Pardey Time at the Whitsunday Sailing Club!
As soon I discovered that the inimitable Lin Pardey would be sharing her story at our local Whitsunday Sailing Club, the first thing I did was ensure my whole family and I were booked in.
Like many cruising sailors, I'm a Pardey fan, so the chance to see one of my long-term idols in person, and hear her speak, was no doubt going to be a personal highlight.
But as a journalist of about 20 years, who initially started as a freelancer for nautical and travel publications before moving into mainstream media, the opportunity to interview Lin and tell her story myself was one I couldn't pass up.
I will be forever grateful to both Lin for being so generous with her time, and to my colleague and friend, Deb Friend, for allowing me space in her excellent Whitsunday News newspaper (https://whitsundaynews.net.au) to share this incredible story.
And like everyone else at the Whitsunday Sailing Club that night I probably also owe long-term member Lachie Wilson a beer. It was thanks to Lachie alerting the club's management to Lin's arrival on the Queensland coast that the opportunity arose in the first place - albeit pulled together in a matter of just seven days.
They say "never meet your heroes", but now I can say I definitely met one of mine, and Lin Pardey not only met but exceeded any expectations I might have had.
I Hope you enjoy both the written article on the Whitsunday News site and this video interview, which you while also find embedded there (once both links are live).
If you want to read more about Lin from her own pen, please also visit https://pardeytime.blogspot.com, or to buy any (or all) of her must-read books, head to https://www.paracay.com/ using the code Pardey 20 for a 20% discount.
Fair Winds, and in the words of someone we all know and love, remember to sail for "as long as it's fun"!
Sharon Smallwood
Airlie Beach, 2025
The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II
Join the Smallwoods - Sharon, Julian, Josh, and Pepe (the Blue Burmese) - aboard Sailing Vessel Brilliant II. Brilliant II is a Kelly Peterson 44, built in 1978. Julian and Sharon bought the boat in Phuket, Thailand, in 2005, and sailed her slowly back to Sydney, Australia. Over the next five years they lived aboard and sailed the coasts of New South Wales and Queensland. They are currently based in the Whitsundays, Queensland, where Josh was born in 2010. In 2021 they began a refit of the water-damaged interior (which had needed doing since the start!), while continuing to sail on mini-adventures north and south of their home port. Sharon is a photojournalist by trade, but realising YouTube is a thing has started creating videos too. You can also follow their adventures on Instagram at @shazatsea.
Channel Information:
Social Media Links:
Support The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II
At WeBoating.com, we profoundly acknowledge the unwavering dedication that The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II invests in crafting each and every video or voyage. Their passion for delivering exceptional ocean content shines through every frame, and it's a labor of love that deserves your attention.
We invite you to watch their captivating videos here and actively engage with their content, including their social media links above. Liking, commenting, and sharing their work goes a long way in fueling their creative fire.
We're also inviting you to explore the gear, sponsorships, and boat partnerships highlighted in the "Pardey Time at the Whitsunday Sailing Club!" video description, or directly on YouTube. By engaging with these offerings or purchasing services and items, you directly support The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II, their collaborators, and the brands they're associated with.
To ensure you never miss an offshore update, consider visiting their official YouTube Channel to subscribe, like, and join their community directly.
If you have any feedback, corrections, or additional information about The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II or their videos, please use the comment form below to share your thoughts with us.
Thank you for being a part of our community and supporting the creators we cherish. Your time and support truly matter!
Pardey Time at the Whitsunday Sailing Club! Locations
- Whitsunday Sailing Club (-20.267004,148.7226409)
Latest Episodes from The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II
Explore the most recent voyages. Subscribe to the channel to never miss an update!
Pardey Time at the Whitsunday Sailing Club!
As soon I discovered that the inimitable Lin Pardey would be sharing her story at our local Whitsunday Sailing Club, the first thing I did was ensure my whole family and I were booked in. Like many cruising sailors, I'm a Pardey fan, so the chance to see one of my long-term idols in person, a...
WAY COOL! How to custom-build a portable fridge/freezer into a cruising yacht
What do you do when there’s no ‘off-the-shelf solution to a problem on your boat? Well, if you’re anything like us, you design and build one yourself! For years, we’ve been dragging around a portable Waeco/Dometic fridge-freezer as an extension to our built-in refrigeration that helps us significa...
FUEL FOR THOUGHT: How to Remove, Fix, and Re-install an Auxiliary Fuel Tank (The Hobbit Hole Part 1)
After spending an unexpected and extended amount of time fixing the hull-to-deck join, bulwark, scuppers and caprail, it’s been nice to move back inside Brilliant II to continue the interior refit. Next on the list has been our “Hobbit Hole”, or as it’s known to the folks outside Middle Earth, the...
Cruising the Whitsundays – A Local’s Guide
And now for something a little different… Our friends at the Coral Sea Marina in Airlie Beach ( have put together a documentary series designed to educate and inspire boat owners looking to ‘Cruise the Whitsundays’ – whether for the very first time or on a return visit, or even for those who are j...
Toe-tally Brilliant!! How to Restore the Cap-Rail on a 45-Year-Old Monohull
We did it!! Well almost… The final piece of our hull-to-deck-join puzzle was the teak toe-rail, which, like everything else about this job, needed a drastic fix in order to ‘cap’ it off (pun intended). When we initially removed the rail from the bulwark – which was a process in itself – some of...