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 Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
n-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''.
Nova Scotian childhood
Joshua Slocum was born on February 20, 1844,
in
Mount Hanley,
Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
Annapolis County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia located in the western part of the province located on the Bay of Fundy. The county seat is Annapolis Royal.
History
Established August 17, 1759, by Order in Council, Annapolis ...
(officially recorded as Wilmot Station),
a community on the
North Mountain within sight of the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world.
The bay was ...
. The fifth of eleven children of John Slocomb
[Geoffrey Wolff, ''The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum'', p. 8: spelling of family name given as "Slocombe".] and Sarah Jane Slocombe ''née'' Southern,
Joshua descended, on his father's side, from a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
known as "John the Exile", who left the United States shortly after 1780 because of his opposition to the
American War for Independence.
As part of the
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
migration to Nova Scotia, the Slocombes were granted of farmland in
Nova Scotia's Annapolis County.
Joshua Slocum was born in the family's farmhouse in
Mount Hanley and learned to read and write at the nearby
Mount Hanley School. His earliest ventures on the water were made on coastal schooners operating out of the small ports such as Port George and Cottage Cove near Mount Hanley along the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world.
The bay was ...
.
When Joshua was eight years old, the Slocomb family (Joshua changed the spelling of his last name later in his life)
[Geoffrey Wolff, ''The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum''] moved from Mount Hanley to
Brier Island in
Digby County
Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
History
It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS ''Atalanta'' to convey Loyalists from New York City in ...
, at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Slocum's maternal grandfather was the keeper of the
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
at Southwest Point there. His father, a stern man and strict disciplinarian, took up making leather boots for the local fishermen, and Joshua helped in the shop. However, the boy found the scent of salt air much more alluring than the smell of shoe leather. He yearned for a life of adventure at sea, away from his demanding father and his increasingly chaotic life at home among so many brothers and sisters.
He made several attempts to run away from home, finally succeeding, at age fourteen, by hiring on as a
cabin boy
A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant.
Duties
Cabin boys ...
and cook on a fishing
schooner
A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
, but he soon returned home. In 1860, after the birth of the eleventh Slocombe child and the subsequent death of his kindly mother, Joshua, then sixteen, left home for good. He and a friend signed on at
Halifax as ordinary seamen on a merchant ship bound for
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland.
Early life at sea
From Dublin, he crossed to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to become an ordinary seaman on the British
merchant ship
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
''Tangier'' (also recorded as ''Tanjore''), bound for China. During two years as a seaman he rounded
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
twice, landed at
Batavia (now Jakarta) in the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
, and visited the
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...
,
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, Hong Kong,
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, Singapore, and San Francisco. While at sea, he studied for the
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
examination, and, at the age of eighteen, he received his certificate as a fully qualified
Second Mate
A second mate (2nd mate) or second officer (2/O) is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship holding a Second Mates Certificate of Competence, by an authorised governing state of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ...
. Slocum quickly rose through the ranks to become a
Chief Mate
A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship ...
on British ships transporting coal and grain between the British Isles and San Francisco.
In 1865, he settled in San Francisco, became an American citizen, and, after a period spent
salmon
Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
fishing and
fur trading
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
in the
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...
of the northwest, he returned to the sea to pilot a schooner in the coastal trade between San Francisco and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. His first blue-water command, in 1869, was the
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...
''Washington'', which he took across the Pacific, from San Francisco to Australia, and home via
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
.
He sailed for thirteen years out of the port of San Francisco, transporting mixed cargo to China, Australia, the
Spice Islands
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for ...
, and Japan. Between 1869 and 1889 he was the master of eight vessels, the first four of which (the ''Washington'', the ''Constitution'', the ''Benjamin Aymar'' and the ''Amethyst'') he commanded in the employ of others. Later, there would be four others that he himself owned, in whole or in part.
Family at sea

On 9 January 1871, Slocum and the ''Constitution'' put in at Sydney. There he met, courted, and married Virginia Albertina Walker. They were married on January 31, 1871 and the couple left Sydney on the ''Constitution'' the following day. Miss Walker, quite coincidentally, was an American whose New York family had migrated west to California at the time of the
1849 gold rush and eventually continued on, by ship, to settle in Australia. She sailed with Slocum, and, over the next thirteen years, the couple had seven children, all born at sea or foreign ports. Four children, sons Victor, Benjamin Aymar, and James Garfield, and daughter Jessie, survived to adulthood.
