Wanderlust3 Sailing Adventure

Mike Harker, 1947 - 2011: In Memoriam

2011-04-21T16:28:00.001-04:00

TheSailingChannel regrets to report the tragic news of Mike Harker's death.

Mike, age 64, passed away on April 1, 2011 aboard Wanderlust III in Martinique from a massive stroke not far from the location where he was brutally attacked, beaten and robbed in July 2010. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's family and his friends around the world. We will continue to host this site and Mike's blog as a tribute to a great sailor and a great person. Here is an account of what occured ....

A crazy thing happened the other day. A boat came up behind ours and started to anchor. Everything looked OK so we got back to doing what we were doing. A few minutes later a dinghy drove up to our boat with an animated gentleman trying to tell us in French then broken English that he thinks that the guy on the boat behind us that just anchored has collapsed and died! Can you say that again? Yes, Dead. Mort. My dad zips over in our dinghy to help reset the anchor (the boat was dragging) and sure enough, out on the foredeck, hunched over the anchor windlass was the body of a recently deceased man. The Coast Guard were called in and the body was taken away. Two days later, they came to take the boat away. A large rescue boat towed the 49-foot Hunter sailboat into a marina.

Mikes friends and family will be celebrating his life on April 23 2011, between 12:00 an 3:00 at Kendy's preschool in the multipurpose room in the back of the church. There won't be a service, just a casual get together to share memorys and stories....

Click for Mike's Facebook Page.

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Jack,..........Mike's memorial will be tomorro... by Skyskier
I was a friend of Mike's and sold him his wand... by Jack

Cruising Schedule Update for Wanderlust 3

2011-02-23T14:48:00.000-05:00

Mike will be in the Caribbean until Antigua Sail week then sailing over to the Med and Croatia. In November Wanderlust 3 will be back to the Caribbean and in Feb 2012, will transit the Panama Canal for the Puddle Jump to Tahiti.

Follow Mike's continuing sailing adventure right here on TheSailingChannel.TV/wanderlust3

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Attack & Robbery Update

2010-07-13T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here is an update from Mike on his condition and more details about the attack ...

Photo: Mike on Cocos Keeling Atoll, October 2007

I have been released from the hospital in French St. Martin after undergoing a small surgery to remove a bone splinter around my right eye socket.

I was in the Lagoon below the Mt. Fortune ('Witches Tit') as the nearest boat to the channel along the French / Dutch border and no other boats to my South, West or North. The two moored boats next to me to the NE are empty. My closest live-aboards are 2 and 3 boats over to the NE. They each responded to my 'Danger' air-horn (5 short blasts).

While I was in Germany last month, invited to the World Hang Gliding Championships, I met two younger women from northern Germany near the Dutch border. I invited them for a week aboard WanderLust during their last week of holidays. The two young women flew non-stop from Amsterdam to St. Martin and hopped an island shuttle south to my location on St. Lucia where I had sailed from the anchorage in Beguines where I had my boat looked after while I was in Germany.

I sailed with the 2 young women from St. Lucia to Martinique, Dominica, Nevis, Antigua, St Barth and finally back to their departure point in St. Martin. When they flew out back to Amsterdam, I was waiting for a weather window to sail alone back towards Grenada.

Then this happened.

I have to stay here in St. Martin until the doctors can remove the stitches and do a final X-Ray, then I will head back to an anchorage in Grenada or stop in some of the islands in the Grenadines.

I am on a borrowed laptop, but I can go in to get Internet twice a day.

My spirits are high and the doctors did a great job with my wounds. I have a cracked rib and most wounds have healed very well. The chief surgeon told me that the cracked cheek bone is back in it's place and will heal without an operation 'As long as you don't get hit like that again'. The doctors and nurses were all very kind and considerate and the local magazine "Pelican" wrote a whole page article on my experience.

On the second day in the Gendarme interview, they showed me some photos taken from the video security camera showing two men arriving at the FKG dock in the early morning. The next photo showed two men, exactly as I described; smaller man with longer straight hair waving back and a 'Latin' looking nose carrying 2 pair of long swim fins, second big man 4 steps back, not as dark as an African but with short 'squashed' nose and short black hair with a slight 'belly' carrying a big black bag. The third photo showed the smaller 'Latin' looking man running back to the dingy to untie it and remove the spear they forgot. The police said the spear looked bent near the tip.

I explained again the skirmish. When the men pulled me from my bed to the floor, it was completely dark and I could only see shadows. The little man was kneeling next to my right ear and said "I know you are rich, where is your money". When I explained 2 or 3 different times that I don't carry money, it is in the bank, he ordered the big man to 'Stick him!' with a spear the big man was holding with the point about 6 - 8 inches from my eyes. The man was straddled on either side of my bent legs. I noticed that the spear was the kind from a spear gun, without the gun, so it was shorter than the Hawaiian spears with the elastic at the end. It was being held so that the other end was near his right hand and as he pushed the spear point into my forehead I pulled my right arm, which was across my chest, and the hand near my left shoulder, across my face and grabbed the spear point at the little 'dongle' as I moved my head back. I felt the point scratch my forehead but I kept pushing the spear point to the right.

