VOYAGES
A transatlantic voyage
you’ve never heard of
In 1876 a fisherman from
Massachusetts embarked
on a remarkable solo
voyage across the Atlantic
in a small boat. His name
is unknown to many but
his story is extraordinary,
as David Parker discovers
W
hen he came ashore at
the tiny beach in
Abercastle, West
Wales, they said he
looked like a ‘living
skeleton.’ He had been at sea for 56
days in a small wooden dory with a
waterline length of only 16ft.
The shallow draught boat with a simple
boarded deck had survived storms and a
ferocious gale which capsized it. The
29-year-old at the helm was Alfred
‘Centennial’ Johnson and he had just
sailed alone for 3,000 miles from America.
He was the first man to sail single-handed
across the Atlantic from west to east.
It’s a remarkable story, but one notThe book is now out of print,
but secondhand copies can
often be found onlineHarbourside photo taken of
Alfred sporting his wet weather
gear aboard his dory in 1920