The Liberdade built and sailed by Joshua Slocum

The Liberdade was constructed by Joshua Slocum after a shipwreck.
He used this vessel to sail himself and his family back to the United States from Brazil.

This is a cross section view of the Liberdade.
Note the bamboo bundles on the gunnles to add flotation.
Some of the features, planking, etc. are much like a Cape Ann Dory, other features are much like a sampan.

The Voyage of the Liberdade from Project Gutenberg
is available here full text, in a pure text (not html) version.
This book is also commercially available from Dover Publications

David Sinnett-Jones, of Wales, constructed a near-reproduction of the Liberdade and sailed it half-way across the Atlantic in 1998.
He sailed from UK to the Azores and then west. Equipment breakages forced a return to the Azores and later back to UK.
Late in the following year he sailed to Brazil, then in 2000 to USA re-creating Slocum's Liberdade trip.

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The Liberdade re-creation designed by Bruce Roberts-Goodson. - - - David Sinnett-Jones holding a model of the re-creation.
These 2 pictures courtesy of Bruce Roberts-Goodson.

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Photo of the Liberdade replica made by David Sinnett-Jones.
Photo courtesy of Melville C. Brown.
This photo made in 2005 after the voyage from Brazil to USA and after a lot of tender loving care.
The boat is currently owned by A. Dilorenzo.

David Sinnett-Jones had a homepage located at compuserve
It contained considerable information on his life and voyages, and the current Liberdade project. Those pages no longer exist.
A sponsor was was sought for a re-creation of Slocum's voyage from Brazil to Boston for a year 2000 celebration.
Whether or not there was a sponsor, the re-creation was sailed to Brazil and then on to Boston.
David sailed the boat alone to Brazil. There he took on Mike Austin as crew and headed north. David later became ill in the Carribean and flew back to the U.K. for medical treatment. Mike sailed the Liberdade on to Norfolk, Virginia, USA. From there David and another friend sailed the boat on to New York and then to the Slocum celebration in Massachusetts, arriving in June 2000.

On 10 July 2000, Liberdade was in Martha's Vineyard, USA.
It was put up for sale in late 2000. In 2003 there was an attempt by 2 men from Wales to sail the boat from Massachusetts to Wales. It was not successful, and the boat returned to Massachusetts.
David Sinnett-Jones died Nov. 15, 2004 at home in Wales, UK he was 74 years old.

The Liberdade re-creation eventually became property of A. Dilorenzo.

A web page about David Sinnett-Jones Cruise News about D.S.J. - - - the Cruise News website still exists (Feb. 2018) but all reference to D. Sinnett-Jones is missing.

A photo of this vessel is available on Bruce Roberts-Goodson web site.
(same photos as he gave me permission to display above)
Junk-2 the Liberdade

Books by David Sinnett-Jones
Not All Plain Sailing - Hardcover: 204 pages Published 1989 - ISBN-10: 0297796534
To the Cape of Storms - paperback: 216 pages Published Acorn Publishing (October 30, 1993) ISBN-10: 0952157217
Passion for Life: Adventure Against the Odds - a general autobiography - Paperback: 270 pages Published: iUniverse, Inc. (May 23, 2004) ISBN-10: 0595316484

page updated 2 Feb. 2018 -

To return to the Slocum main page Click here.

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