Slocum, Joshua

(born Feb. 20, 1844, Wilmot, Nova Scotia, Can.—disappeared 1909/10, at sea) Canadian seaman and adventurer. He worked his way up from ship's cook to captain of a trading vessel by 1869. Wrecked with his family on the Brazilian coast in 1886, he built a canoe from the wreckage and paddled back to New York. He set sail from Boston in 1895 in a 36-ft, 9-in. (11.2-m) fishing boat. In three years, two months, and two days, he sailed 46,000 mi (74,000 km) in a circuitous route ending in Newport, R.I, becoming the first man in recorded history to sail around the world singlehandedly. He wrote several books, including the classic Sailing Alone Around the World. In 1909 he set sail for Grand Cayman from New England and was lost at sea.

Slocum, Joshua (1844–c. 1910) mariner, adventurer, author; born in Wilmot Township, Nova Scotia, Canada. His family was of Loyalist descent. He went to sea as a cook and sailed in the Pacific Ocean. He became a naturalized American citizen and married twice (an Australian and an American). He built an 80-ton steamer in the Philippines (1874) and was prosperous until 1886. After being wrecked off Brazil (1887), he, his wife, and two sons built a 35-foot sailing canoe and returned to New York City. Aboard the 35-foot Spray, he sailed around the world alone (1895–98), traveling 46,000 miles. He retired to West Tisbury, Mass., and wrote Sailing Alone Around the World (1900). He sailed again in the Spray (1909) and was never heard from again.