and up the Medway she was under
bright skies again.

Cooking and sleeping on board, the writer performed the whole journey
without any companion; and perhaps this log of the voyage will show that
it was not only delightful to the lone sailor, but useful to others.

BLACKHEATH, KENT,
_May_, 1880.

The Author's profits from the preceding Editions were devoted to Prizes
for Boys in the following Training Ships:--

The 'CHICHESTER' in the _Thames_.
The 'ARETHUSA' in the _Thames_.
The 'CUMBERLAND,' in the _Clyde_.
The 'INDEFATIGABLE,' in the _Mersey_.
The 'HAVANNAH,' in the _Severn_.

The profits will again be devoted to similar Prizes as explained in the
Appendix.

CHAPTER I.

Project--On the stocks--Profile--Afloat alone--Smart
lads--Swinging--Anchors--Happy boys--Sea reach--Good looks--Peep
below--Important trifles--In the well--Chart--Watch on deck--Eating an
egg--Storm sail.

It was a strange and pleasant life for me all the summer, sailing
entirely alone by sea and river fifteen hundred miles, and with its
toils, perils, and adventures heartily enjoyed.

The two preceding summers I had paddled alone in an oak canoe, first
through central Europe, and next over Norway and Sweden; but though both
of these voyages were delightful, they had still the drawback, that
progress was mainly dependent on muscular effort, that food must be had
from shore, and that I could not sleep on the water.

In devising plans to make the pleasure of a voyage complete then, many
cogitations were had in the winter, and these resulted in a beautiful
little sailing-boat; and once afloat in this, the water was my road, my
home, my very world, for a long and splendid summer.

The perfect success of these three voyages has been due mainly to the
careful preparation for them in the minute details which are too often
neglected. To take pains about these is a pleasure to a man with a
boating mind, but it is also a positive necessity if he would ensure
success; nor can we wonder at the fate of some who get swamped, smashed,
stove-in, or turned over, when we see them go adrift in a craft which had
been huddled into being by some builder ignorant of what is wanted for
the sailor traveller, and is launched on unknown waters without due
preparation for what may come.

I resolved to have a thoroughly good sailing-boat--the largest that could
be well managed in rough weather by one strong man, and with every bolt,
cleat, sheave, and