I then grabbed the spear just in front of the big man's right hand with my left hand and jerked the spear out of his hands. At the same time I kicked as hard as I could with my free right leg into the big man's balls which brought him to his knees at either side of my hips. I got my right knee back and was able to pound the spear between my hands onto my knee twice before the smaller man got one arm free. I was able to jam my right elbow into his throat and then one good fist into his face, I think his nose was bleeding because the Gendarme found blood where I was not, including in the dingy!

The big man grabbed for my arms and held them at my hips with his strong legs. The little man was able to get his right wrist and arm at my throat and his other hand pulled as hard as he could from behind me. He yelled at the big man to "Knock Him OUT!" and began beating me. I knew I would soon pass out because I was getting dizzy and could not breath. My final thought before I went out was 'Someone finally killed me'.

The Gendarme took the samples from the smaller man's skin (I remembered a CSI show where you get DNA from under finger nails) that I was able to get from scratching him and the blood drops from where I was not. They took my DNA from inside my cheek and blood samples and sent it all to a special lab in Paris. The Gendarme said "If they are in our records, we will get them!!!"

I will leave for the Grenadines within days so if you have questions, try to get them to me within a few days.

Another very sad attack happened the day after I was in the hospital. The bed next to mine was empty when I arrived but the next day an Asian man was lying in it with bandaged hand and leg. We didn't speak, but that afternoon two (2) sets of Gendarme arrived with computers and a printer to ask us questions. The Asian man spoke to 'his' Gendarme in English so I listened.

He was sitting on the desk behind the cash register in the small market where one of his friends was working the cash register. There were 6 to 8 customers in the store when 2 men came in with a gun and pointed it at the young woman behind the cash register. They said "We want all your money!" The young Asian man said that they looked very nervous and the man with the gun, a revolver with short barrel and 'rusty' appearance was shaking a lot. The gun went off and the bullet went through the girls liver and exited through her and then through the Asian man's hand and leg without hitting bone. The man ran but the young girl died right there on the spot. They got away with little more than $300, but they have a security camera that will be investigated.

I am still very weak and I can not chew food because of the damaged jaw, but I feel much better. The swelling is down and I am looking forward to no more pain, and a beautiful, safe anchorage on some remote island to continue the healing process. The highs and lows of being in Paradise!

Mike
s/v Wanderlust 3

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Wow Mike, I hate to hear this. I wish you a speedy... by ¡91211790!

Mike Harker Brutally Beaten and Robbed!

2010-07-06T21:55:00.006-04:00

Guadeloupe
located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles

Mike Harker is recovering from a brutal beating last week by two men who bordered Wanderlust 3 during the night and demanded cash. Mike fought back bravely after being threatened with a harpoon, but the two thieves overwhelmed and beat him. We send our prayers and thoughts to Mike and his family, and wish him a speedy recovery.

Here is the account in Mike's own words. We've included a photo from the scene, but have held back others that are just too gruesome....

Last week two big men swan out to my boat and came aboard WanderLust 3 at about 4 am. They pulled me (still sleeping) from the bed to the floor and stomped on my arms. The little man said " I know you are rich, where is your money?" I replied "My money is in the bank, but I will give you my credit cards". The little man said "I want all your cash, where do you hide you cash". I said "I only have cash in my wallet, you can have all what's in there". The little man told the big black man to "Stick him!" so the big man but the tip of the harpoon to my forehead and pushed.

I raised my right arm and grabbed the end of the spear and then with the left arm I pulled the spear out of his hands and bent the spear end across my knee. The men kicked me and grabbed for my arms but I was able to slug a good one to the little man and kicked the big man in the balls.

They took their revenge by getting an arm across my neck and choked me while the big man kneeled on my arms and was told to "Knock Him OUT!"

They beat me and choked all the air out of me, so I passed out. Just before I went out, I thought "Someone finally killed me after all."

When I awoke many minutes later, my feet were tied and my wrists were tied around my knees. I watched as the two men ransacked my cabin putting all valuables and electronics into a big black bag. I passed out again.

I awoke after some minutes and heard my dingy engine start and drive away. I untied myself as best I could and crawled to the nav station but they took all my VHF radios, cell phones and even ripped the microphone out of the installed VHF and SSB.

I crawled out to the cockpit and saw that they had forgotten to remove the VHF mic from that station, so I called a "Mayday" on #16 and blew the air horn five quick times with a pause, then 5 quick blows and a pause, 5 more quick blows. My neighbor boat owner was at my side within two minutes.

I then called the NET on #14 to be on the lookout for my special Walker Bay dingy with new 8hp Yamaha.

Within 20 minutes someone at a dock 3 miles away called the police that the dingy was drifting near his dock. The police were at my boat and the emergency medical boat were all at my side with 15 minutes, even though it was 05:30 in the early morning. The police went to the dock to retrieve my dingy and looked at the video from the mounted security camera.

I was taken to the hospital and had 12 stitches and glue on my face, a cracked cheek bone and a splinter around my right eye socket, and a cracked rib.

I am still in the hospital but will be transferred to Guadeloupe for a special face surgeon to try to save my face. I do not have e-mail access because they stole all my computers, cell & SAT phones, cameras and everything not bolted to wood. I do not know when I can answer my e-mails again. I am now able to see again and my spirits are good because the doctors did a good job of repairing me, and I am not dead yet.

