A Sea Vagabond's World [Paperback]

Bernard Moitessier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 1998

After he finished writing Tamata and the Alliance in August 1993 while in Polynesia, Moitessier expressed the following wish: "I would like now to write a technical book that would cover three topics: boats, the sea, and the life of a Robinson Crusoe."

This is the book. Moitessier's notebooks include all the know-how and the 1001 tips of this legendary sailor, the knowledge he acquired on the water, in meeting with other sailors, during long passages and his many years in various islands. This simple how-to explains why the sea never changes despite the incredible progress of technology. The first part of the book details how to prepare for an extensive cruise, what kind of boat to choose, the rigging, the sails, the anchors, on deck, below deck... The second part describes the passage: the weather, navigation, watchkeeping, heavy weather, and various tips. In the third part, Moitessier takes us to the various islands he visited and shows how to adapt to living on an atoll, gardening, fishing, and attaining self-sufficiency.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Amid the anecdotes ad sound advice the humanist philosophy of the adventurer/writer shines through..." -- Classic Boat, England, May 2000

...a priceless work as straightforward and unpretentious as the man who composed it....No essential topic is left untreated, and the result is a unique window into the way Moitessier the master solved problems that voyagers in the tropics confront all the time....The read is personable and easygoing, the format eclectic enough to make every page jump out at you with something new and instructive. --Blue Water Sailing, November/December 1998

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sheridan House (September 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574090216
• ISBN-13: 978-1574090215
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Boating

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moitessier thought, May 5, 2000

By 

Ruggero Carbognin (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Sea Vagabond's World (Paperback)

When the great Moitessier died in 1994, was working to his "manual", and " A Sea Vagabond's World ", finished by his companion Veronique and printed in 1996, is the result, the summa of his thought. You have to forgot electronic equipment, regatta tactics, crowded moorings... and enter in his philosophy, in his primitive method of rigging, in his innumerable astuteness that at the right moment may be your salvation. Feel how is a life in an atoll, in harmony with everything and everybody. If you will follow his philosophy even only in a Sunday sailing, you will feel better, more autonomous, free and you will understood what beautiful and big is the world and you will wish only to set out and sail on it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT a narrative--this is a guidebook, or handbook, August 14, 2007

By 

Clarity Crystal - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Sea Vagabond's World (Paperback)

This is the last book published under Moitessier's name--he never finished it himself--of tips he had collected over the years. It's divided into three sections: (1) preparing a boat, (2) sailing, navigating, weather forecasting; and (3) how to become self sufficient once you reach your island paradise. It's a practical guide, NOT a story, but if you are interested in tips on how Moitessier learned to harvest coconuts, plant a garden on an Atoll, (he brought his own topsoil) or built many of his boats then this could be for you.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a charming and appalling historical document, February 15, 2008

By 

John G. Curington - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Sea Vagabond's World (Paperback)

Bernard Moitessier was born in 1925. He spent many years sailing in Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific. As a result of good common sense and so much experience, Moitessier clearly knows much about sailing.

The first two sections of "A Sea Vagabond's World" are delightful. He gives very practical advice about boat material, choice of sailing rig, self-steering gear, lighting, heaving-to, anchoring, navigating, etc. His sailing advice is very reasonable and reflects a great love of simplicity. There is much to learn in these sections. The lack of modern technology is actually a strength. Modern junk will eventually fail; knowing how to perform daily tasks with simple gear is a huge strength on the sea.

The last section, called "Islands and Lagoons," is deeply appalling. Moitessier repeatly gives advice which is incredibly destructive to local habitats. For example, he advocates pouring "kerosene into any holes," including pouring this toxin "into the sand crab (tupa) holes." Moitessier gives this advice as a method to control mosquitos. He doesn't seem to understand that applying poisons into the environment will poison the environment. He also writes about bringing topsoil in bags onto an island. His generation didn't understand about the invasive insect and plant species that can be introduced onto an island by unthinking transfer of soil.

Still, I believe that it is important to forgive our ancestors for their lack of knowledge. If you view Moitessier's book as a document of a certain type of sea travel during the late 20th century, "A Sea Vagabond's World" is a splendid little book. There is much to learn about sailing in the first two sections of the book, and much to learn about unthinking environmental destruction in the last section.

On the whole, in spite of my reservations about the poor environmental example that Moitessier sets while writing about land, I much enjoyed Moitessier's very good advice about sailing.