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Joshua Slocum was born in the family's farm house 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. When Joshua was eight years old, the Slocombe family moved from Mount Hanley to Brier Island in Digby County, at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Slocum's maternal grandfather was the keeper of the lighthouse 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.
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In 1860, after the birth of the eleventh Slocombe (Joshua changed the spelling of his last name) 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, Ireland.
From Dublin, he crossed to Liverpool to become an ordinary seaman on the British merchant ship Tangier, bound for China. During two years as a seaman, he rounded Cape Horn twice, landed at Jakarta in the Dutch East Indies, and visited the Moluccas, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, and San Francisco. While at sea, he studied for the Board of Trade examination, and, at the age of eighteen, he received his certificate as a fully qualified Second Mate. Slocum quickly rose through the ranks to become a Chief Mate on British ships transporting coal and grain between the British Isles and San Francisco.
He sailed for thirteen years out of the port of San Francisco, transporting mixed cargo to China, Australia, the Spice Islands, 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.
From Dublin, he crossed to Liverpool to become an ordinary seaman on the British merchant ship Tangier, bound for China. During two years as a seaman, he rounded Cape Horn twice, landed at Jakarta in the Dutch East Indies, and visited the Moluccas, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, and San Francisco. While at sea, he studied for the Board of Trade examination, and, at the age of eighteen, he received his certificate as a fully qualified Second Mate. Slocum quickly rose through the ranks to become a Chief Mate on British ships transporting coal and grain between the British Isles and San Francisco.
He sailed for thirteen years out of the port of San Francisco, transporting mixed cargo to China, Australia, the Spice Islands, 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.
The Washington in Alaska
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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.
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His next command was the Benjamin Aymar, a merchant vessel in the South Seas trade. However, the owner, strapped for cash, sold the vessel out from under Slocum, and he and Virginia found themselves stranded in the Philippines without a ship.
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. In partial payment for the work, he was given the ninety-ton schooner, Pato, the first ship he could call his own.
Ownership of the Pato afforded Slocum the kind of freedom and autonomy he had never experienced before. Hiring a crew, he contracted to deliver a cargo to Vancouver 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; he became a temporary correspondent for the San Francisco Bee.
The Slocums next bought a third share in the Northern Light. 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.
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. In partial payment for the work, he was given the ninety-ton schooner, Pato, the first ship he could call his own.
Ownership of the Pato afforded Slocum the kind of freedom and autonomy he had never experienced before. Hiring a crew, he contracted to deliver a cargo to Vancouver 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; he became a temporary correspondent for the San Francisco Bee.
The Slocums next bought a third share in the Northern Light. 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 B. Aymar, which Joshua Commanded in 1874-75
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The Northern Light, which Joshua Commanded in 1881-1883; Joshua and his crew passed by Krakatoa in August 1883 as it was erupting
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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 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.
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The Aquidneck.
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In 1886, at age 42, Slocum married his 24-year-old cousin, Henrietta Elliott. The Slocum family, with the exception of Jessie and Benjamin Aymar, again took to the sea aboard the Aquidneck, bound for Montevideo, 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, and they were quarantined for six months. Later, Slocum was forced to defend his ship from pirates, one of whom he shot and killed; he was tried and acquitted of murder. Next, the Aquidneck was infected with smallpox, 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 unlucky Aquidneck was wrecked in southern Brazil
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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 local workforce. The boat was launched on May 13, 1888, the very day slavery was abolished in Brazil, and therefore the ship was given the Portuguese name Liberdade. It was an unusual 35-foot junk-rigged design which he described as "half Cape Ann dory and half Japanese sampan ".
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He and his family began their voyage back to the United States, his son Victor being the mate. After fifty-five days at sea and 5510 miles, the Slocums reached Cape Roman, South Carolin and continued inland to Washington D.C. for winter and finally reaching Boston via New York in 1889.
In 1892, a friend, a retired whaleman, Captain Eben Pierce, invited Joshua Slocum to Fairhaven, Mass where he offered him a ship "that wants some repairs." It was an ancient oyster sloop, said to have been nearly 100 years old. The "Spray" was beached for nearly seven years. No one knows what he felt at first sight, but from that hour Slocum and the Spray would never be apart. To me, it sounds of "love at first sight."