Mike Harker s/v Wanderlust 3

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Yanmar Engine Self-Repair: Part 2

2009-12-19T11:51:00.007-05:00

Here are some details of my Yanmar Engine Self-Repair....
There is a German phrase that is straight to the point; "Wer rastet, der rostet" meaning "He who rests, will rust". I know that with my motorcycles, they are either up hanging from the garage rafters or the frames are up on blocks so my brother can turn over the engines and drive trains every month while they wait patiently for my return. Right: Injector Hole #3.

With my engine, I did NOT do this! When I returned to my favorite anchorage after the Hurricane 'Bill' adventure in the mangroves, I should have run my Yanmar engine a few minutes each week. I did NOT turn it on for 5 weeks and then it seized! Left: Water in #3 Piston.

After the Yanmar technician showed me the sea water in the #3 cylinder, he said it could cost up to $8000 to get it repaired at their Yanmar facility, and would take 3 - 4 weeks. I bought the parts and the Shop Manual, and strarted to 'Do-It-Myself'. First I had to take off all connections - electrical and plumbing.

The Yanmar 4JH4 owner's manual says that after running the engine for prolonged periods at low rpm, before shutting the engine down, you should rev up the engine 5 times to full power and then shut the engine down, to remove carbon build-up in the turbo etc. In my opinion, you still need to let the engine cool down at idle speed a few minutes before you bring it to a stop. My mistake was revving the engine to 2800 or 3000 RPMs for a few seconds five times and then just shutting the engine down. My friend and retired trucker diesel mechanic James, who helped me with the over-haul said you should ALWAYS let the engine idle for 5 or even 10 minutes after running it for a prolonged period, especially the new high speed turbo and ultra high compression 4 valve engines. I did NOT do this, with drastic results.

I learned from my father years ago that when tearing down an engine, you pull off the first things and put each item and its nuts or bolts in a separate container and at the back or end of the work bench, or in this case, a towel lined aft bunk floor. Then you just work clean and organized, labeling or numbering each item with masking tape and a magic marker.

Then I had to lift out the engine from the bilge and onto boards across the sole (floor) to get the engine up to a workable height.
I used a large diameter pipe across the top of the companion way entrance and a borrowed chain hoist.

The engine would not turn over, even with a big leverage bar on the crank-pulley nut. The piston was seized and was soaked in 'Corrosion-X' overnight. But it needed to be drilled and chiseled out.

After taking turns with my friend James at whacking at that piston, then drilling some holes and whacking again, we needed a full day to get that seized piston to finally come loose and pieces removed. I bought a special 'honing' devise to attach to my power drill and we cleaned up and polished the inside cylinder wall according to the Yanmar 'Shop Manual'.

The Yanmar distributor for SE USA, Mastery Engines, was very helpful and especially their service manager, Doug Dykens. He sent me "Everything You Need for an Engine Re-build" including all new seals and gaskets, a new piston and rings, all the little parts for the fuel injectors, and even a special tube of adhesive for the pan gasket. I kept the 'old' piston just as a reminder to check ALL hoses and fittings before a voyage.

Finally, after 7 continuous days of 8 -10 hours work, I was ready to turn her over. James was at the engine and I was at the wheel with the starting key. First tick and she purred like a kitten! Elation and a sense of accomplishment.

After 4 hours of idle speed, I changed the oil and filter. It was a bit dirty and had some diesel fuel mixed in. At ten hours and up to 1800 rpm sailing down to St. thomas and back, I change the oil and filter AGAIN, but it was perfectly clean!

Now, after 25 hours, I hired one of the off-duty Yanmar service technicians to come over to 'WanderLust 3' and check things out and inspect my 're-built' engine, just to make sure I didn't mess anything up. He removed the valve cover and with a feeler gauge checked the tolerances of the valves. They were good. Then he tightened the head bolts with a torque wrench, they were also good. Then a compression check, everything was broken in and running great with 25 hours on the rebuilt engine and two (2) oil and filter changes.

He was slightly impressed that everything seemed to be working perfectly. Then he went to the new Anti-Siphon Valve and also checked the old one. Sure enough the old one was corroded around the rubber flap AND the pressure release tube. This made him think to follow the end of that old tube, re-installed on the new siphon valve. He discovered that the open end, that is supposed to drain and relieve the sea water pressure, was way too long and run under the engine in a cavity that was not visible. When he pulled out the open end of the hose, it was completely CLOGGED with old oil and other debris. That means that eventually the new Anti-Siphon Valve would have FAILED again because the relief tube end was still clogged.

He simply cut that tube, and the parallel one for the generator, about 2 inches above the bilge so it would simply drain down into the bilge AND was also VISIBLE for inspection.

I can only recommend that everyone check the COMPLETE ANTI-SIPHON VALE ASSEMBLY. That maintainance check is NOT in my Hunter Owner's manual nor in the Yanmar book, but it IS in the one essential book I carry from NIGEL Calder, Boat Owner's Mechanical and Electrical Handbook. He devotes five (5) pages (377 -382) to just the subject of "Siphon Breaks". Read it!

Mike Harker
s/v Wanderlust 3

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Yanmar Engine Self-Repair: Part 1

2009-12-19T09:50:00.006-05:00

How can an $80 part cause $8,000 engine damage?

