Lone Voyager: The Extraordinary Adventures Of Howard Blackburn Hero Fisherman Of Gloucester

by Joseph E. Garland

Like countless Gloucester fishermen before and since, Howard Blackburn and Tom Welch were trawling for halibut on the Newfoundland banks in an open dory in 1883 when a sudden blizzard separated them from their mother ship. Alone on the empty North Atlantic, they battled towering waves and frozen spray to stay afloat. Welch soon succumbed to exposure, and Blackburn did the only thing he He rowed for shore. He rowed five days without food or water, with his hands frozen to the oars, to reach the coast of Newfoundland. Yet his tests had only begun.
So begins Joe Garland's extraordinary account of the hero fisherman of Gloucester. Incredibly, though Blackburn lost his fingers to his icy misadventure, he went on to set a record for swiftest solo sailing voyage across the Atlantic that stood for decades. Lone Voyager is a Homeric saga of survival at sea and a thrilling portrait of the world's most fabled fishing port in the age of sail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Maritime

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1978

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard of Howard Blackburn because several friends in my New Bedford rowing clubs have participated in the Blackburn Challenge, a 20-mile race in the Gloucester area. I have not been in any races above 4 miles, but do hope to undertake this one someday.

I had heard snippets of Blackburn's biography, and decided that diving into his biography would be a good way to begin my sabbatical. I had already told my university that while 80 percent of my sabbatical would be devoted to curriculum development, 20 percent would be nautical studies not directly related to my teaching. The "starting gun" for my spring sabbatical was the submission of fall-semester grades, but I found the early chapters of Garland's work a very welcome diversion from end-of-semester chores.

It was also good to be reading this book after my first visit to Nova Scotia, whose geography figures prominently in the story. The maps in the book itself are rather feeble -- those who do not know New England and the Maritimes can benefit by reading this with an atlas handy.

The opening pages are astounding -- I had no idea that Blackburn's most dramatic ordeal took place when he was so very young. It was as gruesome a rowing story as can be imagined. While some -- perhaps most -- survivors of such calamity and grievous injury at sea would find a career inland, Blackburn spent the next 20 years setting ever-more elaborate nautical challenges for himself.

Driven to go ever-greater distances in ever-smaller boats, he contorted his ample frame into boats that I would not want to sail for an afternoon, and piloted them through conditions they were not built to endure. As a fellow human of substantial size, I could feel my back and legs ache as I read some passages. I was also incredulous as I read how he endured illness and injury. He would wave off the assistance of other mariners when he was clearly too sick to pilot anything.

Garland -- an accomplished mariner himself -- draws on exhaustive documentary research to write .a detailed account of adventures that always began in Gloucester but extended thousands of miles from there, in all directions.

One of my rowing clubs is also a sailing club, in which I have gained just enough experience -- mainly as ballast -- to appreciate some of the details of the sailing, while also realizing just how much of the terminology I still do not know. (Short version: a bit of wind is a really good thing; a bit more can be even better; but a lot more can be catastrophic.)

The protagonist risks being one-dimensional; after all, he has essentially the same response to every nautical challenge, which is stubborn determination.

Throughout most of the book, his wife Theresa is mentioned only when he is about to set out on a long and risky voyage, and she is only mentioned as being absent from the dock. In later chapters, we learn a bit more about their family life. We also learn about Blackburn's business dealings, which mainly involved keeping a saloon open during periods of frequently changing alcohol laws.

For me, Blackburn's most admirable qualities were those that did not garner as many headlines as his nautical daring-do: gratitude and generosity. Having been rescued from the sea by people who were themselves on the edge of starvation, he endured months of deprivation along with them. This is what drove him to always be certain he was financially comfortable. But he remembered how generously they had shared from their scant provisions, and so lavished donations on them for the rest of his years. His saloon regulars trusted so much in his generosity that they would support the poor simply by leaving cash in a jar on his bartop.

