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New photographs of Joshua Slocum and Spray have turned up in possession of an elderly woman whose family spent their summers at Hyannis Point, Massachusetts.

The images were found about a hundred miles to the west of Stonington, where the solo round the world sailor repaired and relaunched the old oystering boat he chose for his trip.

The photos can be seen on the Swizzle Media website, along with an article by Bill Springer, grandson-in-law of the woman who owned the collection. The negatives of the Spray photos were in an envelope simply marked ‘Slocum, 1906’.

Nova Scotia born Captain Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail solo around the world.

On April 24, 1895, at the age of 51, he departed Boston in his sloop Spray and sailed around the world single-handed, a passage of 46,000 miles, returning to Newport, Rhode Island on June 27, 1898.

This historic achievement made him the patron saint of small-boat voyagers, navigators and adventurers all over the world.