The Canadians: Joshua Slocum

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[ Clanging of buoy bell ] Male voice: [ Narrating ] IN 1898, A CANADIAN SEA CAPTAIN NAMED JOSHUA SLOCUM SAILED INTO NEWPORT HARBOUR, COMPLETING A 46,000-MILE VOYAGE, THE FIRST MAN EVER TO SAIL ALONE AROUND THE WORLD. HIS VOYAGE HAS INSPIRED THOUSANDS TO FOLLOW IN HIS WAKE. LIKE MAGELLAN AND THE ASTRONAUTS, SLOCUM HELPED SHRINK THE GLOBE. HIS BOOK ON THE VOYAGE IS A CLASSIC OF MARITIME LITERATURE. HIS COMPLEX LIFE SWUNG FROM POVERTY TO PRESIDENTS, THROUGH MUTINY, SHIPWRECK, PRISON AND EVEN MURDER. HIS RENOWN HAS GROWN STEADILY IN THE 90 YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH. HE IS DEAD FOR ALMOST A CENTURY, SLOCUM'S LEGACY IS VIBRANTLY ALIVE AROUND THE WORLD. THERE HAVE BEEN MORE REPLICAS OF HIS YAWL THAN OF ANY OTHER BOAT IN HISTORY. [ ♪♪♪ ] HOW MANY OTHER BOOKS WRITTEN IN 1900 ARE STILL IN PRINT? HE HAS ADMIRERS AROUND THE GLOBE. HISTORIAN AND WRITER, MYRA LOPES. HE WAS, IN MY OPINION, SOMEONE WHO SHOULD BE PUT UP THERE WITH THE GREATEST HEROES OF THE WORLD. Narrator: SLOCUM'S LIFE IS STILL STUDIED AND EMULATED ON TRAINING SHIPS LIKE THIS ONE, SEEN HERE RACING FROM HIS HAILING PORT OF BOSTON TO HIS BIRTHPLACE IN NOVA SCOTIA. THERE'S A MAN IN ENGLAND WHO MAKES COPIES OF THE "SPRAY", AND... AND HE ESTIMATES THAT AS MANY AS 800 HAVE BEEN MADE SINCE SLOCUM'S OWN VOYAGE WHICH WAS FROM 1895 TO 1898. SO HE'S HAD A HUGE INFLUENCE ON PEOPLE BECAUSE WHAT HE DID REALLY CHANGED PEOPLE'S IDEAS OF FREEDOM AND OF INDEPENDENCE. Narrator: HE IS HONOURED WITH PLAQUES FROM BRIER ISLAND TO TASMANIA. I THEREFORE, WILLIAM F. WELD, GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, DO HEREBY DECLARE APRIL 24th, 1995, AS JOSHUA SLOCUM DAY. Narrator: COMMODORE TED JONES RUNS THE JOSHUA SLOCUM SOCIETY. ...HE WAS BRAVE AND HE WAS EXCEPTIONALLY SMART, EVEN THOUGH HE ONLY HAD TWO YEARS OF SCHOOL. SO I THINK WHAT WE ADMIRE ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE THAT IS THAT THEY'VE DONE IT SINGLE-HANDEDLY. Narrator: BARS, HOTEL ROOMS AND RESTAURANTS, LIKE THIS ONE IN NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA ARE NAMED FOR THE WELL-TRAVELLED MARINER. NOVA SCOTIAN AND NEW ENGLAND MANTLE PIECES ARE RIFE WITH MODELS OF THE PLUCKY LITTLE BOAT, BUT MOST OF THE REPLICAS ARE FULL-SIZED. IN RALEIGH, MASSACHUSETTS, A TATTOOED, FIERY SEADOG NAMED KEN MacARTHUR WORKED FOR YEARS BUILDING THIS "SPRAY" REPLICA UNTIL 1980 WHEN THE PROJECT WAS TAKEN OVER BY FRED EBINGER. I WAS ACQUAINTED WITH THE BUILDER. WHEN I WAS KIND OF A LITTLE BOY, AND WHEN I FIRST SAW IT, I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A PIRATE SHIP WASHED UP ON THE BEACH. Narrator: LEN PEARSON, SAILING HIS "SPRAY" REPLICA "THE THANE" IN THE OUTER HARBOUR OF VICTORIA, B.C., IS TYPICAL OF THE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE EMULATED SLOCUM'S LIFE. ONE DAY I WAS JUST DRIVING ALONG, AND I FOUND A BOAT UNDER A CHERRY TREE, AND I RECOGNIZED IT AS A "SPRAY", SO I GAVE THE GUY MY '68 CHEVY FOR THE HULL, AND PUT THE DECKS AND CABIN ON HER, AND BUILT HER UP AND HERE SHE IS. Narrator: AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF SLOCUM'S CIRCUMNAVIGATION, SHIPBUILDER ED DAVIS ARRIVES FROM MAINE WITH HIS REPLICA, AND ACTOR MICHAEL HOGAN FROM CANADA IN COSTUME AS SLOCUM. WITH A GROUP OF SLOCUM AFICIONADOS, THEY'RE SAILING ACROSS BOSTON HARBOUR. OLD JOSHUA LEFT A BIT OF A LEGEND, AND IT'S THAT LEGEND OF EACH MAN IN TIME HAVING THE DESIRE, THE DREAM TO GO TO SEA. SLOCUM IS MORE THAN THE INSPIRATION. HE'S THE MAN WHO DID IT. AND HE'S THE MAN BY WHICH YOU COMPARE WHAT YOU DO. Narrator: DAVID DUNN WAS AN IDAHO SCHOOL TEACHER WHO DROPPED HIS CAREER FOR A COMPLEX TEN-YEAR PROJECT ON THE ANCIENT MARINER. WE ARE GOING TO RECREATE SLOCUM'S VOYAGE IN ITS ENTIRETY. AGAIN, WE'LL... WE'LL ENTER AND EXIT THE PORTS THE SAME TIME SLOCUM DID. OUR VESSEL IS THE LARGEST COPY OF THE "SPRAY" EVER MADE. WE HAVE TOTALLY REBUILT HER, AND SYSTEMS ARE SET UP AS AN EXPEDITION VESSEL. AND THEN TEAMS OF TEACHERS WILL JOIN ME IN TEAMS OF THREE. THEY WILL TEACH VIA SATELLITE INTO THE INTERNET, AND THE LESSONS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AROUND THE WORLD. Narrator: WHO IS THIS MAN WHO INSPIRES SUCH ENTHUSIASM? SLOCUM WAS BORN ON THE EDGE OF THE BAY OF FUNDY IN, HE WRITES, "A COLD SPOT ON COLDEST NORTH MOUNTAIN, ON A COLD FEBRUARY 20th, 1844." HIS BIRTHPLACE SURVIVES TODAY, AS DOES THIS SCHOOL, A MEMORIAL TO ITS MOST FAMOUS PUPIL WHO ATTENDED FROM 1850 TO '52, WHEN HIS FATHER, UNABLE TO MAKE A LIVING FROM THE FARM, MOVED HIS FAMILY OF 11 TO THE RUGGED SOUTHWESTERN TIP OF NOVA SCOTIA. [ ♪♪♪ ] BRIER ISLAND AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE BAY OF FUNDY. THEN THEY WOULD HAVE