by Lady Brassey
On July 1st, 1876, Lady Brassey and her party departed England aboard the large steam and sailing yacht Sunbeam for a cruise around the world. The Sunbeam was at this time the first privately owned yacht to make a circumnavigation and predated Slocum's single-handed voyage by some 10 years. This forthright and courageous woman tells this story with full knowledge of the difficulties and pleasures of cruising in the late 19th century. The Sunbeam was large, in fact she had a list of persons aboard for the whole voyage which totaled eleven (Mrs. Brassey counts the Commander, the Captain and the Surgeon as part of this list) and a crew of 32 (counting the Nurse, the Lady's Maid and the Stewardess). Her children accompanied her on the cruise and many other guests arrived and departed at various points on the extended voyage. While there is no data in the book on the Sunbeam herself, vis-a-vis her dimensions, some idea of her size can be gleaned by the list of her boats: the Gleam, (lifeboat cutter), the Glance , (large gig), the Ray, (light gig), the Trap (steam launch), the Mote, dinghy, and the Flash, (light outrigger). This was cruising in the grand style indeed! The contents list some of the areas visited: Farewell to Old England, Madeira, Teneriffe, and Cape de Verde Islands, Palma to Rio de Janeiro, The River Plate, the Straits of Magellan, Chili, Santiago and Valparaiso, Valparaiso to Tahiti, The South Sea Islands, Tahiti to the Sandwich Islands, Honolulu to Japan, To Canton up the Pearl River, From Macao to Singapore, Ceylon, Via Suez Canal, and Home. First published in 1892.
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