In 1992, this Chicago native became the first Black man to sail solo around the world, taking the southern route around the five great capes, through waters considered to be the most dangerous on the globe. In November 1998, he embarked on a second trip, setting sail from the Caribbean, leading a group of educators on an historic voyage to retrace the “Middle Passage” slave trade routes used during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A charismatic, naturally gifted speaker and storyteller, Pinkney is now inspiring audiences nationwide with the story of his two remarkable voyages and there application to business and day to day living.

Now 71, Pinkney left his job as a marketing executive for Revlon at age 55 to sail 32,000 miles around the world solo in a 22-month-long voyage in 1991-92. An established yacht racer, he was first motivated to make the trip as a way of encouraging his, at that time, young grandchildren to understand the importance of education, and to learn such values as personal responsibility, perseverance, and commitment.

His project evolved into a corporate-sponsored enterprise that became a “floating classroom” for thousands of American schoolchildren. He named his boat Commitment, and through his courageous journey, became a living symbol of the adage, “Never give up on your dreams.” The trip was covered in WCVB Boston special that earned a Peabody Award, and it also inspired the documentary film, The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney, narrated by Bill Cosby.

Listen to Bill's sample narration of the Amistad Trial : 

Pinkney’s five-month-long Middle Passage journey took him, his three-person crew, and a rotating group of 25 American schoolteachers to five countries: Puerto Rico, Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, and the United States. They traveled together on his 80-foot sailboat; the teachers on board created hands-on learning materials for schools across America. Pinkney’s Middle Passage journey was a journey of personal discovery, as was his 1992 trip. At the core of his quest was to visit those African countries from where his slave ancestors left in chains, most never to return. “I’m a descendent of those who came in the hold . . . now having ascended to the wheel,” says Pinkney. “I think . . . getting on an airplane and flying to Senegal, flying to Ghana, is not the same as taking an ocean voyage knowing that the waters over which you pass contain the bodies of those who refused to leave the continent, and found the only way out was to go overboard.” The trip has been captured in a national prime-time PBS documentary “Voyages Home.” The preparations for the voyage, as well as a profile of Pinkney himself, were featured in a PBS documentary that aired on public television during the spring of 1999. These PBS programs are companions to an innovative multimedia Middle Passage educational initiative, the highlight of which were the teams of teachers that accompanied Pinkney on each leg of the voyage. Their job was to help create curriculum materials for distribution to classrooms all across the country. Among the other educational projects were videos that were shot during the trip for use by teachers and students; student interaction with Pinkney via telephone and e-mail; live Internet broadcasts; an interactive Web site; teacher guidebooks; and an exhibit on Pinkney created and hosted by Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry called “Winds of Change: Africa, The Americas, and the Sea.” The principal sponsors of the educational projects associated with Pinkney’s voyage were Ford Motor Company, IBM, Abbott Laboratories, 3Com, and the U.S. Postal Service Great Lakes Area.

Pinkney continued his voyages as Master of the Freedom Schooner, Amistad. The vessel is a reproduction of the 129 foot ship and was built in Mystic, Connecticut both as a tribute to the Amistad’s African captives who physically fought for their freedom, which they eventually won in a legal battle in the Supreme Court, and also as a floating classroom for the African-American story. The mission of Amistad is to tell the story of  leadership, co-operation and the strength of the human spirit. As spokesperson, Captain Pinkney has told the story and sailed on the Eastern Seaboard, Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes. After captaining the ship since its launch in 2000, he retired from the helm as Captain Emeritus in November of 2003 to write and speak of his adventures and the lessons they have taught him.

A memoir of his earth-circling odyssey titled “As Long As It Takes,” was released in 2006 by Bunker Hill Publishing and won the John Southham Award for nautical journalism. He hosts a weekly radio show, “The Maritime Scene with Captain Bill Pinkney” on stations WMRD & WLIS in central Connecticut where he now makes his home with his wife, Migdalia Vachier. He travels the country giving motivational and educational presentations to varied groups from school children to corporate executives.

His passion for the sea is expressed now by his active work as Trustee of Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, International Advisor to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Hamilton, Bermuda and Board of Directors member of The Ocean Conservancy, Washington, D.C., and as an Overseer of the Sea Education Association. 

More information on Captain Bill's website 

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