SAILED FOR THE LITTLE ISLAND. TODAY YOU ARRIVE BY A FERRY NAMED FOR THE ISLAND'S MOST CELEBRATED SON. NOW, IT'S BEST KNOWN FOR WHALES AND WHALE WATCHING. THEN, THE ISLANDERS EKED A FRAGILE EXISTENCE FROM THE SEA. MOST OF THE BUILDINGS WERE MADE FROM TIMBERS OF SHIPS WRECKED ON ITS BEACHES AND ROCKS. Church congregation: [ Singing hymn ] SLOCUM WAS FORCED INTO WEEKLY ATTENDANCE HERE AT THE WESTPORT BAPTIST CHURCH BY HIS TYRANNICAL FATHER WHO ACTED AS DEACON OF THE CHURCH AND HELD PEW 13 FOR THE FAMILY. HE ALSO PULLED SLOCUM FROM SCHOOL TO WORK IN THIS BOOT SHOP, TURNING OUT LEATHER BOOTS FOR THE ISLAND FISHERMEN. SO ALTHOUGH JOSHUA WOULD BECOME NOT ONLY AN ACCOMPLISHED SEA CAPTAIN, BUT ALSO AN ACCLAIMED WRITER, HE HAD LEFT SCHOOL WITH ONLY A GRADE SCHOOL EDUCATION. SLOCUM HATED THE BOOT SHOP. FASCINATED BY THE SHIPS OUTSIDE THE GRIMY WINDOWS, HE WOULD RETREAT INTO HIS OWN WORLD, CARVING A COMPLEX SHIP MODEL. WHEN HIS FATHER FOUND WHAT HE CALLED "THE DEVIL'S HANDIWORK", HE SMASHED IT UNDERFOOT, DESTROYING WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS SON. WHEN HIS MOTHER DIED A YEAR LATER, SLOCUM RAN AWAY TO SEA, FIRST AS A COOK ON A SCHOONER, AND THEN ON A DEAL DRAGGER SAILING FOR LIVERPOOL. [ ♪♪♪ ] Rowe: [ Quoting Slocum ] "THE WONDERFUL SEA CHARMED ME FROM THE FIRST. I WAS BORN IN THE BREEZES, AND I STUDIED THE SEA AS PERHAPS FEW HAVE, NEGLECTING ALL ELSE." [ ♪♪♪ ] Narrator: THE 1860s, THE HEIGHT OF THE AGE OF SAIL. AS MANY TALL SHIPS WERE ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC THEN AS JETLINERS ARE ABOVE IT TODAY. AND THE GREAT PORTS OF LIVERPOOL, NEW YORK, HALIFAX AND QUEBEC WERE A FOREST OF NOVA SCOTIAN SPRUCE. IN ANOTHER 20 YEARS, IT WOULD BE ALL OVER. UNAWARE THAT HIS SKILLS WOULD SOON BE COMMERCIALLY USELESS, JOSHUA SLOCUM THREW HIMSELF INTO LEARNING THE ROPES AND STUDYING THE DEMANDING SCIENCE, JUST AS KIDS HIS AGE DO TODAY. THE COMPANY ON TODAY'S TALL SHIPS MAY BE BETTER THAN IT WAS IN SLOCUM'S DAY, BUT THE SEA IS UNCHANGED. THE FOG IS JUST AS THICK, THE WATER JUST AS COLD, THE WAVES JUST AS BIG, THE MASTS STILL AS TALL. THERE GOES THE SUN OVER THAT WAY CROSSING THE HORIZON AT AN ANGLE ABOVE THE HORIZON. Narrator: AND FIGURING OUT WHERE YOU ARE USING A SEXTANT, TRIGONOMETRY AND CELESTIAL NAVIGATION IS STILL JUST AS COMPLICATED. ALL RIGHT. SO THE BOOK TELLS US DECLINATION, THE SEXTANT TELLS US H.O. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS ADD OR SUBTRACT THE RIGHT WAY USING FORMULAS SIMILAR TO THIS, AND WE'VE GOT OUR LATITUDE. BINGO. THAT'S EXACTLY HOW COLUMBUS DID IT TOO. Narrator: SLOCUM BECAME A MASTER NAVIGATOR, A SKILL THAT WOULD SERVE HIM NOT ONLY ON THE MANY TALL SHIPS HE COMMANDED, BUT EVEN MORE SO ON HIS EPIC, BUT RIDICULOUSLY UNDER-FINANCED VOYAGE ALONE AROUND THE WORLD. Rowe: [ Quoting Slocum ] "MY OLD CHRONOMETER, WHICH WAS A GOOD ONE, HAD BEEN LONG IN DISUSE. I TRIED TO GET IT CLEANED AND RATED, BUT THEY WANTED $15 FOR IT. $15! THEY MAY AS WELL ASK FOR THE MOON. I TRAVELLED WITH NOTHING TILL I GOT TO NOVA SCOTIA, BUT ONCE I GOT TO YARMOUTH, I GOT MY FAMOUS TIN CLOCK, THE ONLY TIMEPIECE I CARRIED ON THE WHOLE VOYAGE. THE PRICE OF IT WAS A DOLLAR AND A HALF, BUT ON ACCOUNT OF THE FACE BEING SMASHED, THE MERCHANT LET ME HAVE IT FOR A DOLLAR." Narrator: SO SLOCUM NAVIGATED SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST DIFFICULT AND TREACHEROUS WATERS USING A $1 TIN CLOCK. [ Whistling of wind ] HE USED THE LUNAR METHOD. CONSIDERED LABORIOUS AND ARCHAIC EVEN THEN, IT'S FORGOTTEN TODAY, BUT IT HAD THE ADVANTAGE OF NOT REQUIRING ABSO- LUTELY ACCURATE TIME, THUS NOT REQUIRING THE $15 SLOCUM DIDN'T HAVE. HIS EXTRAORDINARY NAVIGATION WAS FURTHER TESTED WHEN A GOAT, GIVEN TO HIM BY THE ISLANDERS OF SAINT HELENA, ATE HIS ONLY CHART OF THE CARIBBEAN. SO SLOCUM NOT ONLY CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE GLOBE WITHOUT A CHRONOMETER, BUT SOMETIMES WITHOUT A CHART, RELYING ON HIS MEMORY OF PAST TRIPS THROUGH THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS. [ ♪♪♪ ] SLOCUM'S INTERESTS WERE NARROW BUT DEEP. HE WAS OBSESSED WITH THE SEA; IN LOVE WITH IT. [ ♪♪♪ ] THROUGHOUT THE 1860s AND THE 1870s, HE SAILED THE ATLANTIC, THE CARIBBEAN, THE PACIFIC AND THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. [ ♪♪♪ ] HE ALSO TRIED BOAT BUILDING AND FISHING, AND FOR A SEASON HUNTING SEA OTTERS OFF THE COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. BY 1869, HE HAD WON COM- MAND OF HIS FIRST SHIP, A COASTING SCHOONER, THEN MOVED UP TO A BARQUE. A YEAR LATER, HE SAILED TO AUSTRALIA WHERE HE WOULD MEET AND MARRY THE SECOND LOVE OF HIS LIFE. [ ♪♪♪ ] Narrator: AT A DANCE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, SLOCUM MET THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BECOME