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The Spray, 36 feet, nine inches overall, 14 feet, 2 inches wide, and 4 feet, 2 inches deep in the hold, had a gross tonnage of just under 13 tons; net tonnage, 9.
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When finally launched, Slocum said, "She sat on the water like a swan."
The Spray’s design has been called “the most perfect, for her purposes, ever conceived.
Incredibly, Joshua Slocum’s most fantastic voyage had yet to begin. Setting out in the Spray from Boston on April 24, 1895, Captain Slocum began a three year and 46,000 mile journey, becoming the first man to solo circumnavigate the globe.
"I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895 was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail, and filled away from Boston, where the Spray had been moored snugly all winter. The twelve o'clock whistles were blowing just as the sloop shot ahead under full sail. A short board was made up the harbor on the port tack, then coming about she stood to seaward, with her boom well off to port, and swung past the ferries with lively heels. A photographer on the outer pier of East Boston got a picture of her as she swept by, her flag at the peak throwing her folds clear. A thrilling pulse beat high in me. My step was light on deck in the crisp air. I felt there could be no turning back, and that I was engaging in an adventure the meaning of which I thoroughly understood."
-Joshua Slocom
-Joshua Slocom
Captain Slocum’s voyage is the classic sea adventure. The stars and a one dollar tin clock together with a lifetime of experience on the sea were his only tools of navigation. Departing Boston on April 24, 1895, Captain Slocum made his first solo port at Gloucester, earning the interest and the envy of the old fisherman inquiring after him. Then sailing north to his birthplace at Brier Island in Nova Scotia, rounding Cape Sable Island, and Captain Slocum made the Azores in 18 days. By August 4, 1895, his grand adventure had preceded him and he was given a berth at the Spanish arsenal at Gibraltar.
Chased by pirates in the Mediterranean, the Captain revised his course back across the Atlantic, porting at Rio de Janeiro on November 5th. The Spray ran ashore at Uruguay – though nearly drowned, Captain Slocum reported feeling “serene.” A giant wave would later momentarily submerge the vessel off Patagonia, and his life would flash before his eyes.
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Joshua Aboard Spray in South American Waters (1895)
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Hostile natives board the Spray under the cover of night in Patagonia. Passage through the Straits of Magellan would be rife with challenges. Storms and williwaws shredded his sails, “savages” were dissuaded from boarding only by gunshots by day and a deck littered with carpet tacks at night, and the desolate granite islands were so bleak and dreary that he declined to shoot even a waterfowl for his dinner and leave there one less life.
Then, the overflowing hospitality of nearly three dozen ports throughout the Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Captain Joshua Slocum’s return at Newport, Rhode Island, on June 27, 1898, was a homecoming in geography only; home was the Spray, each port, and the sea.
A storm of biting hail would bloody the captain’s face, and on other days flying fish would litter his deck to provide a welcome meal. Wet ropes cut his hands, the only on deck, and other labors would number his useful fingers less than ten.
His adventure would find him dining with “kings,” chiefs and governors in exotic southern-latitude ports. His harrowing navigation through the Straits of Magellan and “The Milky Way,” a string of islands at the wild tip of South America, would partake of a glory known previously only by the crew of Darwin’s Beagle.
The Pacific Ocean on the other side belied its name as hurricanes blew the Spray back into the Straits where Captain Slocum stayed for four more weeks. He finally sailed free from Cape Horn and Tierra Del Fuego on April 13, 1896, nearly three months after first sailing into the Milky Way.
Robinson Crusoe’s cave on Juan Fernandez Island and Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing desk at Samoa brought wonder to the countenance of a man who had once scraped mud from his sail after a famous “Blood Rain” brought the red dusts of Africa to storms over the ocean.
Sailing now by the Sun, the Southern Cross, the Trade Winds and intuition, the next year would be filled with the hospitality of South Pacific ports, lecturing and celebrity in Australian ports, and a legendary debate over the “flatness” of the world at Cape Town, South Africa. He would port at St. Helena on April 21, 1898, and rue the day that he accepted the gift of a goat. Calling it “the worst pirate I met on the whole voyage,” the goat ate his straw hat, it’s rope tie, and, finally, the Captain’s charts of the West Indies. The goat disembarked into the “care” of the crew of a man-of-war anchored at Ascension Island.
