Alone at Sea

The Adventures of Joshua Slocum
In 1895, Joshua Slocum sailed 46,000 miles alone in a refitted sloop, without modern equipment. Ann Spencers gripping biography, enriched by journals and new research, recounts this remarkable maritime feat.

A new printing of a long-unavailable classic.

“I had only a moment to get all sail down and myself upon the peak halliards, out of danger, when I saw the mighty crest towering masthead high above me.

The mountain of water submerged my vessel. She shook in every timber and reeled under the weight of the sea.”

What would it be like to sail around the world, alone in a boat, without GPS, radios and the technical equipment we have today?

Joshua Slocum did it. In 1895, he set off on the Spray on a three-year, 46,000-mile solo circumnavigation of Earth. The boat was a refitted oyster sloop, which took him through terrible storms and pirate-filled waters. He had 36 full months of trials and ill-luck, in complete solitude. Alone at Sea is his thrilling story.

“On his first solo day, Slocum found himself enveloped by fog so thick ‘one could almost stand on it.’ It was as if his loneliness had been made visible as the thick fog ‘lowered over the sea like a pall.’

He and the Spray were one small speck on an all-encompassing sea, invisible to the rest of the world. Slocum pondered his invisibility with a growing awareness of his insignificance in the universe: ‘In the dismal fog I felt myself drifting into loneliness, an insect on a straw in the midst of the elements.'”

Alone at Sea was published nearly 30 years ago. At the time it was the first full-scale biography of Joshua Slocum published in more than 40 years. Investigative reporter Ann Spencer spent years poring over the sailor’s own journals and historical records, buried deep in libraries and archives throughout New England and Nova Scotia. She uncovered new facts, photographs and documents published here.

With Spencer’s engaging text and peppered with Slocum’s own journal entries, this is captivating reading for anyone interested in nautical history, travel and the soul of a true adventurer.

Heroes come rarely in real life and this is the story of a too-little-known maritime hero.

“Splendid. eloquent testimony to the continuing power of Slocum’s inspiring example.”
— The Globe and Mail