After returning to my favorite spot in the Simpson Bay Lagoon after seeking refuge in the Mullet Pond Mangroves after the only Hurricane (Bill) to be near St. Martin this summer, I did not run the main Yanmar engine for over 7 weeks. That in itself was wrong, I should have run the engine, even for just a few minutes, at least once a week. But with 3 large solar panels and an Air-X wind generator, I only needed to charge my house batteries and make water for about 3 hours a week using the 12 Kw generator.

What I did not know was that the 'Anti-Siphon Valve' at the top of the sea water outlet to cool the intercooler on the Yanmar was corroded and the little flap did not close, allowing sea water back down the hose and into the exhaust, including back through the turbo, exhaust manifold and finally into the open exhaust valve of # 3 cylinder.

The starter would not turn over the engine, so I tried with a 14mm socket to turn the shaft nut at the alternator belt, but no luck. I went over to the Yanmar service facility and the mechanic came out to the boat and took off some hoses and the valve cover to show me how #3 cylinder was filled with sea water.

After e-mailing the Yanmar distributor in Florida, "not a Yanmar part" and the boat manufacturer Hunter, "out of warranty and a maintenance problem not covered under warranty anyway", I asked the service office for a quote. $5000 in cash, in advance, just to have a look at the damage! This would include towing over to their facility, a crane to haul out the engine and 3 - 4 weeks in the shop. If the turbo was damaged and the head and valves needed work the total could be above $8000!!!!

I grew up in Southern California with my Dad and two uncles racing and tuning their race boats. I've seen engines apart at the launch ramp, on an 'All-Night Saturday Night" engine repair before the big race Sunday and enough garage mechanics to attempt the engine over-haul myself. I had the Yanmar 4JH4 HTE service manual and I got Yanmar in Florida to send me all the parts they think I would need, including a new piston and rings, injector tips and all the seals and gaskets for a complete overhaul, and a 'Wish You Luck!".

After getting a steel bar across the companion way and the loan of a small chain hoist, I got the engine up and out of the 'bilge' area and on to boards across the boat's sole. With the stairs removed, I had to enter through the forward hatch. I also got the expertise of a real diesel mechanic, a retired local living on his sailboat for years, JAMES. He has worked on 'many a diesel' including old boat engines and trucks, but never a turbo charged, 4 valve per cylinder modern sailboat engine.

After exactly 1 week we put the hoses back on the engine and fired her back up. She runs perfectly. The turbo was professionally opened and cleaned including new seals and bearings and the head and valves were cleaned and polished. The cylinder wall was honed and polished using a special tool aboard the boat.

For around $800 in parts and about 80 man-hours, we got the engine apart, repaired and back working again. I do NOT recommend that anyone do the same without professional diesel service technicians, but when you are in a desperate situation and need to 'Fix-it-Yourself', it can be done.

I have over 24 hours on the overhauled engine sailing down to St. Thomas and back, I changed the oil and filters twice and the coolant replace a second time and everything works as good as, or, as it seems, better than new.

In Part 2, I'll talk about specific steps during my Yanmar Engine Self-Repair.

Mike Harker
s/v Wanderlust 3

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Excellent read. I like your style...have a good on... by prolix

MARIGOT: Hurricane Hole

2009-09-21T11:35:00.004-04:00

I took this photo from the top of a mast on a boat moored in the 'Pond', back into the little bubble where I was tied to the mangroves with 12 other boats on the Caribbean island of Marigot.

It was a very mixed group. There were a couple from Washington State, another couple from Brazil, and two local sail boats with their masts down on deck with very friendly Dutch couples. There was a German (Steffen, my buddy), a guy from New Zealand, a French guy, and Pips from England.

Check out my location in Google Maps

I also met some great locals I sometimes hung out with. Sinbad was a racing motorcycle specialist and tunes all the best drag bikes. They race every Sunday morning on the highway crossing the Dutch / French border. The cops just watch.

The summer here was very calm and hot. Most of the boats and tourists are gone but the ones that have stayed are all adventuresome. They have at least one hurricane hit each year and the two Dutch boats in our little pond have been through six with two being in the category #5 storms coming out of them with no damage in this "Hurricane Hole".

If I don't get out of the Caribbean this summer into the Pacific, then I will hang out here and visit St. Barts in early November for the 60th birthday celebration at 'Le Select' and visit some other Carib islands before heading back over to the MED in May.

Mike Harker
WanderLust 3

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Bitter End Sailing Team

2009-04-09T12:10:00.002-04:00

Virgin Gorda, Bitter End Yacht Club - British Virgin Islands

The girls parked their boat on the mooring ball next to me and we all enjoyed 3 days of sailing, activities and parties with live bands on the beach at Virgin Gorda and the 'Bitter End Yacht Club.

Mike Harker
s/v Wanderlust3

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YachtBlast "Island 92" Radio: Mike Harker Interview

2009-03-30T16:34:00.007-04:00

Gaz

During the 2009 Heineken Regatta, Mike was interviewed by Gaz, host of YachtBlast on Island 92 radio, Simpson Bay, St. Maarteen N.A. Mike discusses his early hang gliding career, his near-life-ending accident, how he got into sailing, his recent circumnavigation, and his future sailing plans. Check out more YachtBlast podcasts.

