I can't say it was the best book I have ever read but it was fun and intersesting. The thing that I found most amazing was how well The Spray sailed unattended

One interseting passage of 2700 miles he writes "I didn’t touch the helm, for with the current and heave of the sea the sloop found herself at the end of the run absolutely in the fairway of the channel." He was at the helm a total of 3 hours for the entire passage.

It sounds like he either had an incredible eye or just got lucky to have built such a remarkably well balanced boat. No autopilot and no self stearing wind vanes were available to Slocum, it was a very gutsy move back then to even believe the feat of sailing solo around the world was possible. Not to mention the fact that he didn't even have a proper clock. He mentions his "tin clock" several times and part way into the voyage the minute hand fell off so he was only left with the hour hand. He must have been one he'll of a navigator because he always knew exactly where he was and always made an accurate landfall.

One other thing I found surprising were the dimensions of the boat. At 36'9" and a beam of 14' the Spray was quite beamy. And he had several 24 hour runs of 150 miles or better which isn't to bad for today's cruising boats of that size.