HIS WIFE. HER NAME WAS VIRGINIA ALBERTINA WALKER, AND SHE WAS VERY STRIKING, VERY BEAUTIFUL. HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HER. AND HE WAS ONLY THERE THREE WEEKS, AND THIS JUST TELLS YOU HOW FAST A MAN HE WAS. HE FELL IN LOVE; HE DATED HER, AND HE ASKED HER TO MARRY HIM, AND SHE SAID YES. Spencer: HE MARRIED HER JANUARY 31st, 1871, AND SHE WAS VERY WILLING TO BE A SEA CAPTAIN'S WIFE. A YEAR LATER, THEIR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN; VICTOR. VIRGINIA HAD ALL HER CHILDREN AT SEA. IT DIDN'T MATTER WHERE THEY WERE IN THE WORLD. IF THERE WAS SOMEONE WHO WAS AVAILABLE TO HELP VIRGINIA WITH THE BIRTH, THAT WAS FINE. THEY MIGHT BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORMY SEA, BUT VIRGINIA JUST SEEMED TO ACCEPT THOSE CONDITIONS, AND THAT WAS A WAY OF LIFE FOR SEA CAPTAINS' WIVES. Narrator: IN 1881, SLOCUM WON COMMAND AND PART OWNERSHIP OF THE "NORTHERN LIGHT", AT THAT TIME CONSIDERED THE FINEST AMERICAN VESSEL AFLOAT. IT WAS THE PINNACLE OF THE AGE OF SAIL, AND THE PINNACLE OF JOSHUA SLOCUM'S CAREER. HE HAD FINANCIAL SUCCESS. HE WAS WELL RESPECTED, BEEN AROUND THE WORLD FIVE TIMES, HAD BEEN CAPTAIN OF FIVE OF THE BEST SHIPS, AND THEN WHEN HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUY THE "NORTHERN LIGHT", HE KNEW IT WAS HIS DREAM COME TRUE. HE WAS ONLY 40 YEARS OLD. Narrator: BUT THERE WAS A CLOUD ON THE HORIZON, A CLOUD OF SMOKE FROM THE STEAMSHIPS THAT WERE BEING LAUNCHED EVERYWHERE, TAKING OVER AND DESTROY- ING SLOCUM'S WORLD AND THE AGE OF SAIL. IN THE 1880s, THEY BUILT THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, AND SLUNG IT LOW ENOUGH ACROSS THE EAST RIVER THAT ONLY STEAMSHIPS COULD GET UNDER IT. WHEN THE WORLD'S BIGGEST HARBOUR WAS SUDDENLY CUT OFF FROM THE SAILING SHIPS THAT HAD CREATED IT, IT WAS A TERRIBLE SYMBOL OF WHAT WAS TO COME. SLOCUM MADE A LAST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD IN THE "NORTHERN LIGHT", BUT A MUTINOUS CREW MADE THE TRIP A DISASTER FROM START TO FINISH. [ Mutinous shouting ] Lopes: THEY CAME AT THE CAPTAIN WITH KNIVES, WHATEVER THEY COULD HOLD IN THEIR HAND, AND HE WAS FIGHTING SOMEONE WHO HAD A KNIFE WHO WAS AIMING AT HIS THROAT, WHEN VIRGINIA CAME ON DECK. THE INSTIGATOR WAS TAKEN OFF IN... HANDCUFFED AND TAKEN OFF TO JAIL. THE... A MATE WAS KILLED. Narrator: IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC, SLOCUM CAME UPON FIVE SHIPWRECKED CASTAWAYS. THE SHIP HAD A CLOSE BRUSH WITH KRAKATOA, THE MOST TERRIBLE VOLCANIC EXPLOSION IN ALL OF HISTORY. OFF SOUTH AFRICA, IT WAS HIT BY A STORM THAT DESTROYED ITS SAILS AND ALL ITS CARGO. ON THE VOYAGE HOME, SLOCUM RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY IMPRISONED AN EX- CONVICT, NOW SECOND MATE NAMED HENRY SLAYTER. THE INCIDENT WOULD RESULT IN CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST THE CAPTAIN. IT WOULD CONTINUE TO HAUNT HIM YEARS LATER AS HE SAILED ALONE AROUND THE WORLD. SLOCUM WAS SAILING AGAINST THE TIDE. HE WATCHED AS THE MASTS OF HIS ONCE MAGNIFICENT VESSEL WERE SAWN OFF, THE HULL TURNED INTO A COAL BARGE. IT WAS ANOTHER TERRIBLE SYMBOL OF THE END OF HIS WORLD. "STEAMSHIPS, FILTHY, STINKING STEAMSHIPS," SLOCUM CALLED THEM, WERE TAKING OVER. [ Blaring of ship horn ] SLOCUM WAS LOYAL TO HIS CALLING, BUT THOUSANDS LEFT IT. IT BECAME MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT TO GET ANYONE BUT THE WORST DREGS OF SOCIETY TO WORK THE SAILING SHIPS. BUT SLOCUM SOLDIERED ON, DOWNGRADING TO A SMALLER SHIP, THE "AQUIDNECK", AND BEGAN RUNNING CARGO BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. AGAIN HE TOOK HIS WIFE AND FAMILY TRAVELLING WITH HIM. BUT WHILE THEY WERE ANCHORED IN A STEAMY COVE OFF BUENOS AIRES, VIRGINIA DIED OF HEART FAILURE ON JULY THE 25th, 1884. IT WAS A HUGE BLOW TO JOSHUA. AND THE CAPTAIN WAS DEVASTATED BECAUSE THIS WAS A MARRIAGE OF 13 YEARS, AND HE TRULY LOVED THIS WOMAN. SLOCUM WAS NEVER THE SAME. IN FACT, HIS SON VICTOR SAID THAT... HIS FATHER WAS LIKE A SHIP WITH A BROKEN RUDDER. Narrator: SLOCUM RETURNED TO SEA, RETURNED TO AMERICA. AND 19 MONTHS AFTER VIRGINIA'S DEATH, ENTERED INTO AN ILL-FATED MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE WITH HIS NOVA SCOTIA-BORN COUSIN, HETTIE ELLIOTT. IT SOON BECAME A MARRIAGE OF INCONVENIENCE. FOLLOWING VIRGINIA'S DEATH, SLOCUM WAS VISITED IN QUICK SUCCESSION BY MOST OF THE OTHER HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE. TRYING TO SHIP A LOAD OF POORLY-PACKED PIANOS TO BRAZIL THROUGH A WINTER STORM, HE LOST THEM AND THE REST OF THE CARGO, COMPOUNDING HIS FINAN- CIAL DIFFICULTIES. AS THEY SAILED SOUTH TO ARGENTINA, THE CREW BECAME INFECTED WITH SMALLPOX AND CHOLERA. THEN AFTER TWO YEARS OF TROUBLE WITH CARGOES, STORMS, LATIN AMERICAN RED TAPE