Then, the overflowing hospitality of nearly three dozen ports throughout the Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Captain Joshua Slocum’s return at Newport, Rhode Island, on June 27, 1898, was a homecoming in geography only; home was the Spray, each port, and the sea.
A storm of biting hail would bloody the captain’s face, and on other days flying fish would litter his deck to provide a welcome meal. Wet ropes cut his hands, the only on deck, and other labors would number his useful fingers less than ten.
His adventure would find him dining with “kings,” chiefs and governors in exotic southern-latitude ports. His harrowing navigation through the Straits of Magellan and “The Milky Way,” a string of islands at the wild tip of South America, would partake of a glory known previously only by the crew of Darwin’s Beagle.
The Pacific Ocean on the other side belied its name as hurricanes blew the Spray back into the Straits where Captain Slocum stayed for four more weeks. He finally sailed free from Cape Horn and Tierra Del Fuego on April 13, 1896, nearly three months after first sailing into the Milky Way.
Robinson Crusoe’s cave on Juan Fernandez Island and Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing desk at Samoa brought wonder to the countenance of a man who had once scraped mud from his sail after a famous “Blood Rain” brought the red dusts of Africa to storms over the ocean.
Sailing now by the Sun, the Southern Cross, the Trade Winds and intuition, the next year would be filled with the hospitality of South Pacific ports, lecturing and celebrity in Australian ports, and a legendary debate over the “flatness” of the world at Cape Town, South Africa. He would port at St. Helena on April 21, 1898, and rue the day that he accepted the gift of a goat. Calling it “the worst pirate I met on the whole voyage,” the goat ate his straw hat, it’s rope tie, and, finally, the Captain’s charts of the West Indies. The goat disembarked into the “care” of the crew of a man-of-war anchored at Ascension Island.
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In Pretoria, South Africa, Joshua had a chilly meeting with South African President Paul Kruger. President Kruger Believed that the World was flat and couldn't be "sailed around."
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In the year 1898, at the age of 51, Captain Joshua Slocum became the first man to sail around the world alone. His 46,000 mile voyage in the 36 foot sloop "Spray" was only part of a life of adventure, exploration, and ingenuity, making him one of the world's most famous sailors.
Captain Slocum and the Spray would travel the Erie Canal and exhibit at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, there selling a pamphlet containing swatches clipped from one of the Spray’s sails. He would make the acquaintance of Buffalo Bill Cody and President McKinley, who would board the Spray to sign her guestbook, and then be assassinated hours later, affording the Captain the chance to be present at Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration.
Capt. Slocum's book, "Sailing Alone Around the World", became an instant best seller. This classic, self published by Slocum in 1900, remains in print even now. Joshua Slocum's writings revealed other talents as well: his significant literary gift and charming sense of humor.
Captain Slocum and the Spray would travel the Erie Canal and exhibit at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, there selling a pamphlet containing swatches clipped from one of the Spray’s sails. He would make the acquaintance of Buffalo Bill Cody and President McKinley, who would board the Spray to sign her guestbook, and then be assassinated hours later, affording the Captain the chance to be present at Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration.
Capt. Slocum's book, "Sailing Alone Around the World", became an instant best seller. This classic, self published by Slocum in 1900, remains in print even now. Joshua Slocum's writings revealed other talents as well: his significant literary gift and charming sense of humor.
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Farming hops in Martha’s Vineyard while wintering in the Tropics filled the next few years, but by age sixty five in 1909, adventure and exploration would pull the Captain back to the sea.
The Spray and Captain Slocum would sail one last time in November of that year, heading for Venezuela and the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. He was never to be heard from again, presumed lost at sea.
The Spray and Captain Slocum would sail one last time in November of that year, heading for Venezuela and the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. He was never to be heard from again, presumed lost at sea.
From
- Wikipedia
- Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
- http://66south.com/Slocum/
- http://www.joshuaslocum.com/
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