Word has reached the Vineyard that David Sinnett-Jones died last month. Mr. Sinnett-Jones built and sailed the 35-foot sailboat Liberdade from Wales to Brazil in 1999. He sailed it to Menemsha in the year 2000. Today the vessel sits on blocks off Beach Road in Vineyard Haven. It is right next door to the Medicine Shoppe.

Mr. Sinnett-Jones died Monday, Nov. 15, peacefully while taking a nap, according to a newspaper in Aberaeron. He was 74 years old.

Mr. Sinnett-Jones was a born adventurer, according to the obituary. He was a sheep farmer in Llangeitho in Wales for 15 years. Even though he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was too restricted to continue as a farmer, he took up sailing and sailed a 25-foot-yacht to South Africa to see his daughter.

It is reported that on his return voyage, he read about Joshua Slocum and was swept up by the tale of a solo sailor circumnavigating the world. It inspired him and a friend to build the Zane Spray and sail it around the world on his own. It took three years to build and he completed it in 1988.

In the summer of 2000, Mr. Sinnett-Jones sailed into Menemsha harbor on the Liberdade, a vessel built to resemble one of the same name sailed by Joshua Slocum in 1888. He hoped to reenact the same Slocum voyage from Brazil to New York with eventually taking the vessel back to England. He was never able to complete the voyage because of health issues.

An attempt by two other sailors to bring the vessel back to England failed in 2003.

Melville C. Brown, a maritime enthusiast from Billerica, is still trying to find a final home for the mostly plywood Liberdade. For information on the vessel, please telephone Mr. Brown at 978-667-0994 or e-mail him at mb237@comcast.net.