Alone Through the Roaring Forties

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"One of the classic small-boat voyages of all time."--Jonathan Raban In June 1942, Vito Dumas set off from Buenos Aires for a trip around the world unlike any previous circumnavigation--eastward over the "impossible route," the Roaring Forties of the Southern Ocean: south of the Cape of Good Hope, south of Australia, and south of Cape Horn. His craft, the "Lehg II," a 31-foot ketch named for his mistress, carried only the most makeshift gear and provisions. He refused to carry a sea anchor, a bilge pump, or more than one screwdriver, and he had so few clothes that he had to stuff them with newspaper to keep warm. He also sailed without a radio, since carrying one during wartime might have labeled him a spy. He was the first to complete the 20,000-mile voyage singlehanded, the first solo sailor to round Cape Horn and survive, and the first to sail around the world with only three landfalls (in South Africa, New Zealand, and Chile). But what sets this story apart is Dumas's powerful prose, recording elation and depression, hardship and relaxation, and, above all, his unrelenting determination in the face of adversity. The terror of sailing through massive storms without respite from the helm alternates with periods of relative calm when he reflects on the enchanting nature of the sea. His trio of landfalls--sojourns he called "calm waters where my spirit could rest"--add yet another distinction to this beautiful tale. "Alone Through the Roaring Forties" is also a tribute to "Lehg II," Dumas's beloved boat. He calls her his "shipmate," and "faithful companion," "an ideal floating house of extraordinary strength and endurance," and had complete faith in her abilities andperformance. First published in 1960, "Alone Through the Roaring Forties" is a classic tale of skilled navigation, seamanship, and great adventure, but it also demonstrates, as Dumas intended, the possibilities of global peace and friendship in a world at war. As Jonathan Raban writes in his introduction, "Dumas chose to see his circumnavigation as a test of his ordinary humanity. There are hurricane-force winds here, and hazardous waves, but . . . it is his reverence for the small things that gives "Alone Through the Roaring Forties" its distinction as a classic." "One of the greatest voyages ever made by a solo sailor. Dumas's three-stop solo circumnavigation of the world, at latitudes infamous for their extended gales and appallingly high seas, was accomplished in a cruising ketch, less than 32 feet in length, without self-steering gear, in the middle of a major war. . . . It is his reverence for the small things that gives "Alone Through the Roaring Forties" its distinction as a classic. This most harrowing of voyages is presented by its author as a story of Everyman on a modest sea pilgrimage. . . . Other solo circumnavigators have made the world seem dauntingly larger by their harrowing exploits; Dumas makes it seem smaller."--from the introduction by Jonathan Raban

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