AND EPIDEMICS, SLOCUM BOTTOMED OUT WITH THE WORST CALAMITY OF ALL FOR A MARINER... SHIPWRECK. [ Cracking of timbers ] [ ♪♪♪ ] Rowe: [ Quoting Slocum ] "I'LL WAGER THAT SINCE MAN FIRST TOOK TO THE OCEANS, THERE HAVE BEEN LITERALLY MILLIONS OF SHIPS SUNK ON THE EDGES OR THE BOTTOM OF THE SEAS. BUT HEFTY PRECEDENT DOESN'T MAKE YOU FEEL ANY BETTER WHEN YOU HEAR THAT TERRIBLE SOUND OF KEEL STRIKING BOTTOM, OR FEEL THE AWFUL SENSATION AS YOUR SHIP CUTS HER WAY, NOT THROUGH WATER, BUT INTO GRANITE." Narrator: ON A SANDBAR IN BRAZIL, BESIDE THE BONES AND HEART OF HIS BROKEN SHIP, SLOCUM'S CAREER AS A MERCHANT CAPTAIN WAS ENDED. FROM NOW ON, HE WOULD BE A WANDERER. HIS NEW MISSION, HIS LEGEND, HIS ODYSSEY HAD BEGUN. NOW JOSHUA, BY THE TIME HE PAID THE CREW OFF, HAD LOST EVERY- THING, SO HE HADN'T VERY MUCH MONEY. HE HADN'T GOT ENOUGH MONEY TO GET HOME, AND HE'D GOT HIS WIFE AND TWO SONS WITH HIM, AND HE DECIDED THE ONLY REAL WAY TO GET HOME WAS TO BUILD A SEA-GOING CANOE FROM WHAT HE COULD SAL- VAGE FROM THE MAIN SHIP. Narrator: 120 YEARS LATER, A WELSH SEAMAN NAMED DAVID SINNETT-JONES WAS IN A SIMILAR POSITION. HIS CAREER AS A PROFESSIONAL RACING DRIVER WAS WRECKED WHEN HE LOST A LUNG TO CANCER. HIS FIRST BOAT, A REPLICA OF SLOCUM'S "SPRAY", LAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE IRISH SEA. LIKE SLOCUM ON A BEACH IN BRAZIL, DAVID SET ABOUT TO REBUILD HIS LIFE. [ ♪♪♪ ] I SAID TO SUZANNE, "THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD DO IF I CAN GET SPONSORSHIP TO BUILD "LIBERDADE", BECAUSE I'M SHIPWRECKED, SO I HAVEN'T GOT A SHIP. SO THIS IS WHAT I SHOULD DO, THE SAME AS JOSHUA DID. HE BUILT THE "LIBERDADE" WHEN HE WAS SHIPWRECKED IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL." Narrator: DAVID BUILT A REPLICA, THE FIRST EVER, OF THE 36-FOOT SAILING CANOE THAT SLOCUM HAD BUILT WITH HIS FAMILY ON THE BRAZILIAN BEACH. THE "LIBERDADE" VOYAGE, 5,800 MILES FROM BRAZIL TO WASHINGTON, D.C. WAS QUITE REMARKABLE. SLOCUM TURNED THE TRIP INTO HIS FIRST BOOK, "THE VOYAGE OF THE 'LIBERDADE'". AND WITH IT BEGAN THE TRADITION OF BLUE-WATER FAMILY CRUISING ADVENTURE THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. [ ♪♪♪ ] DAVID SINNETT-JONES' VOYAGE IS ALMOST AS REMARKABLE. THIS 71-YEAR-OLD WITH ONE LUNG SAILED HIS "LIBERDADE" ALONE FROM WALES TO BRAZIL, AND THEN RECREATED SLOCUM'S ROUTE, SAILING FROM PARANAGUA TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD. [ ♪♪♪ ] [ Croaking of frogs ] ANOTHER FIRST FOR SLOCUM, ONCE THEY GOT TO THE U.S., WAS TO PUSH THEIR WAY NORTH THROUGH THE SWAMPS AND WETLANDS OF THE CAROLINAS, THUS BECOMING ONE OF THE VERY FIRST BLUE-WATER BOATS TO NAVIGATE WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY. THE GREAT CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHER MATTHEW BRADY, TOOK THIS PORTRAIT OF SLOCUM. HE WAS EARNING NOTORIETY BUT LITTLE ELSE. HIS NEW WIFE, AFTER THE TERRORS OF THE SHIPWRECK AND THE DANGERS OF THE VOYAGE BACK, WOULD NEVER SAIL AGAIN. SHE TOOK THE CHILDREN BY RAIL BACK TO LIVE WITH HER INLAND RELATIVES. THE MARRIAGE WAS BEGINNING TO CRUMBLE. [ ♪♪♪ ] WITHIN FIVE YEARS, SLOCUM HAD LOST VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING: HIS WIFE, HIS HOME, HIS MONEY, HIS FAMILY AND HIS PROFESSION. HE HAD RUN AGROUND. [ Honky-tonk ♪♪♪ ] Narrator: THE WORLD WAS CHANGING RAPIDLY. ELECTRIC TRAMS WERE REPLACING HORSES. RAILWAYS WERE REPLACING SHIPS, STEAM REPLACING SAIL. [ Blaring of ship horn ] SLOCUM TRIED TO ADJUST, TAKING ON THE DANGEROUS, DIFFICULT TASK OF DELIVERING A STEAM WARSHIP, THE "DESTROYER" TO A DISSIDENT BRAZILIAN GENERAL. THE BRAZILIANS MANAGED TO SINK THE SHIP. SLOCUM WAS NEVER PAID, AND HE RETURNED HOME, BANKRUPT IN POCKET- BOOK AND SPIRIT. A CHANCE VISIT TO A READING BY THE GREAT NOVELIST HERMAN MELVILLE WOULD CHANGE HIS LIFE. AT THE SAME TIME AS THE AGE OF SAIL WAS WANING, MELVILLE, ALONG WITH OTHER WRITERS SUCH AS ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, INSTILLED A NEW SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE AND A DREAM OF ISLANDS IN THE SMOKY, INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE. Melville's words: "...WITH A WILD EXCLAMATION OF DELIGHT, SHE DISENGAGED FROM HER PERSON THE TAPA ROBE WHICH WAS KNOTTED OVER HER SHOULDER, AND SPREADING IT OUT LIKE A SAIL, STOOD ERECT, WITH ARMS UPRAISED, IN THE HEAD OF THE CANOE." Narrator: SLOCUM WAS INSPIRED. IF THERE WAS NO MORE NEED FOR SAILING CAPTAINS, THEN ONE WOULD JUST GO IN SMALLER BOATS WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS AS CREW, OR INDEED SAIL ALONE. AND THEN, LIKE MELVILLE AND STEVENSON, TURN THE ADVENTURE INTO LITERATURE, AND MAKE THE VOYAGE PAY BY TELLING OTHERS ABOUT IT. SO SLOCUM MORPHED FROM SUCCESSFUL SHIP'S CAPTAIN TO PENNILESS, HOMELESS