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The Lonely Sea and the Sky
Aged eighteen with a taste for adventure, Francis Chichester emigrated to New Zealand with ten pounds in his pocket. He tried his hand as a boxer, shepherd, lumberjack and gold prospector, before returning to England. Having qualified as a pilot, in 1929 he embarked on his most famous solo flight in the de Havilland Gipsy Moth from England to Australia. Shortly afterward, he would survive a near-death catastrophe in an attempt to fly solo around the world. Turning to sailing, he won the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race in Gipsy Moth III, despite having been diagnosed with cancer two years previously. In 1967, he became the first person to sail around the world solo from west to east via the great capes.
461 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1964
29 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Francis Chichester
43 books12 followersAviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 22, 2020
It's unfathomable to me that this heroic explorer flew around the world in a lop-sided old biplane, navigated to a tiny island in the middle of an ocean that would've claimed him if he'd been a fraction of a degree out, survived a major air crash, and then, on arriving in England, was turned down by the RAF because at 30 something years, they considered him too old to fly a Spitfire against the nazis. A great book and a great man.
April 6, 2024
The fine description of the epic journeys set out in this book make Roald Admundsen's cycle ride from Norway to Spain seem like a short bike trip to the local off-licence.
If you can find a copy of this book (mine is from 1967 and cost 2 shillings) then buy it. And don't forget to read it, too!
If you can find a copy of this book (mine is from 1967 and cost 2 shillings) then buy it. And don't forget to read it, too!
May 14, 2025
Makes you want to get out sailing and see the world. Old school classic adventurer sails and flies across the world solo
August 26, 2016
Francis (later Sir Francis) Chichester is renowned, in the UK at least, as a single-handed sailor, most notably for his single-handed circumnavigation in 1968. He was 65 years old at the time. I saw this book by chance on the shelf of the local public library and was initially surprised that the cover bore a picture of a seaplane as well as a sail-boat.
Long before his sailing exploits Chichester had flown single-handed from Britain to Australia and made the first solo east-west flight from New Zealand to Australia. I think we are now so accustomed to air travel that we perhaps forget how rapidly the technology of flight developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Both of these flights of Chichester’s were carried out in the late 1920s, early 1930s at the time when solo flying was extremely hazardous.
Many of his exploits reminded me of reading Joshua Slokum’s book of his circumnavigation of the globe. When Slokum’s boat was wrecked in a storm he simply set to on the beach and built another one. Chichester did much the same when, on the remote Lord Howe Island, his seaplane was wrecked in a storm; with the help of islanders—many of whom had never seen an airplane before—he rebuilt it and flew on. This kind of self-reliance is a rare thing now when we are so used to getting what we want/need with little more effort than picking it off the supermarket shelf.
Judged by purely literary standards, Chichester was not a good writer; there were many passages that I had to read two or three times to make proper sense of them, but if you read this book, it will be for the story not the literary merit.
Also, he makes no concession to the uninformed when explaining his navigation techniques for example. This self-derived method involved taking complex sextant readings and making complex calculations to work out his position and his drift from his intended course, and all whilst flying the aircraft—he remarks on balancing the control stick with his elbow, for example, whilst taking the sextant readings. He explains this in some detail even including a reproduction of his actual chart used in the flight from New Zealand. It is essential to the understanding of the significance of what he was undertaking although it made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.
The latter third or so of the book deals with his first sailing exploits, especially his solo transatlantic crossings. Overall, an interesting if not a thrilling read. Probably a 2.5 star rating for me.
Long before his sailing exploits Chichester had flown single-handed from Britain to Australia and made the first solo east-west flight from New Zealand to Australia. I think we are now so accustomed to air travel that we perhaps forget how rapidly the technology of flight developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Both of these flights of Chichester’s were carried out in the late 1920s, early 1930s at the time when solo flying was extremely hazardous.
Many of his exploits reminded me of reading Joshua Slokum’s book of his circumnavigation of the globe. When Slokum’s boat was wrecked in a storm he simply set to on the beach and built another one. Chichester did much the same when, on the remote Lord Howe Island, his seaplane was wrecked in a storm; with the help of islanders—many of whom had never seen an airplane before—he rebuilt it and flew on. This kind of self-reliance is a rare thing now when we are so used to getting what we want/need with little more effort than picking it off the supermarket shelf.
Judged by purely literary standards, Chichester was not a good writer; there were many passages that I had to read two or three times to make proper sense of them, but if you read this book, it will be for the story not the literary merit.
Also, he makes no concession to the uninformed when explaining his navigation techniques for example. This self-derived method involved taking complex sextant readings and making complex calculations to work out his position and his drift from his intended course, and all whilst flying the aircraft—he remarks on balancing the control stick with his elbow, for example, whilst taking the sextant readings. He explains this in some detail even including a reproduction of his actual chart used in the flight from New Zealand. It is essential to the understanding of the significance of what he was undertaking although it made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.
