As the first person to ever complete a single-handed circumnavigation of the globe, Joshua Slocum recounts his pioneering feat in Sailing Alone Around the World (1899), an engaging memoir of his adventures aboard the sloop Spray . An immediate success, the book has inspired countless later travelers. Slocum, a master of understating his achievements, rebuilt the derelict sloop Spray between 1893 and 1894 and set off on his voyage in April 24, 1895. His voyage generated much publicity at the time and he was awaited by eager supporters at many of his ports of call.