Words and photos: Peter ‘Joli’ Wilson
This is a classic Namotu moment. The surf forecast had been for small waves at the start of the contest waiting period, so Parko and crew planned a fishing trip for day one figuring the swell would be too small to run. They left the island around 10pm for a run down the coast of the main island to a favourite fishing spot. Sometime around 4 am they struck boat trouble which left them stranded and at the mercy of the ocean. What exactly happened is known only to a few, and I’m not one of them. What I do know is that when the contest was called on there was talk of sending a helicopter to fetch Parko. His good mate Mick Fanning prepared his boards, putting fins in and waxing them up and taking them out to the line up just in case Parko made it back. He didn’t, and copped it royally on Social Media for blowing off the Round One heat. One day the whole story will come out, maybe in Parko’s next book? They didn’t catch any fish.
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