Alone around the world

"No one can know the pleasure of sailing alone and freely on the vast oceans unless they have experienced it." In 1895, Joshua Slocum set sail from Boston in the sailboat he had painstakingly restored over several years. Having already sailed so much, he wanted to return to the open sea, alone this time. Three years later, his 46,000-mile "cruise" came to an end. Slocum dropped anchor in Newport Harbor: he had completed the first solo circumnavigation of the world. An extraordinary feat at the time, and still legendary today. For generations of sailors worldwide, Slocum remains a role model for his determination and presence of mind, as well as for his ability to face solitude. His unfailingly positive attitude is perhaps the secret to the enduring enthusiasm for his adventures, the account of which has become an essential classic of maritime literature.