Family at sea Joshua Slocum

1 family @ sea

1.1 pato
1.2 aquidneck
1.3 liberdade

family @ sea

shortly before christmas 1870, slocum , washington put in @ sydney. there, in month s time, met, courted, , married young woman named virginia albertina walker. marriage took place on january 31, 1871. miss walker, quite coincidentally, american new york family had migrated west california @ time of 1849 gold rush , continued on, ship, settle in australia. sailed slocum, and, on next thirteen years, couple had 7 children, born @ sea or foreign ports. 4 children, sons victor, benjamin aymar, , garfield, , daughter jessie, survived adulthood.

in alaska, washington wrecked when dragged anchor during gale, ran ashore, , broke up. slocum, however, @ considerable risk himself, managed save wife, crew, , of cargo, bringing port safely in ship s open boats. owners of shipping company had employed slocum impressed feat of ingenuity , leadership, gave him command of constitution sailed hawaii , west coast of mexico.

his next command benjamin aymar, merchant vessel in south seas trade. however, owner, strapped cash, sold vessel out under slocum, , , virginia found stranded in philippines without ship.

the pato

while in philippines, in 1874, under commission british architect, slocum organized native workers build 150-ton steamer in shipyard @ subic bay. in partial payment work, given ninety-ton schooner, pato (spanish duck ), first ship call own.

ownership of pato afforded slocum kind of freedom , autonomy had never experienced before. hiring crew, contracted deliver cargo vancouver in british columbia. thereafter, used pato general freight carrier along west coast of north america , in voyages , forth between san francisco , hawaii. during period, slocum fulfilled long-held ambition become writer; became temporary correspondent san francisco bee.

the slocums sold pato in honolulu in spring of 1878. returning san francisco, purchased amethyst. worked ship until june 23, 1881.

the slocums next bought third share in northern light 2. large clipper 233 feet in length, 44 feet beam, 28 feet in hold. capable of carrying 2000 tons on 3 decks. although joshua slocum called ship best command , command plagued mutinies , mechanical problems. under troubling legal circumstances (caused alleged treatment of chief mutineer) sold share in northern light 2 in 1883.

the aquidneck

the slocum family continued on next ship, 326-ton aquidneck. in 1884, slocum s wife virginia became ill aboard aquidneck in buenos aires , died. after sailing massachusetts, slocum left 3 youngest children, benjamin aymar, jessie, , garfield in care of sisters; oldest son victor continued first mate.

in 1886, @ age 42, slocum married 24-year-old cousin, henrietta hettie elliott. slocum family, exception of jessie , benjamin aymar, again took sea aboard aquidneck, bound montevideo, uruguay. slocum s second wife find life @ sea less appealing first. few days henrietta s first voyage, aquidneck sailed through hurricane. end of first year, crew had contracted cholera, , quarantined 6 months. later, slocum forced defend ship pirates, 1 of whom shot , killed; tried , acquitted of murder. next, aquidneck infected smallpox, leading death of 3 of crew. disinfecting of ship performed @ considerable cost. shortly afterward, near end of 1887, unlucky aquidneck wrecked in southern brazil.

the liberdade

after being stranded in brazil wife , sons garfield , victor, started building boat sail them home. used local materials, salvaged materials aquidneck , worked local workers. boat launched on may 13, 1888, day slavery abolished in brazil, , therefore ship given portuguese name liberdade.

it unusual 35-foot (11 m) junk-rigged design described half cape ann dory , half japanese sampan . , family began voyage united states, son victor (15) being mate. after fifty-five days @ sea , 5510 miles, slocums reached cape roman, south carolina , continued inland washington d.c. winter , reaching boston via new york in 1889. last time henrietta sailed family. in 1890, slocum published accounts of these adventures in voyage of liberdade.