Voyage of the Liberdade: A Journey from Brazil to America in a Hand-built Boat

by Joshua Slocum

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Travel, History, Nautical, Nonfiction, Adventure, Biography

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

Joshua Slocum 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. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey 'Sailing Alone Around the World', which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book, by Captain Slocum, author of the excellent Sailing Alone Around the World, published in 1894, pretty quickly after finishing the other book, as they are published in a compendium of the two.

As a narrative it consists of several parts - his trading around South America in his ship, the Aquidneck; the wreck of the Aquidneck; the construction of the Liberdade; the voyage of the Liberdade from Brazil to the USA.

A short book, some 150 pages, the first section explains that Slocum with his family and a crew of sailors are trading up and down the coast of South America. Trading, of course, is always risky and there are times of great success and times of failure.

The wreck of the Aquidneck was dealt with rapidly - in half a page. dangerous current and wind 'caught her foul' and drive her onto the shore, 'breaking her back'. She was loaded with timber for trading out of Brazil. All that could be salvaged from the cargo and the ship was taken, and the next stage of the book begins.

With no ship and limited savings, an nobody to save them, there was little point in Slocum and his family begging a ride back to the States, so he sets about designing a modest boat to make the journey home. A 'canoe' he somewhat uncharitably calls it. 35' long, 7'6'' wide and draught of 2'6" with a covered deck (including a tarpaulin over the hold). Slocum describes in great detail the design and construction, explains where the materials came from and what he traded for new parts. Slocum says he designed her from his recollections of Cape Ann dories, although she was rigged like Chinese sampan (which Slocum considered the most convenient boat rig in the whole world). She is named the Liberdade , meaning of course Liberty in Portuguese.

And so her seaworthiness is proven in the voyage from Brazil to Barbados, to the Bahamas, to Puerto Rico and the USA. The last few chapters take the reader from the south up the American coast to New York and finally Boston.

While the writing is perhaps not as polished as in Sailing Alone Around the World, and some of the sentence structure slightly more archaic, it remains still a very readable short book.

4 stars

[Izzie Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way Slocum writes and talks. I could have chatted nautical fantastics with him for hours. He reminds me of my old shipmate back in England.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad this was a short book (non-fiction "novella" as it were), as I never got used to the author's rather verbose, corny style. I suppose it may well be the way Victorian sea captains spoke, and I assumed that the narrator faithfully reproduced that effect, but the result just wasn't for me; had this been a full-length work, I doubt I'd have finished it. The final hour (25%) consists of a second-hand tale from the South Seas written by Slocum, based on reports he says he "translated" with the aid of a Polynesian Bible as his Rosetta Stone; I gave that part a pass.

I had my doubts about "Sailing Alone Around the World", which now goes into the Highly Unlikely category.

[Greg O'Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing little book to read about the perseverance of Joshua Slocum. Who could do what he did today?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty astonishing. Just short of 4 stars but a fantastic description of a true voyage as strange as fiction. Starting February 1886. First (after 35 previous adventurous years at sea) in the barc Aquidneck with a crew of about a dozen including his son Victor, with the author's second wife and a young son Garfield aged 6 on board. There was cholera, quarantine, mutiny, smallpox and shipwreck in Brazil. Followed by the building of the Liberdade which he calls a canoe but was 35 feet and as big as the Spray which 10 years later he would build and sail round the world alone. Then the family sailed home to Boston (america) with more adventures such as nearly capsized by a whale. Extraordinary boatbuilder and sailor and then writer. Eventually setting off in the Spray alone in 1909 at the age of 65, never to be seen again!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading this, it made me feel like I was with my dad the whole time 💙🌊🌊🌊

[christy wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio vs reading

Voicing for the audible was a little difficult to understand at times due to the inflection of the readers voice, content was good.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining novella about a remarkable voyage that Slocum makes sound rather straightforward, if full of adventures. What a life that family had together!

[Joao Franca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Viagem do Liberdade
Tradução Manuel Herculano de Carvalho

[Alexandre Militão · Rating 5 out of 5]

parece impossível nos dias de hoje, muito incrível o capitão Joshua Slocum

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the descriptions of the places to visit as Slocum began in Brazil and sailed to the US, but it is much more a log of the sail which was very interesting in itself. I marvel at what his little family accomplished in a small boat and I was not surprised that it was the last time his 2nd wife sailed with him! I'm much happier read about this voyage, than attempting it.

[Marco Beneventi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quando nel 1886, la nave di cui era capitano fa naufragio nei pressi di Paranaguà, in Brasile, il capitano Slocum costruirà, con l’aiuto dei figli, una zattera di poco più di dieci metri, battezzata "Liberdade", con cui intraprenderà un viaggio, lungo più di cinquanta giorni, sino a Washington compiendo un impresa che rimarrà negli annali della marineria.

"Il viaggio della Liberdade", pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1890, racconta di come, Joshua Slocum, capitano dalla grande esperienza è riuscito, assieme alla moglie, ai figli e ad alcuni membri dell’equipaggio a percorrere, su una piccola imbarcazione, più di 5500 miglia marine in un viaggio che lo vedrà alle prese con un ammutinamento, un epidemia di colera, mari in tempesta e tante altre traversie che hanno fatto di questo viaggio una vera e propria impresa.
Scritto in maniera molto didascalica e succinta ma comunque, in certi passaggi, evocativa, seppur i tanti termini marinareschi possono creare più di qualche difficoltà a chi non è pratico, questo diario trasporterà il lettore in un viaggio davvero avventuroso.

[長谷川 純一郎 · Rating 4 out of 5]

His first book describing his adventures at sea, Voyage of the Liberdade follows the early adventures on the high seas of American sailor JOSHUA SLOCUM (1844-1909), who would later become the first man to sail alone around the world. First aboard the Aquidneck and then later the Liberdade and journeying from New York to Uruguay to Rio, Slocum and his crew battle harsh weather, sickness, and murder as they ply their trade. This is a real-life adventure written by one of America's premier seamen will enthrall anyone interested in history, adventure, and sailing.

[Calbraith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how easy this was to read. Written in 1888 by a man that made his living as a seaman. His writing flows really well; A good story teller that grabs and keeps your interest.
A fun and often exciting read. Surprising for a 'travel journal' from 125 years ago.

I would have loved to have read candid foreword written by his wife or kids who traveled in his 'canoe' with him. Would have been interesting to hear her opinion of the voyage.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not quite as well-constructed a book as 'Sailing Alone Around the World', but with the added joy of wondering what on earth his wife was really thinking as this maniac sailed his way up the Americas. I can't believe I've lived this long without knowing about Joshua Slocum.

[Luis Bernardino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um livro algo datado.
Hoje em dia já não se escrevem livros assim.
Não deixa de ser uma leitura curiosa e é um livro que se lê rapidamente.
Interessante para quem se interesse por este tipo de literatura de viagens ou por quem se interesse por vela.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't help but wonder how this book would have turned out if Slocum's wife wrote it, or either of his sons. I'm sure it would have been written very differently.

[David]

A remarkable story. Not as thrilling as his circumnavigation story, but every bit as engaging.