On June 27, 1898, a 37 feet sloop-rigged fishing boat named Spray sailed into Newport, Rhode Island. It was by all accounts an unremarkable boat except for one thing. It captain, Joshua Slocum, has just circumnavigated the world, a distance of more than 46,000 miles, by himself. His book on the journey, published in 1900, Sailing Alone Around the World remains a classic adventure tale. Slocum disappeared at sea in November 1909 during a trip to South America on the Spray.