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The Long Way
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The Long Way is Bernard Moitessier's own incredible story of his participation in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. For seven months, the veteran seafarer battled storms, doldrums, gear-failures, knock-downs, as well as overwhelming fatigue and loneliness. Then, nearing the fin
...more
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Paperback, 256 pages
Published
January 1st 1995
by Sheridan House
(first published 1971)
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This was originally written in French.
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Jan 09, 2008
Artnoose McMoose
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
sailors and non-sailors alike
Recommended to Artnoose by:
Moxie Marlinspike
If you haven't yet read the book A Voyage For Madmen about the Sunday Time Golden Globe circumnavigational race, you should read that first and then read this, an account by one of the participants. Bernard Moitessier was not just a participant in this incredible event, he was the lone participant who once he completed one single-handed loop around the three capes, decided to give Western Civilization the finger and keep on sailing, giving up all prizes and monies associated with officially winn
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Funny that I had not read this book previously. My brother asked me to read something at his wedding that was nautical and talked about life, this was his first thought for inspiration.
Moitessier conveys his love for the sea and sailing. Central to the book is what it means to be a creature living on this planet. This is the story of a solitary voyage, racing around the planet in a small boat. The other competitors are nearly absent. What is present is the sea, the boat, Moitessier, and his thou ...more
Moitessier conveys his love for the sea and sailing. Central to the book is what it means to be a creature living on this planet. This is the story of a solitary voyage, racing around the planet in a small boat. The other competitors are nearly absent. What is present is the sea, the boat, Moitessier, and his thou ...more

I came to this book after reading A Voyage for Madmen. I was just fascinated to learn more about someone who sails alone around the world, without touching land and when almost home decides "Nah. Let's just keep sailing".
The book doesn't disappoint but here is a man so obsessed he must have been impossible to live with. I have seen film of an interview with his wife and she says (I'm paraphrasing here) "That's Bernard. It's just the way he is and you have to accept that". Strikes me that she is ...more
The book doesn't disappoint but here is a man so obsessed he must have been impossible to live with. I have seen film of an interview with his wife and she says (I'm paraphrasing here) "That's Bernard. It's just the way he is and you have to accept that". Strikes me that she is ...more

I wanted to like this, but ultimately it wasn't for me.
The first half was a pretty standard sea tale consisting of weather updates, sea conditions, etc—your basic log entry stuff—peppered in over a lot of talk about the freedom of the sea and the sort of vague spirituality that engenders. Not bad. There were a few choice quotes and moments of rumination. But the second half really went off the hippy-dippy deep end. There was a lot of talk about the "Monster," which, as best as I can figure, is ...more
The first half was a pretty standard sea tale consisting of weather updates, sea conditions, etc—your basic log entry stuff—peppered in over a lot of talk about the freedom of the sea and the sort of vague spirituality that engenders. Not bad. There were a few choice quotes and moments of rumination. But the second half really went off the hippy-dippy deep end. There was a lot of talk about the "Monster," which, as best as I can figure, is ...more

So much more than a book about participating in a famous sailing race. This is an amazing meditation on how to live in harmony with our beautiful planet, written by someone who saw more of it than most. Don’t expect rip-roaring excitement (being so calm means he makes the impossible sound easy) but do expect to be haunted by his words. Haunted in a good way and haunted in a bad way. The environmental message of this book has never been more important.
Don’t worry if you are not a sailor as there ...more
Don’t worry if you are not a sailor as there ...more

First published in 1973, if The Long Way is dated, it's in a melancholy way. The book ends - after Moitessier's circumnavigation and more - with the wise sailor encountering environmental destruction on Tahiti. He becomes engaged, politicized, after months of selfish (in a good way) voyaging. Just him, the Joshua his boat, the porpoises, the sea robins, the sky, sea, sun and moon. But you can't help but feel, if we could dial the planet back to the state it was in in 1973, we would be a long way
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In 1968 the London Sunday Times sponsored a circumnavigating the globe single handed sailing race. At that time, no one had sailed around the world alone without stopping. With the media attention there was even more of the romanticism always intwined in The Sea.
The race, however, would come to expose all the real and terrible tragedy of "nature". Alone in that empty, mystical plain of ungovernable, unfathomable wild, one man would step off his boat's deck sinking forever into the oblivion. Moi ...more
The race, however, would come to expose all the real and terrible tragedy of "nature". Alone in that empty, mystical plain of ungovernable, unfathomable wild, one man would step off his boat's deck sinking forever into the oblivion. Moi ...more

