The story of Joshua Slocum

[Benthic2]

I came across this video by chance but found it very interesting. It's the story of a Canadian, Joshua Slocum who was the first to sail around the world single handed. It's an interesting and well done video, and was not a story I was familiar with. I am sure some of you guys would like it as well. ( its about 40 minutes long )

 

[Lostsailor13]

The Spray was in my home port of Gloucester

 

[Marco Flamingo]

No need for a video. He wrote a book. Lots of copies available. I think about his journey every time somebody posts a complaint about how their dogs get uncomfortable onboard because the air conditioning doesn't dehumidify properly when running on the diesel generator and they have to start their Efoy methane fuel cell. Or similar complaints.

 

[DDW]

The Spray was in my home port of Gloucester

When was that?

The original Spray was lost at sea in 1909....

 

[Hippocampus]

We past by the field in fairhaven where slocum found his boat not infrequently. Have frequently anchored in Padanaram where he kept it. Worth reading both his books. When the age of sail closed and he had no way to support his family off he went RTW. He refused to captain a steam vessel. He subsided on his book sales afterwards but mostly on his lecture tours. Nevertheless he and his family lived in great hardship. Some say his death was a suicide much like suicide by cop. He was a the consummate sailor but lost at sea in circumstances he would have been expected to survive. A truly tragic story. I have always kept a box of thumbtacks in the nav station in his memory.


Spray may have been in Gloucester and he borne in NS but he considered himself a resident of the South Coast of Massachusetts from what I understand.

 

[hollywood8118]

If you like the story of Slocom, you will love the more recent history of Tristan Jones, His books have a fair amount of "creative embellishment" but he definitely was a hardcore sailor. Look up the I Max film with him in it.
Hollywood

 

[Hippocampus]

Feel slocum is a hero. Jones just hubris. One a fantastically skilled sailor defeated by his romance for a time gone past. Dedicated to his family and his love of sail. The other a egocentric eccentric dilettante.

 

[KnotYet]

Hippo, agree about the thumbtacks!

You never know...

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Feel slocum is a hero. Jones just hubris. One a fantastically skilled sailor defeated by his romance for a time gone past. Dedicated to his family and his love of sail. The other a egocentric eccentric dilettante.

I agree about Jones, and it got worse as time went on. The last book of his I read was transiting Europe (after having lost one of his legs). All Archie Bunker gripes and grumblings about how the world would be better if he was in charge. Absolutely not, probably even for him. His Wikipedia page is interesting.

 

[Benthic2]

When was that?

The original Spray was lost at sea in 1909....

I think the first leg of his journey was from Boston to Gloucester where he spent 2 weeks and outfitted for the trip.

A few details that stood out for me:

Can you imagine trying to dock single handed with sail power and sails on 2 masts ?

He didn't even have a chronometer and did most navigation by dead reckoning

he spent his life on the water but never learned to swim.

That must have been one hell of a boat to circumnavigate with the primitive methods of weather forecasting and only 36 feet long.

 

[kthoennes]

I remember I read Sailing Alone Around the World at an airport during a very long layover when my flight got cancelled. What a life. Can't remember which airport but like other posts, it made me think of how fragile we are now. Waahhh, my refrigerator isn't cold enough (my own complaint). But then I think that a lot, like when I read "Giants in the Earth" about settling South Dakota, where if you let go of the rope between the sod hut and the barn (if you weren't sleeping with the cattle already) during a blizzard, they'd find your body thawing out in the spring. Our predecessors were made of cast iron.

(Although the never learning to swim thing -- sorry Joshua, that was just stupid.)

 

[Shrew]

If you (anyone) hasn't read it, Joshua Slocum published a memoire in 1900:

"Sailing Alone around the World" -Joshua Slocum

It is an interesting read.

 

[Blissboat]

"Sailing Alone Around the World" is not only a fascinating memoir and an expertly told sea story, but is amazing as literature. Slocum received scant formal education - none that we know of beyond age 16, when he went to sea. The rest of his life he spent as a professional mariner, yet the book he left us is enviable for the skillful, spare efficiency of his prose. Even to a novice sailor, the book is readable and comprehensible. Today, some 121 years after publication, it stands as a classic from which anyone can learn something about life afloat and especially at sea, and the late-nineteenth century world that this supremely capable man circumnavigated.