The latter third or so of the book deals with his first sailing exploits, especially his solo transatlantic crossings. Overall, an interesting if not a thrilling read. Probably a 2.5 star rating for me.
March 2, 2020
An understated story of outstanding courage and adventure. I really enjoyed this.
October 26, 2025
The autobiography of adventurer Francis Chichester, who was an aviator in the 1920s and 30s, and later switched to sailing. In between times he earned money as a navigator and map maker. So really, his whole life and career was to do with travel.
It's crazy to think that in 1960 Chichester must have been world (or at least UK) famous. He's virtually forgotten now despite all of his exploits. In addition to flying from London to Sydney solo in 1930, he later helped start the sport of long distance solo yacht racing after taking a bet with a friend about who would sail west between the UK and the USA fastest.
There are two things I loved about this book. The first is the fact that Chichester is a nerd. He loves data and detail and this comes across in his writing. He writes about propeller-bosses, loglines, turn-buckles, and dope-resisting paint as if the reader is familiar with the terms. He is quite simply the geekiest of adventurers, whose successful aviation and sailing endeavours are largely due to his navigational skills. The book also includes some brilliant self-drawn maps of his key journeys, where he has plotted his position by what he calls dead reckoning in the days before GPS. This extract from late in the book epitomises his nerdy interests:
I found it fascinating to plot the temperature of the Gulf Stream day by day, and also to compare my dead-reckoning position with my sextant fix, to get a rough idea of the meanderings of the Gulf Stream or Gulf River as it might well be called.
Secondly there are a myriad of cool adventures. Imagine looking for an airstrip in Slovenia when you're running out of daylight and deciding whether to risk a landing in a field or not. The coolest of all is his exciting first flight between New Zealand and Australia, island hopping from New Zealand to Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and then Sydney by seaplane as he can't carry enough fuel to make it in one trip. Imagine - it's 1931. You're flying solo and looking for a tiny island in the Tasman sea and you have to take sextant readings while you fly to fix your position and navigate. It was gripping to read. He also completely rebuilt his seaplane in Lord Howe Island after it was wrecked while he stopped there.
The autobiography stops in 1962 after his second solo Atlantic sail crossing, but the internet tells me he went on to complete the first solo sail circumnavigation of the globe in 1966, at the age of 65, and compete in a second solo transatlantic sailing race. Still, he packs enough adventures in to the first sixty years of his life to satisfy almost anyone.
I think Chichester was lucky to live at a time when will power, determination and a sense of adventure met technological advances. He was able to invent and reinvent the fields of aviation and yacht racing. This is a great read, especially if you - like me - are an armchair adventurer and a geek.
It's crazy to think that in 1960 Chichester must have been world (or at least UK) famous. He's virtually forgotten now despite all of his exploits. In addition to flying from London to Sydney solo in 1930, he later helped start the sport of long distance solo yacht racing after taking a bet with a friend about who would sail west between the UK and the USA fastest.
There are two things I loved about this book. The first is the fact that Chichester is a nerd. He loves data and detail and this comes across in his writing. He writes about propeller-bosses, loglines, turn-buckles, and dope-resisting paint as if the reader is familiar with the terms. He is quite simply the geekiest of adventurers, whose successful aviation and sailing endeavours are largely due to his navigational skills. The book also includes some brilliant self-drawn maps of his key journeys, where he has plotted his position by what he calls dead reckoning in the days before GPS. This extract from late in the book epitomises his nerdy interests:
I found it fascinating to plot the temperature of the Gulf Stream day by day, and also to compare my dead-reckoning position with my sextant fix, to get a rough idea of the meanderings of the Gulf Stream or Gulf River as it might well be called.
Secondly there are a myriad of cool adventures. Imagine looking for an airstrip in Slovenia when you're running out of daylight and deciding whether to risk a landing in a field or not. The coolest of all is his exciting first flight between New Zealand and Australia, island hopping from New Zealand to Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and then Sydney by seaplane as he can't carry enough fuel to make it in one trip. Imagine - it's 1931. You're flying solo and looking for a tiny island in the Tasman sea and you have to take sextant readings while you fly to fix your position and navigate. It was gripping to read. He also completely rebuilt his seaplane in Lord Howe Island after it was wrecked while he stopped there.
The autobiography stops in 1962 after his second solo Atlantic sail crossing, but the internet tells me he went on to complete the first solo sail circumnavigation of the globe in 1966, at the age of 65, and compete in a second solo transatlantic sailing race. Still, he packs enough adventures in to the first sixty years of his life to satisfy almost anyone.
I think Chichester was lucky to live at a time when will power, determination and a sense of adventure met technological advances. He was able to invent and reinvent the fields of aviation and yacht racing. This is a great read, especially if you - like me - are an armchair adventurer and a geek.
