William “Bill” Deltoris Pinkney III was known as the second African American to solo-circumnavigate the globe by boat and the first African American to make the voyage via the Great Capes. Pinkney was born on September 15, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, to Marion Henderson Pinkney and William Pinkney, Sr. He graduated from Tilden Tech High School in Chicago in 1954. After high school, Pinkney received training as an X-ray technician.
Pinkney joined the United States Navy in 1956 as a hospital corpsman. After serving eight years in the Navy, he decided to move to Puerto Rico. He held a series of jobs in Puerto Rico, including one as a professional limbo dancer. Eventually, he was hired to work as a crewman on sailboats. Pinkney then moved to New York and landed a marketing job at Revlon in 1973. From there, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago and worked in marketing for the Johnson and Johnson Company. In 1980, Pinkney became a Public Information Officer for the Chicago Department of Human Services.
Despite the variety of jobs, Pinkney continued his interest in sailing, which he had developed in Puerto Rico, and became particularly adept at sailing alone. In 1986, Pinkney earned his U.S. Coast Guard license as a Master of Steam, Motor, and Sail vessels. At the age of 50, after thinking about the legacy he would leave behind for his grandchildren, Pinkney decided he would attempt to sail around the world alone to encourage them to think and do the impossible. After receiving funding from the industrialist Armand Hammer and a Boston law firm, Aldrich, Eastman, and Waltch, he began to plan his solo voyage.
Pinkney began his odyssey on August 5, 1990, setting sail from Boston Harbor. He sailed on a 47-foot boat called The Commitment, which had been specially rigged so one man could operate it. Out of all the possible routes, Pinkney chose the Southern Cape Route, known to be the most difficult, which would take him around the five capes. He made stops in Bermuda, Brazil, South Africa, Tasmania, and finally around Cape Horn (the most challenging part of the voyage). Pinkney completed his journey on June 9, 1992, after 22 months at sea and covering a total of 27,000 miles. His voyage included a six-month delay in Australia due to weather conditions.
In 1999, Pinkney completed yet another journey following the infamous “Middle Passage” of 17th and 18th century slave ships backward from Puerto Rico to Brazil and finally to Ghana and Senegal in West Africa. In 2000, Pinkney was asked to be the first captain of the replica of the Schooner La Amistad, which was made famous in 1839 because of the slaves on board who were eventually freed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Long after completing his journey, Pinkney continued working as a motivational speaker for public schools and corporations. During his lifetime, he received numerous awards, honorary degrees, and recognitions, including the 1992 Yachtsman of the Year Award from the Chicago Yacht Club. He was married three times, including to restauranteur Ina (Brody) Pinkney in 1965 and Migdalia Vachier in 2003. Pinkney, who considered himself Jewish since childhood, converted to Judaism as an adult.
William “Bill” Pinkney, 87, passed away on August 31, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is survived by his wife, Migdalia Vachier Pinkney, his sister Naomi Pinkney, his daughter Angela Walton, and two grandchildren.