HARKER INTERVIEW

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Yacht World Magazine - Mike's Final Articles: March and April 2009

2009-03-27T11:34:00.006-04:00

Read Mike's last two articles covering his circumnavigation aboard Wanderlust 3 in Yacht World Magazine ...

March 2009

April 2009

Read the all of Mike Harker's Yacht World Magazine stories about his Hunter 49 Circumnavigation.

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Lin & Larry Pardey's Off-Shore Sailing Series
now available as Video Downloads.

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Yacht World Magazine: Mike's Dec-08, Jan-09 Articles

2009-01-30T11:01:00.004-05:00

Read Mike Harker's latest articles published in Yacht World Magazine ...

December 2008

January 2009

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Caribbean 1500 Update

2008-11-29T10:23:00.007-05:00

The Carib 1500 was only my second organized event. In the mean time I

had sailed my new 2002 Hunter 46 over 36,000 miles and the even newer 2007 Hunter 49 Around-the-World, so I had learned a few things between these 'events'.

The 2000 Baja HaHa was my first real sail on my 'new-to-me' used 1998 Hunter 34 "WanderLust". I learned sailing from my 2 German friends that offered to mentor me down the coast to Cabo. That was a perfect first organized event for me to participate in. The 'Grand PooBah' has everything loosely organized with his only stipulation, "No Whining!"

The two Cruising Rallies have some similarities but they are a completely different ball game.

The Baja HaHa is like 2 families getting together for a 4th of July softball game in the park. Some players know what they are doing, most do not and take advise from others. The game is only 3 innings long and you take a lunch break between innings, one at Turtle Bay and the second break at Bahia Maria. The boats never stray more than 50 miles off shore down the Baja Mexican coast. The times are loosely kept but everybody wins the same prize at the end.

The Carib 1500 is Major League with teams in uniform, umpires, rules and required equipment. It goes a full 9 innings non-stop offshore for around 1500 miles.

The smallest vessel must be over 40 feet long and deemed 'Blue Water' capable. Each is required to have a certified life raft, a Solas type-1 PFD for each crew member, a Solas MOB pole and second throwable devise, 12 or more Solas flares including parachutes, Solas orange smoke canisters and some other things on a long list. I only had a Solas 8 person Viking Rescue-You life raft so I was required to go to West marine and buy all the rest before completing my inspection.

The inspectors are professional surveyors and take their volunteer jobs seriously. If things weren't right they would come back when you made it right. Each vessel must have an SSB radio, EPIRB and carry a satellite positioning transponder that the organizers provide. The inspectors check that all life lines and safety jack lines are installed and everyone has a harness with tether. Over three pages of required equipment. These guys are serious.

They have to be. The event leaves a starting line at the exit of the Chesapeake Bay just off of the large US Navy base at Norfolk Virginia and heads SE towards Tortola BVI, a distance of 1280 miles rhumb line but usually 1400-1500 miles depending on your course. It is almost all into the wind.

(On autopilot at 8.5 knots for 4 days) After doing one "Baja Bash" in 2001, I swore I would NEVER sail to wind again. I sailed 28,000 miles around the world last year with the wind never ahead of abeam, usually all down wind. This ride would be all up wind.

The start had to be put off 3 days because of Hurricane Paloma that was hitting Cuba with 120 knot winds.

set a course East and a waypoint 150 miles south of Bermuda. We had 3 days of 15-18 knots on the starboard beam. I and my 2 crew I had met just the day before and were doing 3 hours on watch, 6 off. With position reports every 6 hours over SSB radio we knew that we were in the middle group of 50 boats. The big racing class boats had all taken a more southerly course and seemed to be pulling ahead. I wanted to simply make enough easting into the SE trades before changing tack over to port.

At 65 degrees longitude, just 200 miles south of Bermuda, I flopped over to port tack and had a hard beat 40 to 45 degrees to weather. I had third reef down and just the stay sail in the 25-28 knots of SE winds with waves of 8-12 feet spraying and breaking into the bow and port side at about a 20-22 degree heel. And that was the next 4 days non-stop. And this from a guy who promised himself he would NEVER sail to wind again.

One of the crew was terribly sick for 12 hours, so my other crew member and I did 2 hours on, two off for a day. Finally we were again three strong and only one more day to the finish line. Exactly 8 days and one hour from the starting line we crossed into Tortola Bay. We were the 7th boat in to port but 4 of them had left early, one boat even a whole day early.

Officially the "Cruising Class" does not get an official time because insurance does not cover a "RACE" but with our 8 day, 1 hour time we were the 5th boat across the line and first 'Cruising Boat". We were also the first boat under 50 feet. More than half the fleet was over 50 feet in length and some of the best names in sailboat racing.

We were behind four race boats at the finish; a full race Santa Cruz 52, a Halberg-Rassy 62, a Halberg-Rassey 49 ketch and a Swan 58. Some of the race class boats that arrived after us were MacGregor 65, Catana 50, Beneteau 57, Jeanneau 57, Farr 50, Tayana 58, Taswell 58 and a Hinkley 51.

But behind us were a Hylas 54, 2 Amel 54s, a Tayana 55, a Passport 515, a Jeanneau 54 DS and many others.

Most of the sailors in this event were impressed with the new Hunter 49 as being "Very Blue Water" capable.

