Return to the boat in December 1974
On December 25, 1974, Christmas Eve was spent with the neighboring schooner, Om, skippered by Antoine (the author of Elucubrationseuros) in Horta. Then it's the departure for the transatlantic race with Maddy and France towards Martinique.
aboard the Askoy, a lone man accompanied by two inexperienced women steers a 40-ton ship without a shred of automation or electronic equipment. Jacques Brel, his chest and ribs sawed off during his operation a few months earlier, is suffering. His daughter France and his companion Maddy are very involved in the navigation. The boat is difficult to maneuver and requires constant attention at the helm. It is a real "cathedral" of canvas, as he sang in one of his songs of the same title.
Finally the West Indies
Arriving in Fort-de-France on January 25, 1975, the crew, reduced to Maddy and Jacques, spent six months in the West Indies. They will receive their friends Perret, Charley Marouani his former impresario, Lino Ventura, his surgeon and many others more or less famous during these long vacations on board.
Then the Askoy headed back out to sea. It was the westward route via Bonaire and Curaçao, the Dutch Antilles, before crossing the Panama Canal. Finally, on September 22, 1975, it was time to leave for the transpacific.
The Marquesas Islands or the Land of Men in Marquesas
This crossing of the Pacific is done by two people, Jacques Brel and Maddy. It will last two months across the ocean on their 40 ton sailboat. The first stopover in Fatu Hiva was greeted by a delegation of authorities who were missing the brass band. Did Brel hum "Les bourgeois"? No one knows...
They were so displeased with this welcome that, as soon as the entry formalities were completed, they immediately headed for the island of Hiva Oa further south.
Hiva Oa, the end of its world
As soon as they dropped anchor in Hiva Oa, in the fall of 1975, they discovered these enchanted shores, during their first explorations on land, a delicious anonymity that suited them perfectly. This is exactly what the Grand Jacques was looking for.
Diminished, exhausted by this crossing, he follows the advice of his companion and interrupts his world tour to put his bag on land on this Pacific island, far from the mists of the flat country and the gossip of journalists.
He bought a house there and lived happily in his last years, dividing his time between a voluntary activity as a plane-taxi driver, writing and visiting his friends.
Askoy changes hands for a pittance
A newly married American couple, arriving in Hiva Oa on their honeymoon as crew on a passing sailboat, were offered Askoy for barely 10% of the capital Brel had spent on it. Thus the singer was certain that the boat would continue to sail!
Brel composed his last album "Les Marquises" in Hiva Oa in 1977. He died the following year of a pulmonary embolism following a relapse of his lung cancer. He is buried in Hiva Oa near Gauguin.
