By Way of the Wind

By Jim Moore

The ENSIGN, April 1997:

“Two months after getting married, Jim Moore burst through the door and said, ‘We’re going to build a boat and sail it to the South Pacific!’ That was in June 1972, and his excitement stemmed from a small newspaper advertisement that a local builder would deliver a 29-, 36-, or 42-foot boat in any stage of completion. The fact that neither Jim nor his wife, Molly, had ever set foot on a sailboat or had the slightest inkling of how to build or sail one never occurred to him.

“Building a boat takes time – five years in this case. Yet, SWAN was strong and solid; through 40,000 miles of sailing and Beaufort Force 10 winds, it never leaked a drop.

“With a favorable weather forecast, Jim and Molly sailed from San Francisco bound for Hilo, Hawaii, in October 1977. Most of this book recounts the adventures of their four-year voyage. From California through Hawaii and Samoa to Fiji, all went well. So, they headed west to circumnavigate the globe, visiting New Zealand, Australia, Mauritus, South Africa, Nambia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Florida, Panama and Costa Rica before returning to the West Coast. Jim and Molly’s adventures provide wholesome, amusing inspiration to all cruising sailors – actual or potential.”

Cruising World, August 1996:

“By Way of the Wind by Jim Moore is the story of one couple’s 41,000 mile world cruise that included adventures in the South Pacific, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. An amusing, educational and inspiring cruising narrative.”

WoodenBoat, July/August 1996:

“The story of a four-year circumnavigation, westabout via the Panama Canal in 36’ sloop by man and wife.”

Kemper County Messenger, March 1995:

“There are honeymoons and there are honeymoons. The one described in this book must be one of the most unusual I have ever heard of. I believe you will come to the same conclusion.

“The book is By Way of the Wind, by Jim Moore. Believe it or not, Jim and Mollie Moore built a boat and sailed across the South Pacific on their wedding trip. Not only did the couple sail the South Pacific, they continued on and circumnavigated the globe.

“By Way of the Wind is an absorbing story of daring. The couple committed themselves not only to themselves at the altar, they dedicated themselves to a long and adventurous trip through some of the most magnificent areas of the world. A very unusual and thoroughly fascinating narrative.”

The Washington Post, January 1992:

“Good Read: The best sailboat cruising book to come out in a long time is Jim Moore’s By Way of the Wind, an account of his four-year circumnavigation with wife Molly in SWAN, the 36-footer he built with his own hands. Moore’s first book has a wonderful, understated tone and his adventures are easy to follow and appreciate. The pair never had been to sea before they set out from the Columbia River in Oregon.”

Delaware State News, December 1991:

“Most of us sailing nuts aren’t going to do any long-distance blue-water sailing, but we enjoy reading about the experiences of those who do it well. One of the most entertaining raconteurs of such experiences is Jim Moore, who recently wrote a book called By Way of the Wind.

“'This is the most delightful cruising adventure book since Herb Payson’s You Can’t Blow Home Again' in 1984. Both authors told about their exploits with a sense of humor lacking in most similar stories.

“Moore and his wife Molly were both 36 in 1972, looking for ‘something adventuresome to do with our lives.’ They were living in a houseboat in Portland, Ore., with two jobs and no children. They didn’t even know how to sail when Jim got the bright  idea of building a sailboat and taking off for the South Pacific.

“Obviously, that was not an original idea, but they actually did it, came back to entertain us with their report, and have taken off again.

“When the Moores took the plunge in 1972, they bought the hull of a Cascade 36 and went to work boat-building evenings and on weekends. Four years later, their yacht swan was ready for a maiden voyage, and in 1977 she was ready to go, complete with a refrigeration system and self-steering.

“They went first to Hawaii and then to south to Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, taking their time and enjoying the local people and the cruising people they met on the way. Of course, they sailed through violent storms and other emergencies, and of course, they survived happily.

“They got back to Hawaii in 1981 after going around South Africa and through the Panama Canal.

“Moore proved to be a man of many capabilities. He is a competent boatbuilder, mechanic, celestial navigator, consumer of wine and storyteller. This is his first book and there are sure to be more.

“They returned to Portland in 1981 with the flags of 15 nations flying from the backstay. After a few weeks, they sailed back to Hawaii and got jobs to replenish their treasury. They stayed until 1988, then took off again. Let’s hope we hear all about it later.”

