Birth of the Liberdade

Birth of the Liberdade

Flags are flying
Seas are rising
Making way towards home

Weather ahead
Secure the decks
All hands look lively

Surfing through foam
Hear the rig moan
One eye on the glass
It’s still falling

Airs full of spray
Covered by grey
Lee shore ahead
Up a few points if you please

Sands are in slow motion
The lead it doesn’t lie
We’re running out of ocean

Please don’t let my good ship die

Some background if anyone is curious

The Aquidneck
The Slocum family continued on their next ship, the 326-ton Aquidneck.
In 1886 Aquidneck sailed through a hurricane. Near the end of 1887, the unlucky Aquidneck was wrecked in southern Brazil.

The Liberdade
After being stranded in Brazil with his wife and sons Garfield and Victor, he started building a boat that could sail them home. He used local materials, salvaged materials from the Aquidneck and local workers. The boat was launched on May 13, 1888, the very day slavery was abolished in Brazil, and therefore the ship was given the Portuguese name Liberdade. It was an unusual 35-foot (11 m) junk-rigged design which he described as "half Cape Ann dory and half Japanese sampan [sic] ".[8] He and his family began their voyage back to the United States, his son Victor (15) being the mate. After fifty-five days at sea and 5510 miles,[9] the Slocums reached Cape Roman, South Carolina[10] and continued inland to Washington D.C. for winter and finally reaching Boston via New York in 1889.[8] This was the last time Henrietta sailed with the family. In 1890, Slocum published the accounts of these adventures in Voyage of the Liberdade.[8][