In 1968, the Sunday Times of the UK held the first (and only) Golden Globe race: sailors had to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat race with the sailboat staying within certain specifications. The race began and ended in Plymouth, UK. No fancy navigational aids were allowed(there was no GPS then in any case), no radio, nothing. To mark the 50th anniversary of that race, another will be held beginning in the summer of 2018. This is an appropriate time to read or revisit Bernar
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This is an interesting story (though other stories about the Golden Globe Race should be read first). Moitessier writes well, and with detail. When reading, I felt that he did not sufficiently explain his decision to keep going—but this is addressed in the last chapters.
> Caught unawares, a flying fish shoots straight up in a twenty foot leap into the air. A huge barracuda takes off after it and snatches the flying fish at the top of the arc. The really amazing thing was seeing the barracuda co ...more
> Caught unawares, a flying fish shoots straight up in a twenty foot leap into the air. A huge barracuda takes off after it and snatches the flying fish at the top of the arc. The really amazing thing was seeing the barracuda co ...more

Lost at sea.
This is a log book of a mind too long left alone. It's part madness, part sailing, and part rant. I wish I had read it when I was younger so the angst and despair could've been closer to me. It's a good bookthough, so I don't regret reading it.
The appendix reads like a different book and was a pure pleasure. The author takes us on a technical tour of the boat, the sails, the rigging, the weather in the 40s and so much more. This part is a necessary read for any would-be sailor or tho ...more
This is a log book of a mind too long left alone. It's part madness, part sailing, and part rant. I wish I had read it when I was younger so the angst and despair could've been closer to me. It's a good bookthough, so I don't regret reading it.
The appendix reads like a different book and was a pure pleasure. The author takes us on a technical tour of the boat, the sails, the rigging, the weather in the 40s and so much more. This part is a necessary read for any would-be sailor or tho ...more

Oh Moitessier, you are such a romantic! A french hippie poet vagabond. This book is pure nectar, poetry, adventure, love of life in script. But I had to knock half a star off for going overboard with the tangents about the "Machine." Not that I don't agree in spirit, it just rubbed me the wrong way, felt badly written, trite. It actually hurts me to say that about this incredible book. Read it, do! I'll read it again just to hang out with this precious man.
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In 1968 the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race offered prizes to the first solo sailor to make it around the world, non-stop, and also for the fastest such circumnavigation. 9 sailors set out...only one finished, but this man, Moitessier, was in position to win at least one prize before chosing to keep on around the globe another 1/2 turn. Fascinating read and very well-written.
I read the book expecting a detailed explanation as to why this guy would enter the race, sail around the 3 capes at the b ...more
I read the book expecting a detailed explanation as to why this guy would enter the race, sail around the 3 capes at the b ...more

This is a an amazing saga and the writer delivers the story in a captivating style that is not the least bit egotistical. This is one I'll never forget.
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I was excited to read this, having learned about Moitessier a few months earlier and developing more of an interest as I learned about him.
As a non-sailor, but a person with an interest in the cruising lifestyle as well as a respect for Moitessier's decision to continue sailing on after rounding the horn, this book did not disappoint.
A little sailing knowledge helps understand Moistessier's activities, especially in the beginning, where the book is more technically-focused. I took about an hour ...more
As a non-sailor, but a person with an interest in the cruising lifestyle as well as a respect for Moitessier's decision to continue sailing on after rounding the horn, this book did not disappoint.
A little sailing knowledge helps understand Moistessier's activities, especially in the beginning, where the book is more technically-focused. I took about an hour ...more

