It was the nearest to a casualty on the Spray in her whole course, so far as I know. The young man having come on board with compliments made the mishap most embarrassing.

However the owner strapped for cash sold the vessel out from under Slocum and he and Virginia found themselves stranded in the Philippines without a ship. On April 24 1895 he set sail from Boston Massachusetts. Slocum normally sailed the Spray without touching the helm.

In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey Sailing Alone Around the World which became an international best-seller. Joshua Slocum (February 20 1844 – on or shortly after November 14 1909) was the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian born naturalised American seaman and adventurer and a noted writer.