Joshua

When visiting Le Grand Pavois in La Rochelle last October, we learned that Bernard Moitessier’s boat, Joshua, was berthed at the city’s Maritime Museum. This is the boat that was in the winning position of the first Golden Globe Race in 1968, whose skipper, as he began heading up the home stretch in the South Atlantic, had a good hard think about what mattered and decided that it wasn’t fame and fortune as a competitive sailor.

Sauver mon âme

And, so, “parce que je suis heureux en mer et peut-être pour sauver mon âme” (“because I am happy at sea and perhaps to save my soul”), Moitessier quietly pushed the tiller over and, quitting the race, pointed Joshua south-east and headed off into the Indian Ocean and ultimately to Tahiti.

Two famous world records

This left the race open for Robin Knox-Johnston to win and to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly without stopping or support, and paving his way to fame and (we think) fortune. Moitessier, still circumnavigated the globe and then some, ultimately setting a record for the longest nonstop passage by a yacht, with a total of 37,455nm in ten months. Both Moitessier and Knox-Johnston remain heroes for ocean sailors even today, but for very different reasons.

Looking for Joshua

Having read books by both Moitessier and Knox-Johnston, we were very keen to see this piece of history at the Maritime Museum. However, not finding her at her usual berth our question was: “Where is Joshua?”. Eventually an employee of the museum directed us to a boatyard outside the museum premises where Joshua was on the hard having her bum cleaned and anti-fouled.

Les Amis du Musée Maritime

So, we moseyed over in the general direction and there she was, Joshua, named in honour of Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail alone around the globe from 1895 to 1898 (another fine read for those who are interested). From the outside, the 13t steel ketch still looked extremely solid even though she was already quite senior having been built by Moitessier in the early 1960s. Her current condition is in good part due to the restoration and care by the association “Les Amis du Musée Maritime”.

As luck would have it, we found Joshua’s current captain, Joël, on a ladder at the bow lovingly touching up the bobstay with black paint, while another Ami du Musée, Gérard, kept him company and entertained. After introducing ourselves, and establishing the language (French with bits of English and a dash of Spanish) we could all more or less comfortably converse in, we learned that Joshua was about to be put back in the water to visit various boat festivals along the French coast this summer.

A wonderful evening

In no time, we were invited to various events later in the afternoon and evening, including a visit the office of “Les Amis du Musée Maritime” to meet the Amis, Friday drinks at the “Yacht Club Classique”, and celebrations for an upcoming launch at the “Despierres Charpente Marine” boatyard with drinks and a bbq.

What followed was one of our best evenings in France, filled with laughter and stories and fun. The wonderful people from “Les Amis du Musée Maritime”, les Gérards, Joël and the others, were very pleased that Joshua, once again, had brought together people from around the world who love sailing and adventures, and made us feel like old friends. C’était un réel plaisir de vous rencontrer – merci beaucoup! We will wear our Joshua and Damien Amis’ shirts with pride.