Remembering David Parrot                           1945-2010

 
 

David sailed the final voyage in the early morning of September 15, 2010.


This site was built to serve as a place for David’s family, friends, peers and colleagues to gather and share experiences they had with him.

Send your anecdotes, photos and video.  You as a visitor have something to impart and David’s family encourages you to express yourself and Contribute.



Son, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Friend and Salvor.

He mastered these roles in his own magnificent way and was always a teacher and mentor, yet he never called anyone to class.

He gave care and he did so at the most appropriate times, not all the time. 

He was able to say I love you and he honored that love. 

David was committed to so many things and he balanced them all in his own awkward way.

welcome

Dave was a giant of a man in all respects, and a good friend.

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You had the heart of a boy and the hands of a giant and yes, I also loved your huge black rum punch that we stirred with a finger.

ARATINGA, THE BEAUTIFUL PARROT

a poem by Jon and Candy Rohde


















Like an apparition, a dream of what might be,

lies the stately yawl at anchor, swinging to the tide.

My dinghy reflected in her deep blue topsides is

drawn in, nearly drowned by her splendor:

white spars, gleaming varnished caprail and hatches

to gaze into like a clear, subterranean pool;

shear line, a curve of pure perfection from stem to transom.

Teak decks holistoned to sparkle, shining winches,

sheets and halyards coiled down, a zenith of nautical beauty.

Her owner reflects her excellence, one a part of the other:

easy smile, handsome shock of grey, every inch the gentle person,

every inch in Bristol fashion, both shipshape, vibrantly alive.

He gladly, humbly takes my compliment. Eagerly, kindly

invites me aboard. I feel like his long lost friend.

I grow to admire yacht and owner alike both true to name,

which is finer I cannot decide. I’m only thankful for each.


Time passes. I wait for her return. My heart springs

to see her gleaming canvas round the point,

carrying my captain-friend and spouse to the shelter

of our channel, to share the warmth of sea tales at anchor,

of salvage and adventure, of the beauty of the sea and its rich lore.

Brimming with laughter and kindness, the gentle stolid soul

takes in and weathers all opinions with tolerant reply,

just as his vessel weathers storms and temperate seas with strength and

easy motion. So too he confronts the rising tempest breeding in his chest,

spreading with no mercy. Ever optimistic, generous of spirit, he takes on

what he must endure.


The yacht will never be the same, her luster has lost its shine,

for her beauty stemmed from the soul that lived within

to give her life, love, compassion--rare attributes in man and ship alike.

When found together, they create a splendid being, surging through life’s

brief waves, with spray sending sparkles of good will, a delight to behold,

enriching us by passing through our lives, making us

grateful to have met a life so fine, a vessel so rare.

I like to imagine Aratinga in a fair breeze sailing

with her captain at the helm, far out among the stars.

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...it comforts me to know that, although his life was too short, he lived it to the fullest and seemed to get more enjoyment out of it than others who live longer.