8 h 3 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
One man, a sailing vessel, and a voyage around the world: what does it take to keep going alone?
In Sailing Alone Around the World, Joshua Slocum tells of his solo voyage around the globe. The journey gives this personal account its scope; the man undertaking it gives it its heart. Adventure and biography meet in a story of sailing alone and holding to a purpose.
Slocum’s unshakable determination stands at the center of the book. A voyage around the world is an immense undertaking, but here it belongs to one person. That contrast draws you close: the vast reach of the journey set against the resolve of the man who makes it.
What you’ll discover
- A world-spanning adventure Follow a solo sailing voyage whose course reaches around the globe.
- The man behind the journey Meet Joshua Slocum through his own account of an extraordinary personal undertaking.
- Determination at the center Explore a story that brings unshakable resolve into the heart of adventure.
- The pull of solitude Consider what it means to undertake so vast a journey alone.
- A purpose held firm Find the appeal of a clear goal pursued with unwavering determination.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love true adventure, sailing and the sea, for anyone curious about faraway ports and island people, and for those who enjoy a plain-spoken storyteller with a sly sense of humor.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A joke ship becomes a real project
- Build the boat yourself, plank by plank
- Leaving Boston teaches the first lessons
- Alone on the Atlantic with a ghostly pilot
- Choose caution, and pirates follow
- Aground in Uruguay and welcomed everywhere
- Carpet tacks and caution in the Strait
- The Pacific brings islands, books and sunlit days
- Australia, the Barrier Reef and open water
- Africa, the flat earth and the road home
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Sailing Alone Around the World
by Joshua Slocum · 1900
A retired captain rebuilds a rotting sloop in a field and sails her alone around the world with a tin clock.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would make a man rebuild a rotting sloop in a field and then sail her around the world with no crew at all? In 1895 Joshua Slocum leaves Boston alone aboard the Spray, a boat only thirty-six feet long.
Sailing Alone Around the World at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 30 min3 h 35 min fast, 5 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 64,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1900by Joshua Slocum
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A joke ship becomes a real project
Slocum is born in Nova Scotia, in a family of sailors, and rises to command the fine ship Northern Light. In 1892 he is in Boston with few prospects. An old whaling captain offers him a ship for nothing if he will come to Fairhaven. Slocum accepts at once, thinking the terms very fair.
The next day he finds the joke. The ship is the Spray, a very old sloop propped up in a field, far from any salt water. Her owner, Captain Eben Pierce, has left her there for seven years while the neighbors wonder what he means to do. Slocum says he will rebuild her.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1900
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Slocum, Joshua. Sailing Alone Around the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/sailing-alone-around-the-world.
Slocum, J. (2026). Sailing alone around the world. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/sailing-alone-around-the-world (Original work published 1900)
Slocum, Joshua. Sailing Alone Around the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/sailing-alone-around-the-world.
@book{slocum2026sailing,
author = {Slocum, Joshua},
title = {Sailing Alone Around the World},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/sailing-alone-around-the-world},
note = {First published 1900}
}
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What is Sailing Alone Around the World about?
It is Joshua Slocum's own account of sailing his rebuilt sloop, the Spray, around the world alone from 1895 to 1898, with storms, island visits, lectures and many meetings along the way.
Is Sailing Alone Around the World a true story?
Yes, it is a memoir. Slocum describes his real voyage in the Spray, first prepared for serial publication in Century Magazine. He names real ports, officials and dates, and adds humor and tall tales.
Who is the pilot of the Pinta in the book?
He is a ghostly sailor Slocum sees at the helm during a fever after leaving the Azores, saying he is from Columbus's crew. Slocum later thanks him whenever the Spray runs well.
The author
Joshua Slocum
1844–1909 · American navigator and maritime writer
Joshua Slocum was born in Nova Scotia in 1844 and later became an American citizen. He worked as a sailor and ship captain. From 1895 to 1898, he sailed alone around the world. He published Sailing Alone Around the World in 1900. He disappeared at sea in 1909.
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