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November 16, 2020Detailing many of the now-unimaginable adventures Chichester undertook as a solo-voyager of air and water, this book has remained in my memory since I read it in my teens.
Hop-flying a small aeroplane from field to field was enough to get him hooked doing what would now require weeks of instruction on the ground and the later use of a simulator. From there he just dove in head first and his life as a noted explorer began. Flying over deserts he took pot-shots from natives who had undoubtedly never seen a plane.
This is not a blockbuster movie, rife with explosions to keep you awake, it’s a gentleman’s armchair narrative written after the fact. Remember also, that he undertook this at a time before the advent of mass-comm devices carried today even by children. He was always alone in constantly near-death situations without the instant contact afforded today.
Among his observations he related how, while being feted by local luminaries on arrivals he was repeatedly told how amazing his accomplishments were. These congratulations offered by people he came to see had little or no understanding of what he had done.
Here he shared the gift of his recognition, prized since I received it in my youth, that it was not in the having done it at all, but in the doing of it, that the prize was to be found.
His memoir also details time spent as a solo-sailor circumnavigating the globe, allowing the reader the safety of their location from which to enjoy his experiences. So thankful Chichester accomplished this further leg of literary completion so others may continue to share these memories of his early passages.
Hop-flying a small aeroplane from field to field was enough to get him hooked doing what would now require weeks of instruction on the ground and the later use of a simulator. From there he just dove in head first and his life as a noted explorer began. Flying over deserts he took pot-shots from natives who had undoubtedly never seen a plane.
This is not a blockbuster movie, rife with explosions to keep you awake, it’s a gentleman’s armchair narrative written after the fact. Remember also, that he undertook this at a time before the advent of mass-comm devices carried today even by children. He was always alone in constantly near-death situations without the instant contact afforded today.
Among his observations he related how, while being feted by local luminaries on arrivals he was repeatedly told how amazing his accomplishments were. These congratulations offered by people he came to see had little or no understanding of what he had done.
Here he shared the gift of his recognition, prized since I received it in my youth, that it was not in the having done it at all, but in the doing of it, that the prize was to be found.
His memoir also details time spent as a solo-sailor circumnavigating the globe, allowing the reader the safety of their location from which to enjoy his experiences. So thankful Chichester accomplished this further leg of literary completion so others may continue to share these memories of his early passages.
June 21, 2021
It took me ages to read this book, not least because it was at my mother's house and, consequently, where there were long gaps between visits, so I wasn't able to read it very consistently. The other reason, quite frankly, is that although I expected a gripping read I was consistently bamboozled by technical terms. For someone who is neither a pilot, navigator or sailor Chichester's language is often obscure if not downright gobbledegook. I was hoping for a map or diagram of some sort to help me out, but alas there were none.
However, the maps of his various routes by air and sea are interesting and hats off to anyone who undertakes the kind of flight or voyages he did, often alone and in inclement weather conditions as well as in aircraft and boats that would now be in a museum. I remember one of my very first school trips at infant school heading to London to see both the 'Cutty Sark' and the 'Gypsy Moth', another reason why I wanted to read this book.
Unlike a Tom Clancy novel, it's much harder to skip the technical bits in this book but worth the slog to get a feel for adventures in real life which don't have the romance of fiction but still include some colourful characters, adrenalin-powered moments and victorious outcomes as well as a few disasters, shattered plans and crashing disappointments (literally in one instance).
So while I'm none the wiser on jibs (working, spitfire, genoa or otherwise), clews, gaffs, backstays, staysails, starboard magnetos, trimming, or intake manifolds, I still found myself cheering for Sir Francis and his extraordinary achievements which were honoured by Her Majesty in that knighthood.
However, the maps of his various routes by air and sea are interesting and hats off to anyone who undertakes the kind of flight or voyages he did, often alone and in inclement weather conditions as well as in aircraft and boats that would now be in a museum. I remember one of my very first school trips at infant school heading to London to see both the 'Cutty Sark' and the 'Gypsy Moth', another reason why I wanted to read this book.
Unlike a Tom Clancy novel, it's much harder to skip the technical bits in this book but worth the slog to get a feel for adventures in real life which don't have the romance of fiction but still include some colourful characters, adrenalin-powered moments and victorious outcomes as well as a few disasters, shattered plans and crashing disappointments (literally in one instance).
So while I'm none the wiser on jibs (working, spitfire, genoa or otherwise), clews, gaffs, backstays, staysails, starboard magnetos, trimming, or intake manifolds, I still found myself cheering for Sir Francis and his extraordinary achievements which were honoured by Her Majesty in that knighthood.
June 12, 2023
Rated 8/10 An interesting read about an interesting bloke. Leaving England to live in NZ gave him an outlook on life of being independent and self reliant. Whilst initially falling in love with flying and making some ground breaking solo and dual flights, he also was renowned for his solo sailing efforts around the world and across the Atlantic.