WRITER. IN THE ECONOMIC GALES OF THE 1890s, WITH ALL THE OLD LANDMARKS MISSING, THE BUOYS SUNK, THE LIGHTHOUSES OUT, SLOCUM WAS IN DANGER OF FOUNDERING. IN A BOSTON SHIPYARD, A CHANCE MEETING WITH AN OLD WHALER WOULD PUT HIS LIFE BACK ON COURSE. CAPTAIN EBEN PEARCE WAS A WHALING CAPTAIN WHO HAD MADE HIS FORTUNE, AND CONTRIBUTED MIGHTILY TO THE DECIMATION OF THE WORLD'S WHALES BY INVENTING THE POWER HARPOON. HE LISTENED TO THE TALE OF CAPTAIN SLOCUM'S DECLINING FORTUNES. "YOU WANT A SHIP?" HE ASKED. "COME DOWN TO FAIRHAVEN. I'LL GIVE YOU A SHIP." THE SHIP PEARCE WAS OFFERING WAS THE "SPRAY", A ROTTING, HUNDRED- YEAR-OLD OYSTER SMACK WITH A TREE GROWING THROUGH IT. SLOCUM FOUND IT HERE IN THIS FIELD. THIS IS WHERE HE REBUILT IT, WHERE HE LAUNCHED IT AND WHERE HE RETURNED THREE YEARS, TWO MONTHS AND TWO DAYS LATER. IGNORING THE YANKEE NAYSAYERS WHO ASKED HOW IT WOULD PAY TO REBUILD THE OLD DERELICT, SLOCUM SET TO WORK. JUST AS DAVID DUNN WOULD 120 YEARS LATER WHEN HE BEGAN REBUILDING FOLKSINGER BURL IVES' "SPRAY" REPLICA, HIS FIRST TASK WOULD HAVE BEEN TO BUILD A STEAM BOX FOR THE PLANKS FOR HIS HULL. BY THE TIME HE HAD FINISHED, HE HAD REPLACED VIRTUALLY EVERY TIMBER IN THE ANCIENT TUB. WITH EACH NEW RIB AND FRAME, HE REBUILT AND RESHAPED, NOT ONLY THE "SPRAY", BUT HIS OWN LIFE. IT WAS A LOT OF WORK AND A PRETTY ROUGH- LOOKING PROJECT, BUT THE BARE ESSENTIALS WERE THERE IN ACES, AND IT WAS VERY, VERY GOOD. Narrator: LEN PEARSON COULD BE TALKING OF SLOCUM'S WORK, BUT IN FACT HE'S TALKING OF HIS OWN. SO I DID A LOT OF SCROUNGING. AND MOST OF THE TEAK CAME FROM OLD STEAMER DOORS FROM AN ABANDONED SHIPYARD. AND I CHASED OLD DEMOLITION COMPANIES AROUND TO SCROUNGE THE BEST MATERIAL OUT OF THE HOUSES THAT WERE BEING TORN DOWN IN VICTORIA BACK IN THE '70s. SO EVERY PIECE OF WOOD ON THIS BOAT IS... HAS A HISTORY. Narrator: HAVING SPENT 13 MONTHS AND EXACTLY $553.62 ON THE BOAT, SLOCUM LAUNCHED HER AND SAILED TO BOSTON. THERE HE MET MABEL WAGNALLS, 24, HEIR TO THE FUNK & WAGNALLS PUBLISHING EMPIRE. SHE TOLD HIM TO FOLLOW HIS DREAM TO BE THE FIRST MAN TO SAIL ALONE AROUND THE WORLD. EVERYONE ELSE SAID HE WAS CRAZY, BUT SHE TOLD HIM, "THE 'SPRAY' WILL COME BACK." SLOCUM WEIGHED ANCHOR AND SET SAIL ON APRIL THE 24th, 1895. AFTER LINGERING IN GLOUCESTER, HE SAILED FOR HIS OLD HOMETOWN OF WESTPORT, BRIER ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA. WHAT DID HE FIND ON THE ISLAND HE HAD LEFT 35 YEARS EARLIER? A PLACE LITTLE CHANGED, AND INDEED, NOT PROFOUNDLY CHANGED TODAY, THOUGH NOW FULL OF MEMORIALS TO ITS MOST FAMED RESIDENT. PHIL SHEA REMEMBERS HIS GREAT-AUNT'S RESPONSE TO SLOCUM'S VISIT. HE HAD QUITE AN EYE FOR THE LADIES, SHE SAID. AND MY FATHER DIDN'T LIKE IT. SO WHEN HE WAS HERE ON THE "SPRAY", HE TOOK SOME... AND HE ASKED SOME OF THE YOUNG LADIES IN WESTPORT TO GO OUT FOR A SAIL, AND SHE WAS VERY DIS- APPOINTED BECAUSE HER FATHER WOULDN'T LET HER. Narrator: WHILE FILMING ON BRIER ISLAND, OUR CREW UNCOVERED A LETTER BY SLOCUM FROM GIBRALTAR, WHICH CORRECTS THE STORY TOLD BY ALL HIS PREVIOUS BIOGRAPHERS. SLOCUM DID NOT LEAVE FROM YARMOUTH AS ALL MAPS OF HIS VOYAGE WOULD HAVE IT, BUT RATHER SAILED TO HALIFAX, APPARENTLY TO PICK A FIGHT WITH SOME UNNAMED ENEMY. AT THE LAST MINUTE HE CHANGED HIS MIND, SAILED AROUND GEORGE'S ISLAND, AND HEADED BACK OUT TO SEA. SINCE SLOCUM VIR- TUALLY INVENTED SINGLE-HANDED SAILING, HE HAD TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO DEAL WITH THE UTTER ALONENESS OF IT. AT FIRST HE TRIED CALLING OUT COMMANDS TO IMAGINARY MATES, "BUT MY VOICE," HE SAID, "SOUNDED HOLLOW ON THE EMPTY AIR", SOON, THE EXCITEMENT OF HIS ADVENTURE OVERCAME THE SOLITUDE OF IT. HIS NEXT LANDFALL WAS THE AZORES. JUST AS THE TRANS- OCEANIC WANDERERS, SAILING IN SLOCUM'S WAKE DO TODAY, HE ATTENDED SHORE- SIDE SERVICES HONOURING THE LOCAL SAINTS, AND THEN LEFT HIS MARK ON THE SEAWALL. HE WAS ALSO GIVEN SOME PLUMS AND WHITE CHEESE THAT ALMOST KILLED HIM. HE GOT SICK WITH FOOD POISONING ONE TIME, AND WITH A BIG STORM COMING UP, HE'S LYING DOWN BELOW, AND DEATHLY ILL, CAN'T SAVE HIS LIFE, AND HE LOOKS UP ON DECK, AND STANDING AT THE HELM IS... A MAN WITH A BLACK BEARD AND A RED BANDANNA WHO EXPLAINS HE'S THE PILOT OF THE "PINTA", ONE OF COLUMBUS' MEN COME TO HELP IN HIS TIME OF NEED. HE SAYS, "SKIPPER, REST EASY. I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOUR SHIP FOR YOU." SO SLOCUM ROLLS OVER AND GOES TO SLEEP. THE NEXT MORNING HE WAKES UP, THE SUN'S SHINING, THE STORM HAS GONE DOWN. THE "SPRAY" IS SAILING HER COURSE. EVERYTHING'S NORMAL. Narrator: SLOCUM'S APPARITION CONTINUED TO HELP HIM THROUGH DIFFICULT MOMENTS. BUT HE WAS NOT NEEDED ON THE NEXT STOP, GIBRALTAR, WHERE SLOCUM IS GREETED AS A CELEBRITY AND ROYALLY HOSTED BY THE BRITISH NAVY. BUT