In Alaska, the ''Washington'' was
wrecked when she dragged her anchor during a gale, ran ashore, and broke up. Slocum, however, at considerable risk to himself, managed to save his wife, the crew, and much of the cargo, bringing all back to port safely in the ship's open boats. The owners of the shipping company that had employed Slocum were so impressed by this feat of ingenuity and leadership, they gave him the command of the ''Constitution'' which he sailed to Hawaii and the west coast of
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
His next command was the ''Benjamin Aymar'', a merchant vessel in the
South Seas
Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, most commonly refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The term South Sea may also be used synonymously for Oceania, or even more narrowly for Polynesia or the Polynesian Triangle ...
trade. However, the owner, strapped for cash, sold the vessel out from under Slocum, and he and Virginia found themselves stranded in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
without a ship.
The ''Pato''
While in the Philippines, in 1874, under a commission from a British architect, Slocum organized native workers to build a 150-ton
steamer in the shipyard at
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
. In partial payment for the work, he was given the ninety-ton schooner, ''Pato'' (Spanish for "Duck"), the first ship he could call his own.
Ownership of the ''Pato'' afforded Slocum the kind of freedom and autonomy he had never previously experienced. Hiring a crew, he contracted to deliver a cargo to
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
in British Columbia. Thereafter, he used the ''Pato'' as a general freight carrier along the west coast of North America and in voyages back and forth between San Francisco and Hawaii. During this period, Slocum also fulfilled a long-held ambition to become a writer, and became a temporary correspondent for the ''San Francisco Bee''.
The Slocums sold the ''Pato'' in Honolulu in the spring of 1878. Returning to San Francisco, they purchased the ''Amethyst.'' He worked this ship until June 23, 1881.
The Slocums next bought a third share in the ''Northern Light 2''. This large clipper was 233 feet in length, 44 feet beam, 28 feet in the hold. It was capable of carrying 2000 tons on three decks. Although Joshua Slocum called this ship "my best command", it was a command plagued with mutinies and mechanical problems. Under troubling legal circumstances (caused by his alleged treatment of the chief mutineer) he sold his share in the ''Northern Light 2'' in 1883.
The ''Aquidneck''
The Slocum family continued on their next ship, the 326-ton ''Aquidneck''. In 1884, Slocum's wife Virginia became ill aboard the ''Aquidneck'' in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
and died. After sailing to Massachusetts, Slocum left his three youngest children, Benjamin Aymar, Jessie, and Garfield in the care of his sisters; his oldest son Victor continued as his first mate.
In 1886, at age 42, Slocum married his 24-year-old cousin, Henrietta "Hettie" Elliott. The Slocum family, with the exception of Jessie and Benjamin Aymar, again took to the sea aboard the ''Aquidneck'', bound for
Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, Uruguay. Slocum's second wife would find life at sea much less appealing than his first. A few days into Henrietta's first voyage, the ''Aquidneck'' sailed through a hurricane. By the end of this first year, the crew had contracted
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
, and they were quarantined for six months.
[Berthold p. xx] Later, Slocum was forced to defend his ship from pirates, one of whom he shot and killed; following which he was tried and acquitted of murder. Next, the ''Aquidneck'' was infected with
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
, leading to the death of three of the crew. Disinfecting of the ship was performed at considerable cost. Shortly afterward, near the end of 1887, the ''Aquidneck'' was wrecked in southern Brazil.
[
]
The ''Liberdade''
After being stranded in Brazil with his wife and sons Garfield and Victor, he started building a boat that could sail them home. He used local materials, salvaged materials from the ''Aquidneck'', and worked with local workers. The boat was launched on May 13, 1888, the very day slavery was abolished in Brazil, and therefore the ship was given the name ''Liberdade'', the Portuguese word for freedom.
It was an unusual junk-rigged design which he described as "half Cape Ann dory and half Japanese sampan".[Slocum (1890), ''Voyage of the Liberdade''] He and his family began their voyage back to the United States, his son Victor (15) being the mate.
