In Kawau Island I’m going to see if I can find Lin Pardey. From her good friend Doug whom I had met in Opua I had given the location.
I sail across the anchor area for ‘small boats’. With my binoculars I track her boat up. The neighbor knows how to tell that this is her old boat and points to the new boat. She’s home, he says.
When I sail there I see the Pixie lying with Bill and Cathie. I met them in Tonga. It also turns out to be a sister ship of Doug’s sailboat. It is a Tahitian ketch.
Cathie immediately calls Lin to ask if I can take a mooring ball. You can. And I’m immediately invited to the Thanksgiving dinner at her house. 32 people were invited there. Everyone brings something to eat and drink. She has had this tradition at her home for 40 years. Very inspiring to see and heartfelt.
There I meet Lin and her partner David Haigh and also other people I have met before in Whangarei. It’s a special evening. Lin sings a song at the opening of the dinner to express gratitude. David and another friend talk. And photos are shown from the time when her husband Larry was still alive. She has just presented her new book and she is signing one for me. An emotional book, she says about passages and letting go.
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Lin Pardey (born 1944) and Larry Pardey (1939-2020) are sailors and writers, known for their small boat sails. They coined the expression “Go Small, Go Simple, but Go Now”, and were called the “Enablers” because their example encouraged many others to sail despite limited incomes. The Pardeys sailed more than 200,000 miles together, sailing around the world, both in the east and in the west, and have published numerous books on sailing. The boats they sail around this world were without an engine. #linpardey #kawauisland #sailingaroundtheworld #booklaunch @pardeylin
2 days ago