(My two crew were volunteers at the rally briefing the day before we left. John is from Michigan and owns a Beneteau 510 now in Hampton, VA. Dennis, also from Michigan, owns an Island Packet in Maine. They both wanted more offshore experience.)

Our end score of 193 (8 days-1 hour) was good but we probably used the engine the least amount of ANY boat with a total of 25 hours, never over 1800 rpm and re-filled with 26 gallons. That includes getting to the start line and in from the East End of Tortola finish line. Plus, I waited 15 minutes after the general start because I never made a line-start with other boats and did not want to be in their way. My only goal was to see how my boat compared with others when I sail just as I did around the world; minimum stress on the rig and hull, maximum fuel economy and no stress! I expected to finish in the upper middle of the cruising class and let the racing boats go on ahead.

Mike

s/v Wanderlust 3

"West End" Beaches, Tortola

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Caribbean 1500

2008-11-12T20:22:00.003-05:00

If you want to see how I'm doing in my first race, check out www.Carib1500.com

48 boats started in 2 classes; Racing and cruising. I am still in the top 10 overall and close to the front in the cruising class. We should finish on Saturday in Tortola BVI.

Mike Harker
S/V WanderLust 3
Hunter 49

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Annapolis Sailboat Show: Mike's Schedule

2008-10-09T13:23:00.002-04:00

Join Mike Harker aboard Wanderlust 3, his Hunter 49, at the 2008 U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD for a presentation describing his year-long circumnavigation.

Attendance is limited to 18 people per session. If you are visiting the Sailboat Show this week, register at the Hunter desk.

Mike will do two presentations a day at 3:00 and 4:30 PM aboard Wanderlust 3 on:

Friday, October 10
Saturday, October 11
Sunday, October 12

Yacht World Magazine: Mike's Articles

2008-09-22T09:45:00.007-04:00

Read Mike Harker's articles published in Yacht World Magazine...

Read all of Mike Harker's Yacht World Magazine articles about his Hunter 49 Circumnavigation.

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Wanderlust 3: New York City

2008-09-04T17:40:00.009-04:00

Mike sent us these photos of his recent passage up the East River and past the New York city skyline.... TheSailingChannel

NEW PHOTO FROM MIKE...

Wanderlust 3 sails past Statue of Liberty

Staten Island Ferry

Brooklyn Bridge

Pier 17

Statue of Liberty with NYC skyline

Statue of Liberty

Manhattan skyline

Statue of Liberty

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Wanderlust 3 Visits Annapolis

2008-08-19T21:15:00.003-04:00

Annapolis, Maryland

Below is an e-mail that Mike relayed recently that we thought was worth passing on to our blog readers. Mike's voyage is helping people realize their dreams and make those dreams a reality. -- TheSailingChannel

The Annapolis Boat Show will be the last chance to have my boat at a boat show, because after Annapolis I head to the Caribbean for the winter, the Med next summer and then, by way of Thailand and Japan back to California. See comments below from some wonderful customers that I met while in Annapolis.
-- Mike Harker

-----Original Message-----
To: mikeharker
Sent: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:59 am
Subject: Our visit with you in Annapolis

Mike,

Thank you for having us aboard Wanderlust III on August 3, while you were in Annapolis. We enjoyed your slide presentation and the highlights of your circumnavigation trip.

When I was 10 years old I was inspired by c couple I met in Annapolis, who had sailed around the world in their 34 foot sailboat. We visited Annapolis in my parents 29’ Owens (powerboat). They invited my parents and me aboard to see the inside of their boat and to tell us about their trip. Ever since that day I have wanted to just sail away like they did. Our visit with you brought back memories of that day, and reminded me how much that dream still exists.

Finally, at age 60 I am closer to that dream. We have a 1992 Hunter 43, and we want to retire in a few years and plan to live aboard, traveling up and down the east coast and to the islands. Our dream is to purchase either a Hunter 45 CC or a 49 when we sell our real estate. Now, I just have to convince Steve to be a little more adventurous and sail beyond the islands.

We look forward to seeing you at the Annapolis boat show this year, and would love to go out on one of your short sailing trips while you are there.

Latitude 38 Interview - Mike Harker: Part 5

2008-06-10T17:34:00.008-04:00

March 2008

Part 5 of 5

Courtesy Latitude 38 Magazine

38: There must have been some things that you didn’t like or that broke on the boat.

Harker: There were three little things. First, Hunter needs a better drain system for the shower. For an expensive boat, you shouldn’t have to get down on your hands and knees after every shower to make sure the pan drains completely. Second, they put two big drawers under the port settee that rob you of about 20 cubic feet of storage space, fall out when the boat heels and, to my mind, are a waste of wood and woodworking skills. Finally, in the forward head they have these cutesy little spotlights over the mirror for women to use when applying makeup. But they’re just below a hatch that you leave open from time to time, allowing a few drops of saltwater in. Anyway, the light fixtures aren’t stainless, and mine have already rusted through and broken apart.

38: That’s it after sailing around the world?

Harker: Yes. And for all I know, Hunter has already corrected these problems in the newer boats. But I have to admit, the shower drain thing really drove me nuts.

38: What about the construction of the hull and interior.