Lagniappe: I encourage anyone who reads this to read the entire Afterward. Some of it is a rather tedious account of the chain of ownership of the various sloops and dories mentioned throughout the book, but part of it is a surprising confession by the author himself.

[Kathleen Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I live in Gloucester and have spent a good many evenings in Howard Blackburn's establishment with his pictures and newspaper articles hanging on the walls, I only recently discovered this book. What a wonderful adventure! The first chapter, which tells the story of the fishing trip during which Blackburn lost his fingers and toes, sets the stage well for the rest of the adventure. And what an adventure it is! Here in Gloucester they talk of the days of "iron men in wooden ships" and Blackburn was the toughest and most indomitable of all those iron men. After surviving the trip that opens the book, he goes on to start his famous tavern in Gloucester, cross the Atlantic twice on his own, sail around Cape Horn and up the Pacific Coast bound for the Klondike, and undertake a perfectly fascinating trip up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi.

Because I wrote a book based in the seafaring history of Lake Erie I was particularly gratified to read that Blackburn wrote that of all the waters he ever crossed he considered Lake Erie to have been the worst --- even worse than the Grand Banks in the Atlantic.

Author Joe Garland is well known both as a historian and a sailor and both those skills are well used in the telling of this tale. This is an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man told by an extraordinary writer. What more does a reader want?

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The review all my followers have been waiting for! Considering the fact that my dad has recommended this book to me countless times over the last 10 years, I had high expectations.

Those expectations where met purely from the larger than life story of Howard Blackburns life. I thought the writing was good, not spectacular, but the stories of survival and adventure where fantastic. He lived a very harrowing life and I would recommend everyone read about his many accomplishments.

[Contrarius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this several years ago -- not sure how I missed shelving it here this long.

Lone Voyager is an amazing story of survival -- and even thriving -- during and after high seas adventures. That's PLURAL "adventures". Howard Blackburn started out as a simple Gloucester fisherman. Then AFTER LOSING ALL HIS FINGERS from frostbite -- his first survival story -- he became a successful businessman, which helped him to finance his further adventures. He did a lot of solo sailing -- with no fingers, remember -- including multiple solo crossings of the Atlantic and a solo circumnavigation of the eastern US (I know, you're thinking you can't circumnavigate part of a continent -- well, he went down the eastern seaboard and up the Mississippi River).

This is one of those true tales that nobody would be able to swallow if it were fiction. Everyone would say that it was too fantastical to be believed. But if you want to be inspired by what one guy can accomplish on the strength of his own guts and determination, this is a great book to read.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lone Voyager, The Extraordinary Adventures of Howard Blackburn, Hero Fisherman of Gloucester, by Joseph E. Garland (pp 309). Howard Blackburn was a Gloucester dory man in 1883 when he and a dorymate were blown away from their schooner in a winter storm. Within two days of raging seas, no fresh water, no food, and icy weather Blackburn’s mate died. Blackburn, despite literally frozen fingers and toes, rowed for Newfoundland, bailed, and smashed accumulating ice off his dory. On day four he landed and was rescued by impoverished residents of a small seaside village, who cut off dead flesh from his hands and toes, and slowly nursed him back from near death. He ultimately lost all his fingers and most of this thumbs, and all his toes. After a hero’s welcome home and years after establishing himself as a successful businessman, he sailed with a crew to California in an aborted attempt to take part in the Klondike gold rush. Having regained his sea legs, in 1899 and 1901 he sailed single-handed to Europe in modified dories, adding to his legendary status. He did this without hands! In 1902 and 1903 he sailed solo up the Hudson River, across the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi, and on to Florida before returning home by rail. This trip burnished his already gleaming legend. Lastly, in 1903 he made a third attempt to sail single-handed across the Atlantic in yet another custom made dory, but abandoned the trip after battling horrendous sea conditions and deteriorating health. This book is the story of his voyages, his life ashore, and more generally the adventurous and dangerous life of 19th century fisherman. Blackburn truly was an incredibly skilled and lucky sailor, who overcame near overwhelming odds in surviving solo trips, any one of which was a lifetime achievement. This is a wonderful read, and absent meal and bathroom breaks, I read straight through in a day. 🙂