Read some quotes here, and see if you can resist sitting down with Slocum:

https://www.azquotes.com/author/13716-Joshua_Slocum

 

[DDW]

He didn't even have a chronometer and did most navigation by dead reckoning


That must have been one hell of a boat to circumnavigate with the primitive methods of weather forecasting and only 36 feet long.

He didn't have a chronometer, but nevertheless navigated by celestial. It is a bit of an inside joke, his use of a tin alarm clock. He used the Lunar Distance method, which does not require accurate time (though computationally more complex).

Spray was anything but the best boat for that trip, then or now. Slocum was a consummate seaman; then as now ocean voyages can be made in incompetent craft by competent seaman, the reverse more often comes to grief. His trip home with his family from Brazil on a self built raft is one example, the shipwreck and self rescue of the Washington in Alaska onother.

His writing is prose and literature, however the polish is likely the result of extensive input by his editor according to biographers. He was a complex individual, late in life he ran into trouble, convicted of indecent exposure to a 12 year old girl, which some claim was a misunderstanding.

 

[Adopo]

Thanks for posting this! I watched this on my smart TV today, and although I have seen it before, enjoyed it just as much this time around. I found it interesting that they speculate he was run down by a steamer, ironic but fitting demise for a man who could not change if that was the case.

Anyway, down the worm hole I went, seeing this one next. This is amazing and worth watching.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

 

[HopCar]

Since my family has been in Miami over a hundred years I’m interested in Miami history. I follow a couple of Miami history groups on Facebook. Someone published a photo of a boat yard on the Miami River taken in the early 1900’s. Sure enough Spray was hauled out in the yard.

 

[mvweebles]

Thanks for posting this! I watched this on my smart TV today, and although I have seen it before, enjoyed it just as much this time around. I found it interesting that they speculate he was run down by a steamer, ironic but fitting demise for a man who could not change if that was the case.

Anyway, down the worm hole I went, seeing this one next. This is amazing and worth watching.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

30+ years ago, I devoured all of these stories - whatever I could find in my local library. All were tremendously influential and motivational for me - Tristan Jones, while not my favorite, was fine by me.

The late 1960s was an amazing time for small boat sailing. Despite the feat of being the first non-stop solo sailor, Knox Johnson was arguably overshadowed by some incredible characters during the first Golden Globe race. Bernard Moitessier was clearly going to win, but instead of turning north up the Atlantic bound for England, he decided to keep going. This had a totally unforeseeable consequence of forcing Donald Crowhurst into an apparent lead. Crowhurst was a fraud/crackpot of a sailor with a fragile trimaran who had been faking his circumnavigation by circling the Atlantic with false radio reports. His plan was to finish second where he'd have less scrutiny and could hide his fraudulent circumnavigation. His boat was found floating. Theory is he committed suicide instead of facing ruin and embarrassment.

Back to Knox Johnson and his win of the first RTW solo race, classic case of "half of life is just showing up." Of the 9 boats that stated the race, he was the only one to finish.

Peter

 

[Rubber Duck]

Joshua Slocum said primer were very important.

 

[O C Diver]

His writing is prose and literature, however the polish is likely the result of extensive input by his editor according to biographers. He was a complex individual, late in life he ran into trouble, convicted of indecent exposure to a 12 year old girl, which some claim was a misunderstanding.

I came away feeling the experiences in the book were his, but not the writings. While I felt he wrote about what happened, the astute published probably recognized it would take a polished writer to make it sell. Just as Slocum wasn't master of the sea on his first voyage, people who write aren't noted authors with their first or second attempt.

Ted

 

[Blissboat]

I came away feeling the experiences in the book were his, but not the writings. While I felt he wrote about what happened, the astute published probably recognized it would take a polished writer to make it sell. Just as Slocum wasn't master of the sea on his first voyage, people who write aren't noted authors with their first or second attempt.

Ted

No doubt an editor was involved - that's part of the publishing business. But Slocum's authorial "voice" comes through as distinctive and authentic. A publisher astute enough to take this book on in the first place would preserve that voice, rather than mess it up by trying to improve it.

 

[Alaskaflyer]

30+ years ago, I devoured all of these stories - whatever I could find in my local library. All were tremendously influential and motivational for me - Tristan Jones, while not my favorite, was fine by me.