After fifty-five days at sea and 5510 miles, the Slocums reached Cape Roman, South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
and continued inland to Washington D.C. for the winter and finally reaching Boston via New York in 1889.[ This was the last time Henrietta sailed with the family. In 1890, Slocum published his accounts of these adventures in ''Voyage of the Liberdade''.][
]
Voyage of the ''Destroyer''
In the northern winter of 1893–94, Slocum undertook what he described as, at that time, being "the hardest voyage that I have ever made, without any exception at all." It involved delivering the steam-powered torpedo boat ''Destroyer'' from the east coast of the United States to Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
.
''Destroyer'' was a ship in length, conceived by the Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer John Ericsson
John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States.
Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty (lo ...
, and intended for the defence of harbours and coastal waters. Equipped in the early 1880s, with sloping armour plate and a bow-mounted submarine gun, it was an evolution of the Monitor warship type
A monitor is a relatively small warship that is neither fast nor strongly armored but carries disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s, during the First World War and with limited use in the Second World War. ...
of the American Civil War. ''Destroyer'' was intended to fire an early form of torpedo at an opposing ship from a range of , and was a "vessel of war partially armored to attack bows-on at short range."
Despite the loss of the ''Aquidneck'', and the privations of his family's voyage in the self-built ''Liberdade'', Slocum retained a fondness for Brazil. During 1893, Brazil was faced with a political crisis in Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
, and an attempt at civil war that was intensified by the revolt of the country's navy in September.
Slocum agreed to a request by the Brazilian government to deliver the ''Destroyer'' to Pernambuco
Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...
, Brazil, with financial and vindictive motives. As Slocum describes, his contract with the commander of government forces at Pernambuco was, "to go against the rebel fleet, and sink them all, if we could find them – big and little – for a handsome sum of gold ..." Slocum also saw the possibility of getting even with the "arch rebel" Admiral Melo (of whom he writes as "Mello"): "Confidentially: I was burning to get a rake at Mello and his ''Aquideban''. He it was, who in that ship expelled my bark, the ''Aquidneck'', from Ilha Grande some years ago, under the cowardly pretext that we might have sickness on board. But that story has been told. I was burning to let him know and palpably feel that this time I had in dynamite instead of hay".
Towed by the ''Santuit'', Slocum and a small crew aboard the ''Destroyer'' left Sandy Hook, New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, on 7 December 1893. The following day the ship was already taking on water: "A calamity has overtaken us. The ship's top seams are opening and one of the new sponsons, the starboard one, is already waterlogged." Despite all hands pumping and bailing, by midnight the seas were extinguishing the fires in the boilers which were kept alight only by throwing on rounds of pork fat and tables and chairs from the vessel.
With a storm continuing to blow on the 9th, the crew was able to lower the level of water in the hold and plug some of the holes and leaks. The bailing out of water, using a large improvised canvas bag, continued from the 9th to the 13th and succeeded in maintaining the level of water in the hold below . On the 13th they were again hit by a storm and cross seas and had to bail all night. On the 14th, heavy seas disabled the rudder. By the afternoon of 15 December, the ''Destroyer'' was to the south-west of Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, heading for Martinique, and still weathering storms.
By that time, with the fires in the boilers extinguished, all hands were bailing for their lives: "The main hull of the ''Destroyer'' is already a foot (30cm) under water, and going on down". The crew had no other option than to keep bailing and try to keep the ship afloat, as the vessel "could not be insured for the voyage; nor would any company insure a life on board". By the morning of the 16th the storm had abated, allowing the ''Destroyer'' to anchor to the south of Puerto Rico.
Although the ship's best steam pump had been put out of action on 19 December, more favourable seas allowed the crew to reach Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, where repairs were made before again setting sail on 5 January 1894. On 18 January, the ''Destroyer'' arrived at Fernando de Noronha, an island some from the coast of Brazil, before finally reaching Recife
Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...
, Pernambuco, on the 20th. Slocum wrote: "My voyage home from Brazil in the canoe ''Liberdade'', with my family for crew and companions, some years ago, although a much longer voyage was not of the same irksome nature."
At Pernambuco, the ''Destroyer'' joined up with the Brazilian navy and the crew was again engaged in repairs as the long tow in heavy seaways had severed rivets at the bow, resulting in leaks. Wet powder led to a failed test-firing of the submarine gun and the ship was grounded to remove the projectile. But the strain of the swell led to a further leak. Following further repairs, the ''Destroyer'' made for Bahia with replenishments of powder for the Brazilian fleet, arriving on 13 February. Once there, however, Admiral Gonçalves of the Brazilian navy seized the ship. At the Arsenal at Bahia, an apparently incompetent alternative crew grounded the ''Destroyer'' on a rock in the basin. The vessel was holed and subsequently abandoned.
The ''Spray'': First solo circumnavigation of the earth
Slocum rebuilt the gaff rig
Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and sh ...
ged sloop oyster boat named '' Spray'' in Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzz ...
, during 1891 and 1892. On June 21, 1892, he launched the painstakingly rebuilt vessel.
On April 24, 1895, he set sail from Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. In his famous book, '' Sailing Alone Around the World'',[Slocum (1899), ''Sailing Alone Around the World''] now considered a classic of travel literature
The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
History
Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a ...
, he described his departure in the following manner:
After an extended visit to his boyhood home at Brier Island and visiting old haunts on the coast of Nova Scotia, Slocum departed North America at Sambro Island Lighthouse near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 3, 1895.
Slocum intended sailing eastward around the world, using the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, but when he got near Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
he realized that sailing through the southern Mediterranean would be too dangerous for a lone sailor because piracy was still prevalent there at the time. So he decided to sail westward, in the southern hemisphere. He headed to Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and then to the Straits of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural ...
. At that point he was unable to start across the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
for forty days because of a storm. Eventually, he made his way to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, sailed north along its east coast, crossed the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, rounded the Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
, and then headed back to North America.
Slocum navigated without a chronometer, instead relying on the traditional method of dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating the current position of a moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and incorporating estimates of speed, heading (or direction or course), and elapsed time. T ...
to establish longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
, which required only a cheap tin clock for approximate time, and used noon-sun sights for latitude
In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...
. On one long passage in the Pacific, he also famously shot a lunar distance
The instantaneous Earth–Moon distance, or distance to the Moon, is the distance from the center of Earth to the center of the Moon. In contrast, the Lunar distance (LD or \Delta_), or Earth–Moon characteristic distance, is a unit of measure ...
observation, decades after those observations had ceased to be commonly employed, which allowed him to check his longitude independently. However, Slocum's primary method for finding longitude was still dead reckoning, and he recorded only one lunar observation during the entire circumnavigation.
Slocum normally sailed the ''Spray'' without touching the helm. Due to the length of the sail plan relative to the hull, and the long keel, the ''Spray'' was capable of self-steering (unlike faster modern craft), and he balanced it stably on any course relative to the wind by adjusting or reefing the sails and by lashing the helm fast. He sailed west across the Indian Ocean without once touching the helm.[
More than three years later, on June 27, 1898, he returned to ]Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
, having circumnavigated the world and sailing a distance of more than 46,000 miles (74,000 km). Slocum's return went almost unnoticed. The Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
, which had begun two months earlier, dominated the headlines but, after the end of major hostilities, many American newspapers published articles describing Slocum's adventure.
''Sailing Alone Around the World''
In 1899, he published his account of the voyage in '' Sailing Alone Around the World'', first serialized in ''The Century Magazine'' and then in several book-length editions. Reviewers received the slightly anachronistic age-of-sail adventure story enthusiastically. Arthur Ransome went so far as to declare: "Boys who do not like this book ought to be drowned at once." In his review, Sir Edwin Arnold wrote, "I do not hesitate to call it the most extraordinary book ever published."
Slocum's book deal was an integral part of his journey. His publisher had provided Slocum with an extensive on-board library, and Slocum wrote several letters to his editor from distant points around the globe. His ''Sailing Alone'' won him widespread fame in the English-speaking world, and he was one of eight invited speakers at a dinner in honor of Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
in December 1900. Slocum hauled the ''Spray'' up the Erie Canal to Buffalo, New York, for the Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...
in the summer of 1901, and he was well compensated for participating in the fair.
Later life
In 1901, Slocum's book revenues and income from public lectures provided him enough financial security to purchase a small farm in West Tisbury, on the island of Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...
, in Massachusetts. After a year and a half, he found he could not adapt to a settled life and he sailed the ''Spray'' from port to port in the northeastern US during the summer and in the West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
during the winter, lecturing and selling books wherever he could. Slocum spent little time with his wife on Martha's Vineyard and preferred life aboard the ''Spray'', usually wintering in the Caribbean. In 1902 he was arrested in Riverton, New Jersey, on a charge of raping a twelve-year-old girl who had taken a public tour of the Spray. It emerged that the girl had not been assaulted but that Slocum may have exposed himself to her, though he said that he had no memory of the incident. He pleaded no contest to the reduced charge of indecent exposure and spent over a month in jail.
Slocum and the ''Spray'' visited Sagamore Hill, the estate of US President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
on the north shore of Long Island, New York. Roosevelt and his family were interested in the tales of Slocum's solo circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first circumnaviga ...
. The President's young son, Archie, along with a guardian, spent the next few days sailing with Slocum up to Newport aboard the ''Spray'', which, by then, was a decrepit, weather-worn vessel. Slocum again met with President Roosevelt in May 1907, this time at the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
in Washington. Supposedly, Roosevelt said to him, "Captain, our adventures have been a little different." Slocum answered, "That is true, Mr. President, but I see you got here first."
By 1909, Slocum's funds were running low; book revenues had tailed off. He prepared to sell his farm on Martha's Vineyard and began to make plans for a new adventure in South America. He had hopes of another book deal.[
]
Disappearance
On November 14, 1909, Slocum set sail in the ''Spray'' from Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, for the West Indies on one of his usual winter voyages. He had also expressed interest in starting his next adventure, exploring the Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
, Rio Negro and Amazon Rivers.[ Slocum was never heard from again. In July 1910, his wife informed the newspapers that she believed he was lost at sea.
Despite being an experienced mariner, Slocum never learned to swim] and considered learning to swim to be useless. Many mariners shared this thought, as swimming would only be useful if land was extremely close by.
In 1924, Joshua Slocum was declared legally dead.
Legacy
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
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first circumnaviga ...
. 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 ketch
A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...
-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 good 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 underwater glider is a type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that employs variable-buoyancy propulsion instead of traditional propellers or Underwater thruster, thrusters. It employs variable buoyancy in a similar way to a profiling floa ...
an autonomous underwater vehicle
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring continuous input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification tha ...
(AUV), designed by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, California, La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma, San Die ...
, 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
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...
. 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
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
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
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
and other bodies of water
A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more ra ...
.
A monument to Slocum exists on Brier Island, Nova Scotia, not far from his family's boot shop. He 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
Dartmouth (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts to be settled by Europeans in 1652, primarily English. Dartmouth ...
, was named for him, as was a newly discovered plant in Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
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''.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a liberty ship
Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...
was named after Slocum, launched from South Portland, Maine
South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the List of municipalities in Maine, fourth-most populous city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population wa ...
in December 1944 and scrapped in 1965.
Slocum was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011.
See also
* Harry Pidgeon, first to solo circumnavigate via the Panama Canal
* List of people who disappeared at sea
References
Bibliography
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External links
*
Joshua Slocum Society
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
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* HTML
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...
e-text of
Sailing Alone Around the World
' with illustrations
Ebooks of Sailing Alone Around the World, Voyage of the Liberdade, and Voyage of the Destroyer, optimized for printing, plus selected Slocum bibliography
Joshua Slocum, un gran marino
(Spanish)
YouTube video performance of "Captain Slocum Sailed Around the World" by Howard Bowe
Sailing Alone Around the World
at BookBrainz
Sailing Alone Around the World
at MusicBrainz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slocum, Joshua
1844 births
1900s missing person cases
1909 deaths
Canadian sailors
Canadian people of British descent
Maritime writers
Missing person cases in Massachusetts
People from Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
People from West Tisbury, Massachusetts
People lost at sea
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Pre-Confederation Nova Scotia people
Sea captains
Single-handed circumnavigating sailors
Aquatic sportspeople from Nova Scotia