Sailing Alone Around the World

I read this years ago when underway on patrol on USCGC Northland and loved it. If you like to sail and dream about cruising off to distant destinations this book is for you. I purchased this copy to keep on my Pacific Secraft 37.

I read this book when I was in high school in the 1940's and reading it again has brought back memories of reading great books

The book is written in a style that's difficult to understand, unless you're familiar with boats and sailing (and I'm really not) and the language and terminology used a hundred years or more ago. I was looking for a book that would describe the day to day challenges of circumnavigating the world, but this one is more a series of accounts of things the author thought would be interesting, as opposed to instructive. Still, this is probably required reading for anyone interested in the topic (and history) of sailing around the world. After all, Slocum is acknowledged to be the first person to sail around the wold alone. But if you're like me, keep some sort of reference handy to discern the meaning -- access to the Internet is invaluable. I'm enjoying the book, but it takes some effort to understand.

I bought this for a friend. I read this book... let's just say a lifetime ago. I have bought this book several times and given many copies away. It is a fantastic story of the first person to sail alone around the world nearly 70 years before an English bloke did the same thing. No GPS, no chronometer, and no dog.

As one who sails a fiberglass boat of just a few feet shorter, I must admire the man's skill and sense of comfort with himself. It is also interesting to imagine that within 16 years of his story, WW1 would start. Innocence (if it really existed) lost.

Having a bit of time in boats myself, J. Slocum’s account of his voyage around the world in Spray is stunning, beautiful and inspiring. His story has been told and re-told but never resonating better than in his own words. A modest man with little formal education, Slocum writes poetically as well as spinning a practical yarn. The reader is transported into scene after scene on this magnificent voyage. Enjoy!

Great read. It was a different world then but inspiring to read what a guy can do.

I believe that a great book like this should have a minimum care from the editors with the binding. Just after open it, the covers curls, almost making two pipes as front and back covers.

In April 1895, Joshua Slocum set sail from Boston on a solo voyage around the world. Three years later he returned, the first person to accomplish such a thing. He choose as his ship an old oyster boat, almost 100 years old which he refitted for what he knew would be a long and dangerous adventure. The Spray would become so famous for its speed and self steering abilities, that it is still copied by shipbuilders today.Slocum was born a Canadian in Nova Scotia in a village overlooking the Bay of Fundy. Having had a long career with the sea, on British merchant ships and captain on his own trading ships during age of sail, he was not a young man when he left Boston harbour. This of itself makes for a remarkable accomplishment.Slocum writes in a style we would consider dated, but its jolly sense of irony makes for a sea shanty tone, which is appealing. Often he understates the dangers he met, such as pirates off the coast of Africa and the natives in the Magellean Straits, or high seas that batter his little vessel. But he always seems to arrive at a safe harbour, often greeted by the local governor or harbour master and feted as a celebrity. He always seems to be surprised at this hospitality and interest in his voyage, and several times is invited to give lectures about his adventures. He meets the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa, debates with President Krueger of South Africa who believes that the Earth is flat, and visits St Helena, Napolean's place of exile. Everywhere from Gibraltar to Sydney to Mauritius he is met with kindness and generosity, in an age when there was no advance communication to promote himself to help finance his trip.When this book was published it was a bestseller and made Slocum famous. He did book tours, often with the Spray if it was at a port. During the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, President McKinley came on board for a visit. Two hours later he was assassinated outside the Temple of Music. Captain Slocum himself disappeared several years later with the Spray on a voyage to the Caribbean, never to be seen again.

Un libro muy inspirador.Una obligación para cada navegante.

This is an amazing story of an adventurer of years gone by. It is a must read for anyone who loves the sea, sailing, and who wants to dig deep into Joshua Slocomb's life story and personality. A man gifted in many ways and whose life story should be a lesson for anyone.

Having read this wonderful story in my youth I determined to buy a copy as a gift to a friend, and one for myself. I had a choice of several different versions - (copyright long ago expired.) I chose two versions to get the benefit of different illustrations or maps etc. One of them was OK which I gave to my friend. The other is a joke - "Printed in Poland by Amazon Fulfillment". The text seems to be set by a first-time user of a poor word processor. No illustrations or maps. Paragraphs end e.g. with a line of three words spread across a page. Pages are not numbered until the fourth page of chapter 17 where page 1 begins! A page and a half of notes at the end, some empty, none of them referenced anywhere in the text. An insult to customers! Buyer Beware!

A good book