Yachting, October 1991:

“Far from simply amusing, this first-person narration by Jim Moore tells about a couple with no sailing experience but a commitment to a long-term dream and an addiction to the sea. Both 36 years old, both with jobs in Oregon for some 10 years, they claim they were ‘totally aghast at the idea of maintaining the status quo for the next couple of decades.’

“Instead they embarked on a four-year project to build their own 36-foot sloop, SWAN. And then spent four and a half years in adventures and misadventures as they made their passage around the world.

“The book is filled with practical knowledge and ingenious do-it-yourself tips for all amateur sailors. Appreciate the efforts of Jim Moore and his wife, Molly, as his first mate, while they round their ports-of-call ploughing the Tasman Sea, repair a broken engine at the Great Barrier Reef and spend Christmas at the Hawaiian Islands.

“Then come home with them as they realize that once a seafarer always a seafarer. At the book's end, Jim and Molly soon decide to embark on another cruise, this time of the United States. ‘The mate has started the engine and SWAN is trying to shake free. We're leaving as soon as I finish writing this sentence.’”

Southern Boating, July 1991:

“By Way of the Wind by Jim Moore is a hilarious account of how an Oregon couple with no previous experience with boats completed and outfitted their Cascade 36 SWAN, then sailed around the world with nothing but a sextant and a fair understanding of dead reckoning, a sort of The Egg and I of circumnavigation. Moore tells you what still qualifies as 'paradise' and what has been spoiled. He describes lying a hull in steep-faced Tasman seas (‘The Tasman Sea isn't all bad. It helps forestall any fool notion one might be harboring of sailing around Cape Horn one day’). He takes you on a brief and unpleasant visit to Brazil when things were not going well between our countries diplomatically. He describes an attack on their rubrail by a crazed barracuda near Isla Coiba south of Golfito in Costa Rica (‘The mate saw little humor in my suggestion that she dive and check the set of the anchor’). The Moores may not have had Indians shooting arrows at them as Joshua Slocum did in Tierra del Fuego, but their story has good practical information and plenty of drama.”

Freshwater News, Portland, May 1991:

“’We’re going to build a boat and sail it to the South Pacific.’ I blurted this out to my bride of two months as I burst through the door of the houseboat. She stared blankly at me. “We can quit these lousy jobs and do something exciting for once!” She stood there stirring the chili. ‘Did you remember to pick up the onions?’ I could see that she warming to the idea.

“So begins Jim Moore’s entertaining book about his and wife Molly’s adventures. Here’s your typical young American newlywed couple. Except they set out to create their own destiny: Build a boat – sail it around the world – write a book about their adventures – enjoy the lifestyle so much that they continue their wind-powered travels.

“Moore spins their yarn in succinct yet absorbing terms. In other words he moves the story right along.

“In the first chapter the boat, a locally made Cascade 36 is bought, built, launched and Jim and Molly, never mind they have next to no sailing experience or knowledge, have departed Portland for points south.

“Moore writes glowingly about the Cascade 36 and Yacht Constructors – now Cascade Yachts – builders of the hull and deck units of molded fiberglass, and the boat served the couple well during their four year globe circling adventure. (Cascade hulls and components – and now Benford hulls are still molded in Portland and hundreds of Cascades are sailing all over the world. They enjoy a remarkable reputation for boats of the highest integrity.)

“A particularly entertaining paragraph from the book has special interest to the reviewer because the subjects are personal friends:

“I am fairly certain that SWAN would have been completed far earlier had it not been for a few of my friends, one in particular being Darold Brown. Darold and his wife, our dear friend, Linda, moored their sailboat behind our boathouse. Darold and I, both slightly intemperate Irishmen, often worked on technical problems of construction together. During these sessions we often focused on the problem through the bottom of the wineglass. The research and development periods usually ended in much laughing and carrying-on. Scratch another late night of work. It was all great fun.

“Moore takes the reader around the world in a friendly, yet informative way. He’s a practical fellow and imparts a fair amount of really worthwhile information along with his entertaining narrative.

