The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier

[clarkj]

Just when the CV19 lock down started, I read "The Long Way", then "Fastnet Force 10" and finally "A World of My Own". Bernard Moitessier's book was totally absorbing, I enjoyed every minute. I didn't realize his back story growing up in French Colonial Vietnam. There was a fantastic documentary in 2006 called "Deep Water" about the 1968 Golden Globe race. There were some tremendous shots of Bernard.

[Arion1234]

Moitessier was a great writer, in my opinion. Some folk might not appreciate the mysticism in The Long Way but it should be viewed in the context of the era. It was the 70s, man, The Whole Earth Catalogue, and all that. More seriously, Moitessier was influenced by writers like Antoine de Saint Exupery, in particular the book, Wind, Sand and Stars. A French friend of Moitessier once told me that the first book was the true Bernard, the second the honeymoon book, and the third his midlife crisis. I often wondered why he did not sail a lot after the GGR, when he finally had the funds to do anything he liked. Did the voyage change him, as his wife, Francoise, claimed, or was it that he started smoking a lot of dope after 1970? When I met him in Papeete in 1980 he seemed listless, whereas before the GGR his energy was legendary. He was also wary of me, despite our mutual friends, probably because I was a starry-eyed admirer. It must be hard to live up to your public image. The man may have been flawed (unlike us paragons of virtue) but he left a great legacy of inspiring stories.

[Marathon1150]

All of the books by this philosopher/sailor are excellent. I have read most of them twice. Not everything that he did was a good idea (like moving cats between small islands in the South Pacific) but his perspective on so many things was quite amazing.

Its remarkable how Donald Crowhurst has been portrayed multiple times on screen and in books and yet, I am not aware of any screen adaptations of Moitessier's much more interesting and accomplished life. If anybody knows of one, please post.

[Searles]

No true sailer,cannot read and understand ,his writing ,ones ability to understand the sea,and all it’s moods,was in part his early upbringing in Vietnam ,and sailing old wooden boats to trying to build paper mache seagoing boats, David Lewis,also wrote of the sea voyaging in small craft ,understanding these early seamen and not underestimating, them and there motives may one day save you and your ship,sail on

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by roverhi

W
He was not a perfect man but a good writer who captures the allure of being at sea. Remember those Zen moments that Moitessier describes when out on the bowsprit at night urging the boat on. I'm sure someone will point out he lost Joshua when he decided to get drunk with a friend in a bar rather than look after the boat but that doesn't take away from his ability as a seaman.

this always confused me about him. how he professed such love for the sea and joshua but seemed to abandon his boat. that boat was such a big part of his life at a pivotal time in his life. i would have taken him as a very sentimental person but maybe he wasn't.

some sailors ultimately seem to see their boats only as tools or a means to an end even when they profess such love for them. Laura Dekker seems to have taken the same path and paid for it with her boat as well and im sure there have been others.

i couldn't imagine doing this but im sure there is so much more to the story, maybe he couldn't do anything about it or was out of his mind on LSD or something or fell out of love with his boat?

[RaymondR]

I would not recommend to anyone to emulate Bill Tilman's style of cruising but he did write a good book.

Wind sand and Stars is also a very good book.

[JC Reefer]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I would not recommend to anyone to emulate Bill Tilman's style of cruising but he did write a good book.

Wind sand and Stars is also a very good book.

Now I’m looking up Tilmans cruising style and looking to emulate it.

[RaymondR]

People of Bills generation could live on nothing but porridge and smoked kippers for years at a time and still look forward to meal times.

[psk125]

Moitessier certainly has a following. He seems to have maintained his sanity by just going off sailing. How his wife & kids managed to maintain theirs (and keep eating) is not mentioned in the book.

[nuku34]

I met Bernard in the 80’s when he was living on his small steel boat in French Polenesia after losing “Joshua“ in Mexico. He was a real character! At that point he was smoking a lot of dope and pretty depressed. He inspired a lot of people to get out there cruising and was a good writer.
Later on I owned a Joshua for 12 years, one of the original ones built by Meta in France. It was a great boat! Quite a bit more finished than Joshua which was really bare bones. Mine went to the Antarctic before I owned her.