THEY TOLD HIM THAT HIS PLANNED ROUTE WAS FAR TOO DANGEROUS. AND SO, CONVINCED THAT THE MEDITERRANEAN AND RED SEAS WERE INFESTED WITH PIRATES, SLOCUM HEADED BACK ACROSS THE ATLANTIC BOUND FOR CAPE HORN. IT WOULD BE NO GOOD HEADING FOR PANAMA; THAT PROJECT HAD ONLY BEGUN, TRANSFORMING THE WORLD BY DIGGING A CANAL. WITHIN DAYS, HE WAS ATTACKED BY PIRATES AFTER ALL, OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST OF MOROCCO. OR SO SAID THE NEWSPAPERS, AND SO SAYS HIS BOOK. WERE THEY REALLY PIRATES? OR WERE THEY JUST DARK-SKINNED SAILORS TRAVELLING THE SAME COURSE HE WAS ON, TURNED INTO PIRATES BY HIS IMAGINATION? WHATEVER THE TRUTH, HE SAID THAT JUST THEN, THE WIND FRESHENED SUDDENLY, BREAKING THE BOOM OF THE ARAB FELUCCA. SLOCUM KEPT HEADING FOR SOUTH AMERICA, AND HIS GREATEST ADVENTURES YET. THE FIRST WAS A GROUNDING OFF THE COAST OF URUGUAY WHICH ALMOST RESULTED IN A DROWNING. SLOCUM MAY HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST SEA CAPTAIN OF THE 19th CENTURY; HE MAY HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST SAILOR OF THE 20th CENTURY, BUT HE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SWIM. FEW SAILORS DID, ESPECIALLY SAILORS FROM THOSE COLD CANADIAN WATERS. A GAUCHO TRIED TO MAKE OFF WITH BOTH THE "SPRAY" AND ITS TENDER. SLOCUM HAD TO FIGHT TO GET THEM BACK. BUT THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, AND THE GREATEST ACCOM- PLISHMENT OF THE VOYAGE WAS SLOCUM'S PASSAGE THROUGH THE STORMY WATERS OF THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN IN SOUTHERN PATAGONIA. HE WAS NOT A FOOLHARDY SAILOR. HE WAS QUITE CONSERVATIVE, HE KNEW WHAT TO DO, HE KNEW WHEN TO DO IT. I MEAN, HIS RE- MARKABLE VOYAGE, SAILING THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN, WITH ALL OF ITS ADVERSE WINDS AND STORMS. THAT IN ITSELF IS A FEAT THAT WOULD MAKE A MAN FAMOUS. HE WAS BLOWN OUT OF THE STRAITS, BLOWN BACK INTO THE STRAITS, AND SAILED OUT AGAIN. Narrator: LARRY TYLER IS A BRITISH SAILOR AND FILMMAKER, SINGLE-HANDEDLY RECREATING SLOCUM'S PASSAGE TO THE SOUTHERN TIP OF SOUTH AMERICA. FOLLOWING IN THE WAKE OF JOSHUA SLOCUM ON THE "SPRAY", THE "DOVE" AND I, WE SAILED A SIMILAR ROUTE FROM MONTEVIDEO TO BUENOS AIRES, AND THEN FROM BUENOS AIRES OUT INTO THE SEA, ENCOUNTERING THE SAME KIND OF CONDITIONS THAT HE HAD: HORRIBLE HEAD WINDS, AND WE BEAT OUT TWO DAYS AND TWO NIGHTS INTO NASTY, SHARP SEAS. THE WHOLE PLACE IS LIKE A GRAVEYARD TO SHIPS. THEN ONCE WE WERE OUT AT SEA, WE HEADED SOUTH DOWN THE PATAGONIAN COAST, A WILD AND FOR- BIDDING COUNTRY. [ Howling of winds ] THE WINDS JUST HOWL AND HOWL AND HOWL. TODAY YOU COULD SAY IT'S THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM. IT'S ONE OF THESE DEAD, DEAD, CALM DAYS, HARDLY ANY WIND. WE'RE HARDLY MAKING ANY HEADWAY, [ Screeching of eagle ] BUT WITHIN AN HOUR WE COULD START HAVING A SNOWSTORM. IN THE EVENING IT COULD BE HAILING OR HEAVY, HEAVY RAIN. IT'S A VERY DRAMATIC AND WILD CORNER OF THE EARTH. IT'S A CHALLENGE FOR SAILING BOATS TO COME DOWN HERE NOWADAYS. BUT THINK OF IT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO WHEN JOSHUA SLOCUM WAS HERE. IT WAS EVEN MORE OF A CHALLENGE. A MOST REMARKABLE MAN. Narrator: ON VALENTINES DAY, 1896, SLOCUM ARRIVED AT THE DUSTY CHILEAN PORT OF PUNTA ARENAS. THERE, IN A SAIL LOFT, HE MET AN OLD SEA CAPTAIN WHO SUGGESTED A DEFENCE TECHNIQUE AGAINST THE PATAGONIAN NATIVES, THEN STILL CONSIDERED VERY DANGEROUS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE BEST-KNOWN STORY OF SLOCUM'S VOYAGE. CAPTAIN PEDRO SAMBLICH GAVE JOSHUA A BOX OF TACKS, AND HE TOLD HIM TO SPRINKLE THESE ON THE DECK AT NIGHT SO THAT SHOULD ANY NATIVES TRY AND BOARD HIM AND KILL HIM OR TAKE HIS BOAT, THEY WOULD BE FIRST STEPPING ON THE TACKS. AND SURE ENOUGH, THESE TACKS PROBABLY SAVED JOSHUA'S LIFE AND ALLOWED HIM TO CARRY ON ON HIS SINGLE-HANDED, ROUND-THE-WORLD VOYAGE. Narrator: ALTHOUGH HIS READERS RESPONDED WITH GLEE TO HIS STORIES OF FENDING OFF NATIVES WITH CARPET TACKS, IN TRUTH, THE NATIVES AND THE WILD NATURE OF PATAGONIA CHANGED SLOCUM PROFOUNDLY. [ ♪♪♪ ] Rowe: [ Quoting Slocum ] IT'S A FACT THAT IN MAGELLAN, I LET PASS MANY DUCKS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD STEW. FOR IN THIS LONESOME WILD STRAIT, I REALLY HAD NO MIND TO TAKE THE LIFE OF ANY LIVING THING. Narrator: IT TOOK SLOCUM TWO MONTHS TO MAKE HIS WAY THROUGH THESE CONVOLUTED CHANNELS, PARTICULARLY THE NIGHTMARISH COLLECTION OF REEFS, ROCKS AND ISLANDS CALLED THE MILKY WAY. THE MILKY WAY IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST TREACHEROUS WATER ON THE EARTH. THE STORY GOES, IS THAT ONLY TWO VESSELS HAVE EVER, IN THAT TIME ANYWAY, HAVE EVER MADE IT THROUGH THE MILKY WAY. ONE WAS THE "BEAGLE" WITH DARWIN AND A FULL CREW, AND