Last Days of the Slocum Era: Volume Two - Paperback

by Graham Leslie Cox (Author)

Brief summary: Last Days of the Slocum Era Volume One is a unique portrait of cruising under sail in the years between 1966 and 1980, by a somewhat unusual sailing adventurer. Part memoir, part selective history of cruising under sail, it is lavishly illustrated with a large number of full-colour photographs. This work is complemented by Volume Two, which spans the years between 1980 and 2024, when digital technology, including GPS, chart-plotters and other satellite technology, changed the culture of what once seemed a timeless way of life.

Full summary: Last Days of the Slocum Era is a lavishly illustrated review of cruising under sail, spanning the years from the mid-1960s through to 2024, viewed through the lens of the author's engagement with that world, which began at the age of 14 on the famous International Jetty in Durban, South Africa, where yachts from all over the world used to raft up in the summer months, preparing for their passages around the Cape of Good Hope and beyond. The first sailor the author spoke to, in November 1966, was Dr David Lewis, who was circumnavigating on his catamaran, Rehu Moana, and later became a close friend. The following year, on 21 October, 1967, 18-year-old Robin Lee Graham sailed into Durban alone, aboard his small sloop, Dove, and from then on, there was only one thing the author wanted to do, follow in the wake of Dove to wherever it might lead. Over the next few years, he befriended a number of extraordinary voyagers on the International Jetty, mostly unknown and unsung, many of whom became lifelong friends.
In 1972, he migrated to Sydney, Australia, where he met up once again with Dr David Lewis, assisting in the preparation of Ice Bird for David's historic voyage to Antarctica, and in 1976, he navigated Ice Bird across the Coral Sea from Sydney to Rabaul, the first of a number of interesting passages on a variety of yachts, ranging from tiny, light-displacement sloops to large, gaff-rigged schooners, and in later years aboard his beloved sloop, Arion, which he converted to junk rig in 2011.
The first volume of Last Days of the Slocum Era covers the period from 1966 until 1980, when voyaging under sail was not that different to the way that Joshua Slocum sailed around the world on his epic voyage between 1895 and 1898. Volume Two looks at the technological and cultural impact that the digital age has had on what was once a timeless way of life, once again illustrated by the author's experiences at sea.
A unique aspect to this sailing memoir / review is that the author is not your typical salty dog. He aspired to be a ballet dancer as a boy, and joking references ocean cruising as his great consolation prize. He has struggled with his emotional and physical health at times, and is brutally frank about his shortcomings, both as a sailor and as a human being. One thing he has learned from the great characters he has crossed paths with is that passion, courage and commitment form a bridge to a better life.