Harker: Structurally, I found the boat to be excellent. In rough weather you don’t hear any creaks or moans, she’s solid. Not a squeak. I was amazed. It wasn’t even a problem in Las Perlas, when a 20-ft drop in the tides grounded my boat for four hours.

38: Didn’t you carry a spare rudder?

Harker: (Laughter.) Yes, after the one broke on my last boat, I wasn’t going to be unprepared again. The new rudders are flexible, but bulletproof. Although pretty much identical to the rudder that broke on my last boat, the new ones are so much more robust that it takes two people to carry one. They now have a stainless shaft and internal stainless cage plus a layer of Kevlar. And now that I carry a spare, I’m confident I’ll never need a replacement rudder again. (Laughter.)

38: Are you careful about locking up your boat everywhere you go, and have you had any stuff stolen over the years?

Harker: I’ve never locked my boat, and in all this time I’ve only had one thing stolen - and that was just the other day in Antigua. While I was at Nelson’s Dockyard to get fuel, somebody stole the gas tank from my dinghy! Oh wait, there was another thing I had stolen right after doing a Baja Bash in ‘01. I finally had my boat back in Marina del Rey, and somebody clipped the cable to my collapsible bike and rode off.

38: Did you get another bike?

Harker: I sure did. For this trip I bought a West Marine Port Runner and, thanks to a coupon, got $100 off. I love that little bike. I bought the protective bag and have ridden it all over South Africa, Australia and Antigua.

38: Were there any issues about being alone?

Harker: Not really. I would listen in on the weather nets, although I would rarely talk on them. For example, when I was in the Galapagos, about 22 boats left the day before me and talked on the Southern Cross Net. I don’t talk much, just listen, but I must have sailed a lot faster, because I got to the Marquesas well before they did. I also stayed in touch with people via SailMail.

38: What about a sat phone?

Harker: I have an Iridium sat phone and bought 500 minutes for $500. In some places, such as South Africa, Australia, and Antigua, the $1/minute Iridium was the least expensive way to call home to the States. They kill you with roaming charges on cell phones. My Iridium always worked and, in fact, played a critical role in my most crucial repairs. For example, I talked for over 60 minutes to Balmar to get my backup alternator to work. The problem is that the back-up had a built-in regulator while the Yanmar has its own. The two regulators had to be sorted out, and we were eventually able to do that over the phone.

38: When is the circumnavigation finished?

Harker: I finished mine in Antigua about a week ago but, depending, on how I make my way back to Miami, the boat will finish her circumnavigation at either Matthew Town, Inagua, or Nassau in the Bahamas.

38: It’s a long sail around the world. Did you enjoy all of it?

Harker: There were a few times I did not. I got extremely frustrated in the Galapagos. The three times that I was totally becalmed and getting my brains rolled out by the swell were torture. And just outside of Antigua, about to finish my personal circumnavigation, I got hit with 40 knots of wind and a tremendous lightning storm. That was pretty scary.

38: But what about day to day?

Harker: Day to day, I really enjoyed it. When I woke up, I’d go, “Ah, here I am again. It sure beats being at home watching the Travel Channel.” I looked forward to each day as an opportunity to see and enjoy something new. And if I had a down day. I’d remember the six years that I was in a bed, unable to move. But I didn’t have to kick myself like that very often.

38: So after this fast circumnavigation can we assume you’ll have had your fill of sailing for awhile?

Harker: Not at all. After my boat is displayed by Hunter at the Miami Boat Show in February, the month of March is just for me. And I’ll be spending it cruising in the Bahamas. In April, my boat will be hauled to get checked over and I’ll be speaking at Strictly Sail Pacific in Oakland CA. From June to October, I’ll be doing presentations at yacht clubs or Hunter dealerships every two weeks all the way up the East Coast. My last one will be the Annapolis Boat Show in October. This November I’ll enter the Caribbean 1500 Rally from Virginia to Tortola in the British Virgins, and spend the winter in the Caribbean. That should be wonderful. In fact, I won’t have anything scheduled until Antigua Sailing Week at the end of April, and I can’t wait to get back to St. Barth.

38: That’s quite a schedule for a 60-year-old after a fast and mostly singlehanded circumnavigation. What then - lots of rest?

Harker: Oh no. After Antigua Sailing Week a year from April. I’ll head to the Azores and across the Atlantic. My main destination is Thailand but along the way, I very much want to visit Croatia and spend some time in Turkey and the Black Sea. But after going down the Red Sea and across the Indian Ocean to Thailand, I’ll continue on to Japan, where I’m sort of famous because I flew a hang-glider off Mt. Fuji many years ago. In Japan, they revere people even if they accomplished things many years before. Then I’ll sail across the North Pacific to California, and hang out in San Diego until the start of the Ha-Ha. That will be three years from now.

38: Do you think most people could do what you did?

Harker: Oh sure. You have many couples who are retiring in their 50s, and who have put the kids through college. They can not only sail around the world, but they can do it cheaply. Of course, they may not want to do it as fast as I did.

38: How much sailing experience do you think they need?

Harker: I didn’t know how to sail at all when I started with my boat in the Ha-Ha, but I’ve sailed 60,000 ocean miles now, almost all of them singlehanded, and I learned by doing. You are going to make some mistakes, just learn from them and try not to make those same mistakes again. I think anybody who knows the basics of sailing, is in good health, and has common sense could do the same thing I did. And by the way, legally I’m a paraplegic, so no excuses. Prepare well, watch the weather and go out and ‘Just Do It’!

