Bill Pinkney was the first Black sailor to make a solo circumnavigation of the globe via the notoriously difficult southern route, around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.
- Died: August 31, 2023 (Who else died on August 31?)
- Details of death: Died in Atlanta after taking a fall at the age of 87.
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Bill Pinkney’s legacy
Pinkney began his notable southern journey in 1990, sailing the 47-foot cutter Commitment. He planned the journey as a way to inspire his grandchildren, never intending to be a pioneer. He initially considered taking the somewhat less arduous route around the world, through the Panama and Suez canals. But that route had been circumnavigated by Teddy Seymour, also a Black sailor, in 1987. Pinkney had a chance to meet British sailor Robin Knox-Johnson, the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo by any route, and Knox-Johnson convinced him to do something no Black man had ever done before. So inspired, Pinkney set his sights on the more difficult southern route, including the treacherous passage around South America’s Cape Horn.
Entering his journey with plenty of sailing experience as a U.S. Navy veteran of eight years, Pinkney completed his circumnavigation 22 months later, in 1992. After departing from Boston, he brought his journey full circle by finishing his travels there, greeted by hundreds of schoolchildren who had followed his journey. Footage he took along the way was later used in the documentary “The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney,” which won a Peabody Award. He also wrote the children’s book “Captain Bill Pinkney’s Journey.”
Later, Pinkney oversaw the construction of a replica of the slave ship Amistad. He became the ship’s first captain, providing a unique learning experience for a group of teachers and students who accompanied him on a voyage to Africa via a slave-trading route, the Middle Passage. Pinkney went on to run a charter boat business in Puerto Rico. He was a member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
Notable quote
“I want to give kudos to the National Sailing Hall of Fame. At no time, in any place, have I ever been mentioned as a Black sailor. No place. Only as a sailor. And that’s the identity that all of us who sail want. We’re sailors. Religion, sexuality, color—none of that has anything to do with the fact that, first and foremost, we’re sailors.” —from a 2022 interview for Cruising World
Tributes to Bill Pinkney
Full obituary: The Chicago Sun-Times
