Sailing Alone: A Surprising History of Isolation and Survival at Sea

Book Synopsis: A story as vast and exhilarating as the open ocean itself, SAILING ALONE chronicles the daring, disastrous, and often absurd history of those who chose to sail across the ocean, in very small boats, alone.

“Sailing Alone is a beacon, a lighthouse of luminance for the experienced and inexperienced alike. Richard King’s insightful reflections on the stories of lone voyagers make this required reading for all who dream fervently of such voyages. A nuanced study in aspiration, endurance, terror, and triumph, it’s a treasure.”—Jon Wilson, Founder, WoodenBoat

“Richard King is a superb and gifted writer, and Sailing Alone is an exceptional book. A real achievement that will provide inexhaustible re-reading, Sailing Alone belongs on the very small shelf of the true classics of the sea.”—Peter Nichols, author of Sea Change and A Voyage for Madmen

Sailing by yourself, out of sight of land, can be invigorating or terrifying, compelling or tedious - and sometimes all in one morning. But it is also a remarkable place on which to think. Sailing Alone tells the story of some of the remarkable people who, over the last four centuries, have spent weeks and months, moving slowly over the world’s largest laboratory: a capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars and countless sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening. Richard J. King, a sailor himself, introduces characters famous and obscure, from Joshua Slocum of 1844 to modern teenagers daring to take the challenge. They experience strange hallucinations, lie to us (and themselves) on their travel logs, encounter sharks, befriend birds, and think they have ESP, all part of the unnerving reality of extended isolation. And some disappear altogether. Sailing Alone also recounts the author’s own nearly catastrophic solo crossing of the Atlantic, and the mystery of his inexplicable survival one sunny afternoon. An enormously engaging new book for skippers and armchair voyagers alike.