Long Way

Bernard Moitessier was born in 1925 in Indochina and much of his sailing knowledge was gained during time spent at sea with the fishermen of the Gulf of Siam. One of the greatest ocean voyagers, he became a legend in his time. He was also a gifted writer and wrote four books describing his seagoing adventures. He moved to France where he spent the last years of his life working on his memoirs, Tamata and the Alliance (Sheridan House, 1995), the story of an unusual man and an exciting life. Bernard Moitessier died in the summer of 1994.

Moitessier is better known as one of the greatest ocean voyagers and was a legend in his time. Last month we reviewed the last book he wrote Tamata and the Alliance. This book is about his Round the World Race for singlehanded yachts. For Moitessier, the race finished in mid-Pacific after he had passed the three Capes and crossed his outward track, leading, and with the hardest sections behind him, he decided to forfeit the race and continue into the Pacific again, to anchor finally among friends in Tahiti. His actions were never explained by the news media; they could not have been, for the voyage had always been seen by Moitessier as something other than a sponsored, publicized, competitive event. It was on the ocean, alone with his boat, that Moitessier began to regard this as a voyage that could not end for him with the reward of those whose values were not his.

• Part OneChapter 1: Full SailChapter 2: Clear LightChapter 3: Sunday at TrinidadChapter 4: Muchos Pocos Hacen Un MunchoChapter 5: Played and Lost…Played and WonPart TwoChapter 6: Good HopeChapter 7: A Saw-tooth WakeChapter 8: The Days and the NightsChapter 9: The Long WayChapter 10: The Rule of the GameChapter 11: Christmas and the RatChapter 12: The Time of the Very BeginningsPart ThreeChapter 13: My Elder BrotherChapter 14: Joshua against JoshuaChapter 15: One Night…Chapter 16: One Day…and a NightPart FourChapter 17: True Dreams—and FalseChapter 18: Time to ChooseChapter 19: The Turning PointChapter 20: Listen, Joshua…Chapter 21: Time to Choose—Part IIChapter 22: The Second Turning PointAppendixGlossary