Joshua Slocum

Joshua Slocum (1844–1909) was a Canadian-born American sea captain, adventurer and writer, the first person to sail alone around the world. Born in Nova Scotia, he went to sea as a boy and rose to command merchant ships in the Pacific and Asia. After losing his ship Aquidneck off Brazil, he built a boat to bring his family home. Between 1895 and 1898 he sailed his rebuilt sloop Spray single-handed around the globe, and his account, Sailing Alone Around the World, became a classic. In 1909 he set out on another voyage and vanished at sea.