THEY MADE IT DURING THE DAYTIME. AND SLOCUM MADE IT THROUGH THE MILKY WAY BY HIMSELF, TACKING BY SOUND AT NIGHT. IT'S JUST... IT BOGGLES MY MIND TO THINK ABOUT IT, BUT I BELIEVE FIVE ATTEMPTS TO GET IT THROUGH. I REMEMBER ONE TIME HE LOST 40 DAYS, HE SAID, AND HE SAID HE JUST TURNED THE BOAT AROUND AND WHISTLED A NEW TUNE AND STARTED TO TACK IT ALL OVER AGAIN. AND YOU KNOW, THAT'S AMAZING. YOU KNOW, THOSE KINDS OF STORIES ARE JUST GREAT. THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT VOYAGERS WHO CAME DOWN HERE; THE FIRST WAS MAGELLAN. HE DISCOVERED THE STRAITS, AND THEY HAVE BEEN NAMED AFTER HIM. AND SECONDLY WAS SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, WHO SAILED THROUGH THE STRAITS FROM THE ATLANTIC THROUGH TO THE PACIFIC IN 16 DAYS, WITH- OUT ANY CHARTS. AND THIRDLY, AND PROBABLY THE MOST REMARKABLE IN TERMS OF SEA- MANSHIP, WOULD BE JOSHUA SLOCUM. [ ♪♪♪ ] Narrator: THEN ON TO JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLAND, THE HOME OF THE ORIGINAL SURVIVOR AND MODEL FOR ROBINSON CRUSOE, ALEXANDER SELKIRK. HE SET OUT ACROSS THE PACIFIC. HE PASSED NUMEROUS ISLANDS, BUT DIDN'T STOP UNTIL SAMOA, WHERE HE WAS ENTERTAINED BY FANNY STEVENSON, THE WIDOW OF HIS HERO, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. [ ♪♪♪ ] IN AUSTRALIA HE HAULED THE BOAT OUT FOR REPAIRS, AND BEGAN TO GIVE LECTURES WITH MAGIC LANTERN SLIDES. [ ♪♪♪ ] MARINERS LIKE DAVID SINNETT-JONES ARE STILL CONTINUING THE TRADITION. HERE, IN THE SAME VILLAGE HALL WHERE SLOCUM HIMSELF HAD SPOKEN A HUNDRED YEARS EARLIER. FROM AUSTRALIA, WITH A NEW SET OF SAILS GIVEN TO HIM IN SYDNEY, HE SAILED TO COCOS KEELING ISLAND IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, A PASSAGE OF 2,700 MILES IN 23 DAYS, OF WHICH, SLOCUM SAYS, HE SPENT LESS THAN 3 HOURS AT THE WHEEL. MANY SCOFFED AT THIS CLAIM; INDEED SCOFFED AT HIS ENTIRE VOYAGE. THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE HE COULD SAIL ALONE, THAT THE BOAT WOULD STEER ITSELF. SAILING WITH SAM McKINNEY OFF VANCOUVER, ABOARD HIS "NORTHERN SPRAY", TALKING TO HIM AT THE BOW WITH NO ONE AT THE HELM CONFIRMS THAT THE "SPRAY" DESIGN IS MYSTERIOUSLY ABLE TO SAIL ITSELF. SLOCUM'S VOYAGE TOOK SO LONG THAT AMERICAN NEWS- PAPERS BEGAN TO REPORT THAT HE WAS LOST AT SEA. SLOCUM, UNAWARE OF THESE OBITUARIES, BLISSFULLY SAILED ON. IN SOUTH AFRICA, THE WORLD TRAVELLER WAS INVITED TO DEBATE THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH WITH THE FOUNDER OF THE BOER REPUBLIC, PAUL KRUGER, WHO ARGUED THAT THE EARTH WAS FLAT. SLOCUM TOOK THE MORE CONVENTIONAL POSITION. AFTER CAPE TOWN IT WAS AN EASY RUN UP THE ATLANTIC, HOME TO AMERICA. ONLY 10,000 MILES OF SAILING, ALONE, WITHOUT A CHRONOMETER OR ENGINE, AND NOW THAT THE GOAT HAD EATEN THEM, WITHOUT CHARTS. SLOCUM SAILED INTO NEWPORT HARBOUR ON JUNE THE 27th. THEN HE WENT ON UP TO FAIRHAVEN FOR A CEREMONIAL KIND OF END, AND THEN WENT INTO BOSTON ON JULY 4th, IN 1898. AND... AMAZING STORY; 46,000 MILES. Narrator: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PUSHED NEWS OF SLOCUM'S FEAT TO THE BACK PAGES. BUT WITH THE HELP OF YOUNG MABEL WAGNALLS, HE'D SOON CHANGE THE WORLD'S KNOWLEDGE OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT BY WORKING ON HIS BOOK FOR THE NEXT YEAR AND SEEING IT PUBLISHED IN 1900. THE REACTION WAS IMMEDIATELY POSITIVE. IT HAS BEEN REPUB- LISHED MANY TIMES, IN MANY LANGUAGES. SLOCUM WROTE A CLASSIC, AND THAT CLASSIC HAS WITHSTOOD THE YEARS, A CENTURY NOW BECAUSE HE SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT SAILING IS ALL ABOUT; THE DEDICATION OF A MAN TO HIS VESSEL, THE DEDICATION TO LEARNING ABOUT THE SEA, THE DEDICATION OF HUMIL- ITY, IF NOTHING ELSE. TO BE PATIENT AND OBSERVE IS THE SAME WAY AS TO BE A GOOD WRITER, TO DESCRIBE SOME- THING ACCURATELY. SO I THINK THAT COMES OUT. YOU KNOW, WHEN... I OFTEN HEAR THE QUOTE: "YOU SHOULD WRITE TO SERVE RATHER THAN TO IMPRESS." AND HE IS DOING THAT. HE'S NOT LOOKING TO IMPRESS YOU WITH A LOT OF VERBIAGE AND FLOWERY LANGUAGE. HE'S TELLING THE STORY WHICH SO CLEARLY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF AS SUCH A WONDERFUL FEAT. Narrator: BUT NOW HE WAS AT LOOSE ENDS. HE WAS 56. HE HAD SAILED ALONE AROUND THE WORLD. WHAT COULD HE DO TO SURPASS THAT? Narrator: IN 1901, JOSHUA SLOCUM, LATE OF BRIER ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, WAS INVITED TO BRING HIS BOAT TO BUFFALO, NEW YORK, TO THE GREAT PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, THE BIGGEST EVER HELD. HE TOWED THE "SPRAY" BY HORSE UP THE ERIE CANAL. THE CANAL, BUILT AND EXPANDED THROUGH- OUT THE 19th CENTURY PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN OPENING UP THE MIDWEST OF AMERICA. NOW AGAIN, SLOCUM CUT A NEW SWATH, BEING ONE OF THE VERY FIRST