Sailing Alone around the World, Joshua Slocum
Sailing Alone around the World, Joshua Slocum
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Sailing Alone around the World

Author: Joshua Slocum

Narrator: Bernard Mayes

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/17/2012

Synopsis

Challenged by an expert who said it couldnt be done, Joshua Slocum, a fearless New England sea captain, set out in April 1895 to prove that a man could sail alone around the world. A little over three years and forty-six thousand miles later, the proof was complete. This is Slocums own account of his remarkable adventures during the historic voyage of theSpray. Whether Slocum was more accomplished as a writer or sailor is hard to say. His writing style is fast paced, witty, and exhilarating, an absorbing match to his harrowing adventuresadventures that included being chased by Moorish pirates off Gibraltar; escaping a fleet of hostile canoes; being submerged by a great wave off the Patagonian coast; an encounter with Black Pedro, the worst murderer in Tierra del Fuego; and foiling a nocturnal attack by savages by strewing carpet tacks on theSprays deck.

About Joshua Slocum

Author and sailor Joshua Slocum (1804–1909[?]) was the first man to sail alone around the world. He wrote about this historic voyage in his most famous book, Sailing Alone Around the World. Although he thought of himself as a sailor first, he was clearly as gifted a writer as he was a shipwright and navigator. His other books include Voyage of the Liberdade and Voyage of the Destroyer.

In 1892, an acquaintance gave Slocum an old sloop, the Spray, which he completely rebuilt and used for an unsuccessful fishing season in 1894. A year later, Slocum decided to sail the boat around the world. He embarked from Boston, Massachusetts, and three years later, after encountering many hardships on his 46,000-mile voyage, he completed his journey in Newport, Rhode Island. He proclaimed himself healthier, happier, and younger than when he left.

Captain Slocum continued to sail the Spray, and in 1909, at the age of 65, he set out once again on a long, single-handed voyage. This time he headed for the Orinoco River and the headwaters of the Amazon. He never arrived and was presumed dead.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Christopher on August 11, 2016

Check out how awesome this Joshua Slocum dude is. He's old, he's on a boat, he's got a badass straw hat. He doesn't care that he looks like a doofus with it on, which makes him that much cooler. He was the first person to circumnavigate the world alone (and that means to sail all the way around it,......more

Goodreads review by Joshua on June 23, 2015

In a word, this book is delightful. The author, Joshua Slocum, did something truly remarkable. He was the first human being to ever sail alone around the world. Yet, perhaps the best part of this story is his style of presentation. Slocum is laid back, self-effacing, and actually quite funny. Some o......more

Goodreads review by James on October 01, 2012

This was one of the most influential books that I have ever read. I read it while still in my teens. Growing up in a seafaring (Naval) family I was able to sail from age eight. At eighteen, when other teens were looking for their first car, I bought (from an eighty-two year old widow) my first yacht......more

Goodreads review by Michael on September 06, 2007

This used to be required reading for Massachusetts high school students. Joshua Slocum was the first to sail solo around the world. Still crazy to this day. The story was great in detail and local interest for the places it dealt with. I love Slocum's writing at points, but like Moby Dick, at other......more

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