Much has been written about Joshua Slocum’s last voyage, and his mysterious disappearance.
Arthur Ransom believed that the Spray was probably cut down at night in a shipping lane. An alternative theory holds that her captain simply fell off the fore deck in a storm….while she kept sailing unerringly towards the sunrise. Other pundits suggest that a giant swordfish might have skewered a garboard plank – and again, that the little ship was swamped by a hump-backed whale, surfacing without due care.
All these theories are plausible – but I think they fall wide of the mark.
To my mind, there is no mystery: Joshua Slocum sailed away and never came back. That is all. He had his beloved Spray as companion; no doubt he carried below deck the old tin clock, freshly-boiled; his knowledge of sea and sky and everything in between was immense – and the Pilot of the Pinta would have been keeping night watch, as the captain slept. Why not sail on?
For all we know, he may be sailing still….
It best fits all the known facts. I’m satisfied. Sam
Good thought — I have the feeling that there may be a reflective fiction piece there — a first-person, short story, perhaps? That could be fun to write. . .
The Epitaph of Joseph Conrad, mariner and the author of that great novel “Lord Jim” reads:
“Sleep after toyle, port after stormie seas, Ease after warre, death after life, does greatly please”
JS certainly knew that. SK