Written by French director and rockstar Cyril Collard, this book is an engrossing confession where it is impossible to keep hope and despair apart. This largely autobiographical novel is the story of a young, gay, promiscuos man, Jean, who, after being told he's got AIDS, starts understanding the meaning of love thanks to a nervous, morbid at some times, relationship with a very young girl called Laura: whem the end comes (there is an end, actually) Jean states he's understood what love means and his farewell sounds like the triumph of life rather than of death. Collard loved life; and life, which was not unsensitive towards him, gave him the possibility to write this remarkable story, with an outstanding style that reminds of both rap music and French symbolism.

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.

This was my first Bernard Moitessier book. I picked it up after reading "Godforsaken Sea" by Derek Lundy. Lundy referred to Moitessier several times through the book as the father of single-hand sailboat racing.

The book was not at all what I expected, about solo long-distance blue water racing, but I enjoyed the first half about Moitessier's childhood in Indochina, how he came to love the sea and set out to follow his dreams. It was an account of the history of Indochina that I found facsinating, told through the eyes of an adolescent that loved that part of the world. Moitessier can be an excellent writer.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book turned into a self-absorbed, preachy lecture about his trying to "find himself." What was forgivable wanderlust and adolescent idealism in a teen and twenty-year-old, turned into a sad tale of a middle-aged guy who could never grow up. He tried to legitimize his behavior as his attempt to save the world from war and poverty (from Tahiti, mind you). On several occasions I felt like saying "Get a life!"

I probably will read Moitessier's classic, "The Long Way." I hope that it is as good as he says it is in "Tamata and the Alliance!"

Bernard Moitessier's writings are a true work of art. I was so inspired by this book, that I have just had a 28' wooden sloop restored for Circumnaviation. The boat's name:
ESPRIT DE MOITESSIER ( Spirit of Moitessier ).
Tamata and the Alliance is not just a sailing book, but is a magical window into the mind and soul of a peaceful man, whos wonderful ideas and insights have the power to change your vision of the world ... for the better.
Don't miss out .... buy Tamata and the Alliance.

Bernard Moitessier was more than the "Father of singlehanded sailboat racing", his book is that of a poet in action-all his life. Reading The Long Way first would be well recomended to better understand Bernard's references in this book. The author has put his heart & soul into writing this for us as he did working to elevate social awareness. If you've ever been daunted by Cape Horn, yearned to live on a deserted Atoll, or thought World Powers should make the world a better place, then this is for you! If you want to bring Western ways to the Paradise of Sea and Sand, you'll not likely understand what the title means!! :)))

Some people come into contact with their subconscious mind and they rile against it, and we call them mad. Then other people have this encounter with the numinous and they surrender to the will of the world, to "the gods" as Moitessier called it. Moitessier is one of these later day mystics, who centuries ago would likely have become a monk or a poet, but in this barbarian age, he goes to sea. His earlier books are his best, and "The Long Way" is no disappointment. This book is as much about the internal struggles of Bernard Moitessir, as it is about his single handed sailing exploit around the world. Having circled the world, having passed the three great Southern capes, and while leading the first around the world sailing race Moitessier quits and heads for his friends in Tahiti. Moitessier had accomplished what he had set out to accomplish, and in the true anti-hero fashion of the day, he refused to become a bit player in some "Madison Avenue" nightmare featuring 15 minutes of fame that leaves one's life suffering of anti climax. He refused to allow the commercial world to steal this victory. "The Long Way" is a good read and I came away with a great respect for Bernard Moitessier. The translation from French to English by William Rodarmor is exceptional.

John Beasley

I've been reading and re-reading this book for over 10 years now, and the main reason is because of the peace and tranquility it gives to me. Every time I open the book, I set sail on Joshua as a solo sailor and experence what the "gods" of the open sea give so freely. Bernard was truly a man who knew how to deal with the inner man and fully experence all of life around him one day at a time. There will never be another Bernard Moitessier

On my first reading, this book stirred my soul and shook me out of a decade of spiritual lethargy. On the second reading, I set about learning how to sail. On the third reading I bought my own 25' yacht. Now, many reads (and many months)later, and ready to begin my first solo passage, I am developing my own love affair with the sea. Thank you Bernard!