NON- COMMERCIAL BOATS TO USE THE CANAL IN THE WAY IT'S USED TODAY, A PASSAGE FOR ADVENTURERS BETWEEN THE GREAT LAKES AND THE ATLANTIC, AND THEN THE SOUTH SEAS. [ Grinding of gears ] [ ♪♪♪ ] AS CAN STILL BE SEEN IN THIS EARLY MOTION PICTURE TOUR SHOT BY THOMAS EDISON, THE EXPOSITION WAS A FANTASTICAL RECREATION OF VENETIAN CANALS, AND ALONG THEIR SIDES, ELECTRIC TOWERS AND ESKIMO VILLAGES, AND SLOCUM'S "SPRAY". WHILE SLOCUM WAS MOORED IN BUFFALO, HE PRINTED AND SOLD A SMALL SOUVENIR PAMPHLET DESCRIBING HIS VOYAGE, WITH AN AUTOGRAPHED PIECE CUT FROM THE TATTERED MAINSAIL HE'D USED UNTIL AUSTRALIA. FOR A SLOCUM AFICIONADO TO FIND A COPY TODAY, AND TOUCH THE SAIL THAT TOOK SLOCUM AROUND THE WORLD, IS A RARE AND ALMOST AWESOME MOMENT. SLOCUM TRADED YARNS HERE WITH BUFFALO BILL CODY WHO HAD BROUGHT HIS WILD WEST SHOW TO THE EXPOSITION. IN SEPTEMBER, PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY VISITED THE EXPOSITION, BOARDED THE "SPRAY" AND SIGNED SLOCUM'S LOGBOOK. AN HOUR LATER, McKINLEY WAS SHOT TO DEATH BY AN ANARCHIST. SLOCUM WAS AT THE SWEARING IN OF THE NEW PRESIDENT, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, AND BECAME A GOOD FRIEND OF THE ENERGETIC AND ADVENTUROUS NEW CHIEF. THE EXPOSITION IS LONG GONE BUT THIS LAKE AND THE VERY WALL THAT SLOCUM TIED TO ARE STILL THERE. HE LEFT BUFFALO FOR MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MOORING THE "SPRAY" HERE IN THIS HARBOUR, JUST LIKE THIS REPLICA, A HUNDRED YEARS LATER. MARTHA'S VINEYARD IS A PLACE OF GRAND YACHTS, GRAND HOTELS AND GRAND HOUSES. SLOCUM IS STILL REMEMBERED TODAY, THOUGH WITH ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST OVERGROWN AND NEGLECTED MEMORIALS. IN SLOCUM'S DAY THE VINEYARD WAS A SLEEPY FARMING AND FISHING COMMUNITY. SLOCUM TRIED HIS HAND AT GROWING HOPS. BUT IT WAS A DISMAL ATTEMPT TO "TOSS IN THE ANCHOR." IT DIDN'T WORK. WITHIN A YEAR HE WAS BACK AT SEA, SAILING FOR THE BAHAMAS, JAMAICA AND THE CAYMANS. BUT NOW THE "SPRAY" WAS BEGINNING TO LOOK AS WEATHER-BEATEN AS HER SKIPPER. IN 1908 HE TOLD PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT OF HIS PLAN TO SAIL TO VENEZUELA, UP THE ORINOCO, AND ON TO THE HEAD- WATERS OF THE AMAZON. HE TOOK OFF INTO A NOVEMBER GALE AND WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN. HE MAY HAVE FOUNDERED IN THAT GALE. HE MAY HAVE FALLEN OVERBOARD. PERHAPS THE OLD GIRL SPRUNG A PLANK. BUT MOST LIKELY, ONE OF HIS HATED STEAMSHIPS HAD FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM. HIS MOST RECENT BIOGRAPHER, ANNE SPENCER, HAS FOUND EVIDENCE IDENTIFYING A PARTICULAR CARIBBEAN MAIL STEAMER AS THE SHIP THAT RAN OLD SLOCUM DOWN. WHATEVER REALLY HAPPENED, IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE THAT THE OLD SEA DOG WHO LOVED THE SEA, AND DID SO MUCH TO SHARE THAT LOVE WITH THE WORLD, SHOULD STILL BE IN, AND OF IT. LESS APPROPRIATE TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIS MEMORY IS THE DRY LANGUAGE OF THE DUKES COUNTY COURT OFFICIAL STATEMENT. "THE COURT FINDS THAT JOSHUA SLOCUM DISAPPEARED, ABSCONDED AND ABSENTED HIMSELF ON THE 14th DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 1909, DISAPPEARING UNDER THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES. HE SAILED FROM TISBURY, MASSACHUSETTS IN THE SLOOP 'SPRAY' OF NINE TONNES BURDEN, AND HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN SINCE, AND THEREFORE THE COURT DECLARES THAT THE AFOREMENTIONED BE DECLARED LOST AT SEA AND LEGALLY DEAD." ♪ THROW OUT THE LIFELINE ♪ ♪ THROW OUT THE LIFELINE ♪ ♪ SOMEONE IS DRIFTING AWAY ♪ ♪ THROW OUT THE LIFELINE ♪ ♪ THROW OUT THE LIFELINE ♪ ♪ SOMEONE IS SINKING TODAY ♪ JOSHUA SLOCUM DIED AS HE LIVED, LEFT BEHIND A GREAT LEGACY, TURNED HIS LIFE INTO LITERATURE. EVEN THOUGH HIS LAST TRIP FAILED, IT DID INSPIRE THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT TO TRY ONE OF HIS OWN. WHILE HIS FAMILY AND ANCESTORS ARE BURIED IN A FORGOTTEN FAMILY PLOT IN A WEED- COVERED CORNER OF THEIR NOVA SCOTIA FARM, THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA SLOCUM NOW SEEMS ALMOST CARVED INTO THE SEA ITSELF, REMEMBERED BY ALL WHO STILL GO DOWN TO THE SEA UNDER SAIL. Rowe: [ Quoting Slocum ] "TO FACE THE ELEMENTS IS, TO BE SURE, NO LIGHT MATTER, WHEN THE SEA IS IN ITS GRANDEST MOOD. YOU MUST THEN KNOW THE SEA, AND KNOW THAT YOU KNOW IT. AND REMEMBER THAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE SAILED UPON." [ ♪♪♪ ]

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Channel: Historica Canada

Views: 330,209

Rating: 4.8227043 out of 5

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Id: XqJs-WHsvRo

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Length: 47min 49sec (2869 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 09 2015