Sailing Alone Around the World
Joshua Slocum
MP3 CD
(IDB Productions, July 6, 2014)
Considered by many specialists as one of the most remarkable sailing books ever, Sailing Alone Around the World narrates the adventures and sensational encounters the author, captain Joshua Slocum, experienced during his three years long sailing voyage around the world. This took him from Fairhaven to Boston, Gibraltar, the Magellan Strait, Cockburn Channel, Cape Town, Grenada, Newport and back to Fairhaven. He also visited the cities of Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Sydney, Melbourne and many others, meeting prominent personalities and having interesting dialogues with them. However, captain Slocum's voyage was not a joyride, as he also had to face terrible storms at sea, using all his navigation skills to avoid the deceiving reefs that would damage the bottom of his ship. What really makes the trip and the book extraordinary is the fact that no one, not even a single crew member, accompanied the brave navigator, so he had to do everything by himself. This is the main reason why, on every occasion, Slocum gives his ship almost all the credit for getting out of trouble. Besides being a detailed journal of the voyage, abounding in fascinating descriptions of the exotic places the author visits and presenting the more or less eccentric people he meets, the book also has great documentary value, as numerous sailing techniques considered innovative for the time when it was written are described in it. More than that, the floor plans of the Spray, the ship captain Slocum embarked on for the sensational trip on the world's oceans and seas, are also included in the book. "I had already found that it was not good to be alone, and so made companionship with what there was around me"