This book deal with his early life in England and NZ then moves on to his somewhat precarious flights. Following the demise of his much loved aircraft, he moved on to sailing, and in this instance the story covers his solo (and return) crossings of the Atlantic from the UK to the USA. At the time and with the gear available these crossings were a tribute to his abilities to navigate and his self reliance dealing with the particularly difficult weather conditions that he faced in the Atlantic.
Worth a read if you have a taste for real life adventure and the hardships faced by solo adventurers. Perhaps not the best written work at times but worth the read.
This book deal with his early life in England and NZ then moves on to his somewhat precarious flights. Following the demise of his much loved aircraft, he moved on to sailing, and in this instance the story covers his solo (and return) crossings of the Atlantic from the UK to the USA. At the time and with the gear available these crossings were a tribute to his abilities to navigate and his self reliance dealing with the particularly difficult weather conditions that he faced in the Atlantic.
Worth a read if you have a taste for real life adventure and the hardships faced by solo adventurers. Perhaps not the best written work at times but worth the read.
August 4, 2020
Incredible story of an incredible adventurer.
August 21, 2020
This book is one of the greatest books I have read. I reserved reading it for when I knew I could have a long uninterrupted spell in which to read. It would make any top ten book list that I would compile.
It is a book that I found very therapeutic to read.
It's well written, exciting and humorous. I felt I was on his journeys and lived his life with him.
Read this book and be uplifted.
It is a book that I found very therapeutic to read.
It's well written, exciting and humorous. I felt I was on his journeys and lived his life with him.
Read this book and be uplifted.
February 7, 2021
Amazing man with an amazing story. Now that's how life should be lived.
August 2, 2021
I struggled through this book. It took me a long time to finally finish it. It is an amazing story but the way it was written was just hard to power through.
August 22, 2023
Epic! Amazing, inspiring and riveting. Makes me jealous I wasn’t alive at such a time when the world was new and to be discovered
December 13, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ !
October 8, 2025
Fascinating story of air and yacht races.
May 18, 2016
A well-written book about a highly varied life. Chichester's descriptions of his pioneering flying and sailing adventures are occasionally a bit technical, but there is enough general interest material to keep a less knowledgeable reader going. Some of the best writing is about the more "ordinary" parts of his life, including his boyhood and early experiences on the way to and in New Zealand, and his later battle with lung cancer. All in all it's impossible not to be impressed with the author's energy and caught up in his enthusiasm.
It may be unfair to apply today's standards to a man who was born in 1901, but from time to time (fortunately not often) I was jarred by the author's racist attitudes. Nothing deliberately cruel - on the contrary, Chichester goes out of his way to defend an unfortunate Indian who broke a rule at his insistence, and in the process offers a less than flattering assessment of the typical British official in India - but the casual, unconscious condenscension is still offensive.
Happily, that makes up only a very small part of what is in many ways a remarkable story.
It may be unfair to apply today's standards to a man who was born in 1901, but from time to time (fortunately not often) I was jarred by the author's racist attitudes. Nothing deliberately cruel - on the contrary, Chichester goes out of his way to defend an unfortunate Indian who broke a rule at his insistence, and in the process offers a less than flattering assessment of the typical British official in India - but the casual, unconscious condenscension is still offensive.
Happily, that makes up only a very small part of what is in many ways a remarkable story.
February 6, 2012
I was looking so forward to reading this but was highly disappointed. It just goes to show that great men of adventure who've lived great lives don't automatically become great writers. There's very little depth or humour or anything of interest in this book. It's basically a simple account of facts and places and things done. There's very little reflection on anything or much you can relate to. It's boring in other words and I didn't finish it.
January 11, 2015
Bizarre and mostly forgettable autobiography of the first man to sail around the world. However, this book helped ease the sorrows of being homeless when I read it and THAT'S why I gave it three stars. What's (sadly) more interesting is that years later serial impersonator Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who claimed kinship to Sir Francis.
June 12, 2007
A very adventerous autobiography about an earlier era when the world seemed to be a larger place and the possiblilities of exploring it lay in the gall of the individual willing to test the limits of technology and self reliance.
October 15, 2013
seems to be quite some repetition if you've read all his earlier works.
February 12, 2014
This guy is the definition of a true adventurer, an incredible and inspirational read for all the Nomads out there :)
April 5, 2014
A favourite book through years of reading.
August 9, 2014
Brilliant book - brings his incredible life to us through this book
April 6, 2017
I found this one a real chore to get through - didn't like his writing style and I don't think I really liked him as a person either. Maybe because I got this book expecting it to be about his solo sail around the world and instead the first three-quarters was about flying his plane around the world. Then he did a couple of solo crossings of the Atlantic on his boat. I don't I will be reading any of his other books.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews