Sailing Alone Around the World
by Slocum, Joshua b. 1844 - missing 1909
pub. by The Century Co., NY 1900     isbn 0-
xvi p, 294 pages. maps, few pictures (sketches), - - adventure
Just what the title says. This is the narrative of the first single handed sail around the world. This book is the absolute classic in sailing adventure. Slocum rebuilt the oyster smack Spray which was given to him as a joke by a friend, then after not doing well fishing, sailed around the world, supporting himself giving lectures. He sailed the long way in the days before the Panama Canal he sailed through the Straights of Magellan and avoiding the pirates in the Red Sea, around the southern tip of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. Joshua Slocum was a ship captain in the age of sail, who became unemployed in the age of steam. Not that he could not navigate a steamship, (which he did on at least one occasion - Voyage of the Destroyer ) but his heart was not in steam navigation. This book has been constantly in print since 1900. Which is a great tribute to its alure and readability. - a very good read, written in a very engaging style.
~ 1963- ~

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