Captain Joshua Slocum, “America' best known sailor,” was the first man to sail alone around the world. But his famous voyage in the 36-foot sloop Spray was only one facet of a life filled with adventure, pioneering, and enterprise. In his native Nova Scotia town of Brier Island, fishermen built their own ships; thus, Slocum's life of building and commanding ships started early and came naturally. Many strange and exciting experiences highlighted his time aboard such sailing ships as the Washington in the northern Alaska fisheries; the Constitution, a Honolulu-San Francisco packet; the B. Aymar in the glorious China trade; the schooner Pato; the bark Amethyst, a former whaler; the Northern Light, “the finest American ship afloat”, which saw two attempted mutinies on a single voyage and narrowly missed the Krakatoa eruption in the Sunda Strait; the Aquidneck, which traded on the South American coast and whose loss in Brazil inspired the construction of the famous Liberdade; and the gun vessel Destroyer, which helped to suppress a Brazilian rebellion. After so many eventful years, Slocum set out alone to sail around the world aboard the Spray. Many previously unpublished facts about that famous voyage are presented here by his son and biographer, Victor Slocum. Additionally, many rare photos, drawings, maps, and boat plans illustrate this fine, full biography.