The late 1960s was an amazing time for small boat sailing. Despite the feat of being the first non-stop solo sailor, Knox Johnson was arguably overshadowed by some incredible characters during the first Golden Globe race. Bernard Moitessier was clearly going to win, but instead of turning north up the Atlantic bound for England, he decided to keep going. This had a totally unforeseeable consequence of forcing Donald Crowhurst into an apparent lead. Crowhurst was a fraud/crackpot of a sailor with a fragile trimaran who had been faking his circumnavigation by circling the Atlantic with false radio reports. His plan was to finish second where he'd have less scrutiny and could hide his fraudulent circumnavigation. His boat was found floating. Theory is he committed suicide instead of facing ruin and embarrassment.

Back to Knox Johnson and his win of the first RTW solo race, classic case of "half of life is just showing up." Of the 9 boats that stated the race, he was the only one to finish.

Peter

Check out the 2017 movie The Mercy about Crowhurst. More psychological drama than sailing adventure, but it’s a good watch with Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz.

 

[Shrew]

Joshua Slocum said primer were very important.

I love that in his book Slocum referred to paint as "White Lead", of which someone was kind enough to gift him a few gallons during his initial refit in Massachusetts.

I had to look it up. At the time, there was two common paints (both lead based) 'Red Lead' for steel, and 'White Lead' for wood.

One of the things that I recall being amazing was that he solo circumnavigated before auto-pilots or even wind vanes. Yet he managed to tune the rig and lash the helm and sail for 23 days (2,700 miles) and only spent a total of less than 3 hours at the helm during that leg.

 

[HopCar]

“I had to look it up. At the time, there was two common paints (both lead based) 'Red Lead' for steel, and 'White Lead' for wood.“

I still had red lead in stock in my store in the seventies. It didn’t sell well and was soon discontinued.

 

[Benthic2]

Copper bottom paint was invented and manufactured in Gloucester, MA

 

[Hippocampus]

Folks had been putting sheets of copper on the bottom of boats for centuries. Folks still use a couple of blocks and then tie sheets to the tiller to effect an AP. Although spray (including the steel reproductions) are lousy sailors c/w other designs the original Spray was a true full keel design so tracked well. Most well designed sailboats do even if not full keeled. We had the pin connecting the drive arm of our AP fall out on passage. Was running a far reach and on the AP not the hydrovane. Only came aware of it on the twice daily look around in every compartment/locker including the aft most compartment. That was on a balanced spade rudder/high aspect bulbed fin boat. Think both well designed sailboats and trawlers track well. You fall off there’s a better chance the boat will reach the destination than you. Don’t fall off. For all the money spent on MOB stuff tell crew MOB=death.

 

[KnotYet]

Yup, my sheet to tiller set-up worked fine most of the way from L.A. to Hawaii.
On watch just needed to glance at the compass every 5-10 minutes or so...

 

[rsn48]

Thought I'd throw in a book about two guys who set out to sail around the world in a dugout canoe made by First Nations in BC. The boat still exists in the Maritime museum in Victoria. Below is a link to the author of the book, he was the director of the museum for five years and subsequently wrote this story.

These two guys, our hero's (sort of) of the book, decided that if they went around the world in something smaller than Slocum's Spray they could make a lot of money from their feat. So they were inspired by Slocum, but the inspiration was wealth based. Well as you can guess, events didn't unfold as planned but that dug out went many a mile regardless.

Here is the link to the book John MacFarlane wrote:

Around the World in a Dugout Canoe : The Untold Story of Captain John Voss and the Tilikum

And here is a link to a zoom call of John discussing his book and the dugout canoe expedition:

 

[Elmo]

Wow, do these threads wander. Sometimes in a good way.

Slocum's book used to be required reading in Canada for grade school. Started disappearing from curriculum just before I started school in the 1960's. Read it anyway. Good read.

 

[MichaelD]

it's all in your mind

OK, on this theme of "real sailors" vs light weight complainers, check out recent Netflix movie "The Alpinist". I still can't lose the pucker.

 

[bjp447]

I agree about Jones, and it got worse as time went on. The last book of his I read was transiting Europe (after having lost one of his legs). All Archie Bunker gripes and grumblings about how the world would be better if he was in charge. Absolutely not, probably even for him. His Wikipedia page is interesting.

I have read about Joshua Slocum and Tristan Jones plus other.
Not to debate anyone including Hippo (who Triastan must owe money or something to)
I think they are kinda 2 sides to the same coin, the coin being the sea. Like the line from one of Jimmy Buffets song - you can learn a little from both.
I had to google some of those words in Hippo's comment