By Way of the Wind

The author has a comfortable and fluid writing style. He has a pleasant sense of humor. This book could have been longer as it skips too much of their voyage. The sequel is also excellent with the same gripe. Both have a lot of sailing terms, but those without the background can just ignore them.

I almost didn't buy this book based on the other reviews but that would have been a mistake. The writing ain't that bad. There's certainly worse out there. But then, this is not literature, it's a sailing story. Yes, he refers to his wife as the "mate" but so what? Technically that's correct. He also refers to her as miss "prim and proper" and other "cute" names befitting certain situations. Also, Jim Moore is human and he did some stupid things, like the event with the rifle. But who among us hasn't done something stupid (or several somethings?)All in all, it's a good read.

Jim's writing style stands out from the usual sailing stories. Lots of detail, a bit of romance, a lot of humility, and a quirky sense of humour that keeps me grinning from the first paragraph to the last. We are building a cruising sailboat and this book is definitely one of the reasons! If you're looking for a sailing story that's a bit different, you've found it ion By Way of the Wind.

very entertaining, wrote about all the things I wanted to hear about, reasonably detailed in expression, overall very good.

If you are interested in cruising on a sailing yacht, "By Way of the Wind" is an excellent book to read. Jim Moore is certainly no heavyweight as an author, but he is forthright and clear in his description of events and discoveries that he and his wife made aboard their yacht.The book is basically his recounting of experiences as they bought a hull, finished and fitted it out, and then sailed around the world in it. This was done with no prior experience and very little training. They learned a few lessons the hard way and he shares some of those lessons in his book. Any person who is thinking about going cruising could learn a few things from his book that would help with deciding whether or not cruising is for them. Learning from the Moore's mistakes could also make a first voyage a little more pleasant than it might otherwise be.Jim Moore is an opinionated man from an older generation and it shows in his writing. If you are a narrow minded person who childishly expects the whole world to toe your political line, your are not likely to enjoy this book anymore than the first reviewer did. If you can overlook differences in viewpoint to see some humor or learn a few things then you will probably like his book. I enjoyed it and learned a few things.