First solo circumnavigation

 

Since Magellan and his crew, circumnavigation

has been an aspiration of countless sailors!

 

1898: Joshua Slocum, Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, became the first person to sail alone around the globe, at the age of 54. In 1895, he set sail from Boston in his rebuilt 37-foot sloop Spray with no GPS, no international sponsors, no backup teams and no life insurance, just him in a wooden boat in a vast open sea. More than 3 years later, 1898, he returned to Newport, Rhode Island, having sailed 46,000 miles almost entirely by dead reckoning, and almost unnoticed...due to the Spanish-American War!

 

Slocum was celebrated in New York, Boston and Washington; became a great friend of Teddy Roosevelt and gave Archie Roosevelt sailing lessons; and was in great demand for lectures, yacht club appearances, and as guest of honour at the posh clubs in New York and Boston. No doubt it was hard for the world's first solo circumnavigator to throttle down to the pace of life of West Tisbury and maybe it showed.

 

1909: Slocum set sail alone in the Spray from Martha's Vineyard. He was heading for South America and the headwaters of the Orinoco River. Like most 19th century sailors, he had never learned to swim. He disappeared in the boat he had built, doing what he loved most - sailing alone - he believed - the sea would claim him if it meant to...

 

...a speedy return wasn't important to him, but the gauntlet had been thrown down!