[noreast_bookreviewsnh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lone Voyager by Joseph Garland
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The heroic and inspiring story of Captain Howard Blackburn of Gloucester, Massachusetts. A fisherman born in Nova Scotia, who moved to Gloucester in the late 1800’s to join the fishing community there, would become famous in 1883 for losing his fingers and toes to frostbite as he fought for his life for 5 days in a dory whilst caught in a winter storm that separated him and his shipmate from the larger fishing boat off the coast of Newfoundland. Howard would fight to stay alive and returned to Gloucester as the living embodiment of what a true fisherman is supposed to be and a hero. Not letting his disability get in his way, he founded a saloon with the help and charity of the people of Gloucester. He would go on to sail across the Atlantic by himself twice, once to England and once to Portugal, learning to cope with his disability and not let it stop him from gaining success. In Gloucester, Howard would go on to create and finance charities for his fellow fisherman and their widows and children, also donating much to the Addison Gilbert Hospital. A little known story of one of Gloucester’s foremost citizens, great local history!
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[Terry Evers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! As a former West Coast dory fisherman, I really enjoyed learning more about the North American dory origins offshore of Gloucester, MA. Howard Blackburn certainly exemplified the grit of true dorymen of that age, and author Joseph Garland captured it all masterfully in great engaging detail. If you're looking for a book about how a real-life individual overcame extreme challenges in a time and place where there was little space to do so, I highly recommend Lone Voyager!

[Jennifer Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Garland took me on a journey into the life of Howard Blackburn and into the interesting history of Gloucester, MA. I found this book fascinating. I learned a great deal about the time and place that became Blackburn's home. Blackburn was a remarkable, flawed, driven man. I'm so happy that I finally read this well researched and written history of the man and the place. I have lived on Cape Ann for most of my life. Knowing more about it's history is good.

[Ray Savarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book about the life of a fisherman who survived losing his fingers and toes to frostbite on a fishing trip who went on to cross the Atlantic twice single-highhandedly, own a saloon for 40 years, and make other solo sailing trips. Quite the overcoming-adversary story!

[Mark Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting history of Gloucester fishing.

I found this book very interesting,Mr Blackburn must of been quite the character.
This is a great book if you are interested in the history of fishing and sailing in New England!

[Sema Dural · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Tom Welch, a husky Newfoundland lad with tousled hair and a broad, cheerful face, had been assigned the newcomer Blackburn as his dorymate. As they swung away from the schooner, rowing in powerful unison, he watched with satisfaction the sweep of the oars in the big man’s hands.”

[Daniel Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[Caroline Sherwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyable read makes you realize what lengths seamen endured - Blackburn was idolized by many & glad I was referred to this book. perfect read for this wintry February

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story of Howard Blackburn, a Gloucester fisherman who lost all of his fingers when his dory set out from the mothership to harpoon a whale—the dory was lost in a snowstorm on the Grand Banks and Blackburn rowed to Nova Scotia, his fingers frozen to the oars. He started a tavern in Gloucester and singlehanded sailboats as small as twelve feet across the Atlantic—with no fingers. The author is the dean of local historians of Boston’s North Shore, particularly of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Variation on a theme...
It was interesting to read the details of a story that has always been familiar to me. Freezing his hands to the oars (trading his fingers for his life) was just the start of his adventures. Interesting to learn about Gloucester's uneven history with temperance too. A 3.5 really with bonus points for local flavor!

[Jenny Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Howard Blackburn's story is worth reading, but this book requires that you be very familiar with sailing terminology. If you aren't many of the descriptions read as if written in a foreign language. The story is reconstructed from newspaper accounts and has the tone that late 19th century news accounts tend to have, which leak through the author's narration.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended by a friend. You should have an interest and knowledge of sailing to better appreciate this book.

[William Graney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very interesting life of Howard Blackburn well documented.