"Of course I will continue toward the Pacific... ...Maybe I will be able to go beyond my dream, to get inside of it, where the true thing is, the only really precious fur, the one that keeps you warm forever. Find it, or perhaps never return."
Moitessier beautifully weaves a tapestry of rootedness and truth. It's no longer a wonder how this was the book that inspired Philippe Jeantot. Through the heart of Moitessier, I see the allure of round-the-world solo sailing. A pursuit demanding oneself d ...more
Moitessier beautifully weaves a tapestry of rootedness and truth. It's no longer a wonder how this was the book that inspired Philippe Jeantot. Through the heart of Moitessier, I see the allure of round-the-world solo sailing. A pursuit demanding oneself d ...more

'The Long Way' is Bernard Moitessier's journal during his participation in the first solo, non-stop sailing competition circumnavigating the globe in 1968. What I found very interesting was the fact that after some months at sea alone, he began questioning the purpose of all that and what values that really matter for him in life. Just before reaching the finish line, he then turned his boat away, abandoning the race completely and keep sailing. He lost the race when he would've won, but he won
...more

I really appreciated the author not only because of his great achievement on circumnavigation as single-handed but also his well-established soul and personality. At the end, he finished the race not as a sailing activity, but a war with a man’s ordinary and cheap passions.
The book gives a lot information on sailing especialy about the seas on its route. Beside these technical sailing information (generally depending on the experience), the reckoning between the author and his inner world took m ...more
The book gives a lot information on sailing especialy about the seas on its route. Beside these technical sailing information (generally depending on the experience), the reckoning between the author and his inner world took m ...more

I just have to rate this because...this guy is a GOD among so many sailors. They will rave about how inspiring he is...how he just so amazing...etc etc etc. I enjoyed the book. It's well written. But the author was one seriously flawed man. He abandoned his family and rationalized his actions to ease his conscience. It was well written, I did enjoy the book. But it was completely tainted by my feeling that the author was a major douche.
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This is one of the best books I’ve read all year. Yes, at the end he seems to be mentally slipping (his conversation with the gulls reminded me of Tom Hanks’ reliance on a volleyball in “Castaway”), but on the whole he never seems lonely as he makes his peace with the sea and the world as a whole. It reminded me of the great works of Christian Williams, which I also read this year. Certainly Both sailors have made their peace with the sea, their boats, and the universe.

I enjoyed The Long Way, though would note this book is only going to interest sailors. It's hardly a book really, more of an edited ship's log. There are some beautiful moments, his notes about the relationships he develops with some of the animals, and a few of his thoughts on sailing are wonderful. It's neat to read about a completely different time, before satellite weather and internet, fancy instruments, and auto-tillers. Just him and his boat.
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Very interesting read. I admire the strength of the author and the other solo sailors. They are a very small and close-knit group. On the other hand, these men want to be alone most of the time. They belong on the open sea, not on shore.
The book has lots of technical weather, navigating, and sailing terms. Sometimes it reads more like a journal than a novel.
The book has lots of technical weather, navigating, and sailing terms. Sometimes it reads more like a journal than a novel.

As an armchair sailor I love to read books about the sea. There is something about the challenge of the sea and sailing, the maintenance of the boat and the navigation that intrigues me.
This account of Moitessier's is absolutely fascinating. Packed with good tips about how to survive months at sea, it occasionally wanders off into poetry and mysticism, but is well worth reading.
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This account of Moitessier's is absolutely fascinating. Packed with good tips about how to survive months at sea, it occasionally wanders off into poetry and mysticism, but is well worth reading.
...more

This book is a great read if you either have an interest in sailing or enjoy reading about the perceptions of human minds in extremis. If you like both, the you must read it. I put this in a category with "No Picnic on Mount Kenya" and "Amazon Beamng" in documenting an extreme adventure and its impact on the author's mind and perception.
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Goodreads Librari...: Wrong title for "La Longue Route" | 2 | 15 | Feb 20, 2019 12:52AM |
Bernard Georges Moitessier was a French sailor and writer, most notable for his participation in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the first non-stop, singlehanded, round the world yacht race.
Bernard Georges Moitessier est un navigateur et écrivain français, auteur de plusieurs livres relatant ses voyages. En 1968, il participe à la première course autour du monde, en solitaire et sans esca ...more
Bernard Georges Moitessier est un navigateur et écrivain français, auteur de plusieurs livres relatant ses voyages. En 1968, il participe à la première course autour du monde, en solitaire et sans esca ...more
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