born Feb. 20, 1844, Wilmot, Nova Scotia, Can.
disappeared 1909/10, at sea
Canadian seaman and adventurer.
He worked his way up from ship's cook to captain of a trading vessel by 1869. Wrecked with his family on the Brazilian coast in 1886, he built a canoe from the wreckage and paddled back to New York. He set sail from Boston in 1895 in a 36-ft, 9-in. (11.2-m) fishing boat. In three years, two months, and two days, he sailed 46,000 mi (74,000 km) in a circuitous route ending in Newport, R.I, becoming the first man in recorded history to sail around the world singlehandedly. He wrote several books, including the classic Sailing Alone Around the World . In 1909 he set sail for Grand Cayman from New England and was lost at sea.