Slocum, Joshua (1844–1909)

Canadian sailor. His book Sailing Alone Round the World 1900 was an account of a voyage he made 1895–98. He went missing on a subsequent solo voyage.

Slocum was born in Nova Scotia. In 1869 he became captain of a trading schooner carrying grain and coal between San Francisco and Seattle. In 1892 Slocum was offered the remains of the Spray, and on 4 April 1895, after completely rebuilding the boat, he sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, on a solo round-the-world voyage. He anchored in Newport three years later, having completed his voyage. In 1909 he set off from Bristol, Rhode Island, in the Spray, bound for the Orinoco River in South America, and was never seen again.

Slocum also wrote Voyage of the Liberdade 1894.