“One of Moore’s practical comments is on refrigeration on board. ‘…sometimes a would-be cruiser asks me, in a slightly argumentative tone, ‘Do you really need refrigeration?’ I ask them if they have a refrigerator at home. When they say yes, I ask them ‘Do you use it?’

“On confirming the couples first landfall ‘…A feeling of pride filled me, sweeping away the nagging doubts. I turned to the mate and announced in a voice now brimming over with confidence, ‘It’s the Cape Kumukahi light.’ I knew she was glad she married me.’

“Jim Moore writes like he’s the kind of fellow you’d like to know. Moore’s book is a must-read for anyone who seeks to fulfill his dreams of building a boat and sailing it around the world.”

Sun News, July 1991:

“Jim Moore’s By Way of the Wind is a light, nearly superficial account of his and Molly Moore’s sailing trip around the world, in a 36-foot sloop.

“The Moore’s built their boat from a kit and sailed away, occasionally stopping to take jobs to fill their larder. The book is long on weak humor and short on realistic details. Wife Molly is the ‘mate,’ and, for the most part, this is Jim’s book, not Molly’s.

“Readers will want to know how and where Moore got his navigation and sailing experience; he glosses over most of the back-breaking, filthy, mind-numbing, dangerous toil that is the daily fare of small-boat sailors, and one is puzzled about the seeming ease and simplicity of such an undertaking.”

Excerpted from The Dolphin Book Club News, May 1991:

“In middle age, Moore and his wife, Molly, completed the interior and rigging of a 36-foot sloop, quit their jobs and headed out to sea. The Moores are anything but your typical cruising couple. They started out as beginners but – do to stubbornness, lots of reading, and trial and error – ended up as experts. Moore’s vivid and at times frightening descriptions of how he handled three vicious storms, beat away from a threatening Australian reef, and repaired broken equipment at sea are models of self-sufficient seamanship.

“For all his detachment when describing his boat and its handling, Jim Moore is interested in much more than technology. He and Molly are warmly generous in their relations with their neighbors in foreign ports, where they often stay for months at a time. By Way of the Wind is a very witty book – descriptions of like ashore are humorous. On board, the Moores keep fear at bay with irony and humor.

“While never denying the difficulties of the voyage that he and his wife somewhat impulsively set out on, Jim Moore describes its charms as well as many of its technical challenges. The result is a book that cruising sailors will use both as a text and as an inspiration.”

Publisher’s Weekly, March 1991:

“On July 4th, 1976, Jim and Molly Moore slipped their 36-foot sloop SWAN into the Columbia River at Portland for its maiden voyage. As they entered the channel, he reminded his wife that ‘starboard’ was on the Oregon side of the river. Fourteen months later, these inexperienced sailors – the author, a nervous navigator, and his wife, a seasick mate – set out for the South Pacific and a four-year circumnavigation: first stop Hawaii. After seven months there, they moved on to Samoa, which they found disappointing, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand. They took temporary jobs in Australia, then traced Captain Cook’s voyage in Endeavor. SWAN proved to be a remarkably trouble-free craft. The author describes the South Atlantic as a ‘boring stretch of saltwater.’ The most harrowing incident occurred in the Caribbean when they were pursued by pirates, whom the author threatened with a shotgun. This fine adventure will delight blue-water sailors.”

Booklist, March 1991:

“Married just two months, Jim Moore announced to his bride that they were going to build a boat and sail it to the South Pacific! In June of 1972 they ordered a 36-foot hull, purchased a boathouse on the Columbia River, the following spring the hull was fitted with a keel, and then 4 and one half years of night and weekend construction of their boat home commenced. The voyage began in September 1977. The bulk of the book recounts the adventures of their four years sailing from Oregon to California, Hawaii, Christmas Island, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Mauritus, South Africa, Namibia, St. Helena Island, Brazil, the Caribbean, Florida, Panama, Costa Rica – then back to Oregon in July 1981. Along the way they met many friendly and interesting people and some (including pirates) not so friendly, had encounters with a varied assortment of sea and bird creatures, experienced weather extremes from fierce storms to doldrums, and learned how to overcome mechanical and functional problems on board. Finally, the Moores became so caught up in the life-style that, upon their return, they put aside their plans to sell the boat and return to ordinary life. In 1987 they set out again for an undetermined destination. A fascinating tale of a memorable voyage.”