the United States {{ship-stub