TheSailingChannel thanks Latitude 38 Magazine for allowing us to republish this article and share it with our readers.

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Latitude 38 Interview - Mike Harker: Part 4

2008-06-09T18:35:00.008-04:00

March 2008

Part 4 of 5

Courtesy Latitude 38 Magazine

38: What was Wanderlust 3‘s fuel consumption like?

Harker: My boat has the Yanmar 4JH four-cylinder with the new turbo and intercooler. I can go at normal cruising speed for almost two hours on a gallon of fuel. It’s a very fuel-efficient engine at 1,800 rpms, which is what I ran it at. Speaking of fuel, one of the great items on my boat - and I’m going to recommend that Hunter make it part of their Mariner Package - is the Fuel Filter Boss. This device allows you to switch between two fuel filters while the engine is running, plus it has a fuel pump which eliminates manual bleeding, and even features a light in the cockpit that warns if the filters are getting dirty.

Thanks to the Fuel Filter Boss, I didn’t get a drop of fuel in the bilge. When the unit indicates a filter is getting dirty, you temporarily switch to the other fuel routing, remove the old filter and drop in a new one - while the engine is running. That’s it. Changing filters was a real pain with my old boat, and I always spilled about a pint of diesel in the bilge. I hated that. The Fuel Filter Boss is great insurance for your engine because all you need to keep a diesel going is clean fuel. I also have a third filter for fuel transferred from the reserve 80 gallon tank to the main 150 gallon tank. Incidentally, Hunter’s normal fuel filters are 10-microns. I bought a 24-pack of 2-micron filters. They stop everything. I never had a fuel problem on my trip and, believe me, I got some dirty fuel in a couple of places.

38: Did you have a watermaker, and how did that work?

Harker: I have a 7-gallon per hour HRO, and it was perfect. I changed the filters five times during my trip, and changed the carbon filter once six months into it. But there wasn’t a hiccup or problem at all.

38: You hardly had anything go wrong?

Harker: There were really just two significant things, and both involved a chain of events. My boat has four 8D AGM 230 amp batteries, which is double the number of batteries and amps that Hunter puts in. So I had twice the battery capacity that the alternator was designed for. Normally, it wouldn’t make a difference, but I had two Danish models who sailed with me from Panama’s Perlas Islands to the Galapagos, so they needed a lot of power for their hair dryers and things. Plus, they used the microwave and other things doing lots of great cooking. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but my Fisher-Panda had a faulty fuel pump. I carry the F-P Offshore Repair Kit that included a new pump and fixed it myself, but not before burning up the engine alternator. With the girls using the hair dryer all the time, and my genset out, I was having to use the engine alternator a lot to keep the batteries charged. Before we got to the Galapagos, the engine alternator was fried trying to keep the batteries charged.

38: Didn’t you have a spare alternator?

Harker: No. But I do now. It’s a bigger 100-amp Balmar which, by the way, is now standard on all Hunter 49s. The regulators have been upgraded, too.

38: What was the other major problem?

Harker: Having left Cape Town, I was 1,000 miles from Africa and 1,000 miles from South America, when my high water alarm went off. There was a very unusual leak in the water pump housing of my Yanmar diesel that peed water all over the alternator. There was so much that my lower bilge pump couldn’t keep up, and the water got to the higher bilge pump, which automatically turns on an alarm. But because we were heeled over, the water had also gotten into the F-P genset’s motherboard before the alarm went off, so it was toast. As for the main engine’s alternator, it was caked with salt from having water sprayed all over it. Thanks again to a chain reaction, I had no way to charge my batteries for the second time! Well, I have a Honda portable generator that I used to keep the charge up on my engine start battery.

38: We made a big deal asking folks how they would have stopped the leak in your pump. How did you actually do it?

Harker: I coated a self-threading stainless steel screw with 3M 5200 to make it waterproof, and screwed it in the hole. It lasted just fine until I got back to Miami and Yanmar/Mastry had a chance to replace the entire pump housing.

38: What spares did you carry?

Harker: I had a spare and/or spare parts kit for almost everything. I had them for my Yanmar and Fisher-Panda genset, a spare freshwater pump, a spare bilge pump, a spare high water bilge pump and alarm - and, eventually, a spare alternator. I even had a plumbing spares kit because Hunter recommended I buy it. Other stuff they recommended were a spare link arm and U-joint for the steering, a spare Selden gooseneck fitting for the mast and other small parts.
I also got a spare roller fitting for the headboard of the mainsail - I’m terrible at the specific names of things - that I actually needed to put on yesterday. It pulled away from the mast while I was in the doldrums, but I was still able to make it here to St. Barth.

38: It’s a good thing that you didn’t have to go up the mast.

Harker: That’s not an issue, because I can’t go up the mast when alone. By the way, I had to change the masthead tricolor on my last boat twice, so for this one I bought a $700 LED tricolor. It wasn’t cheap, but I think it’s worth it. It’s called a Lopo-Light, and it includes the navigation lights and a five-mile anchor light. It uses less than one watt of power, but is twice as brilliant as the old-style lights, and you never have to change them. All the Volvo Race boats used them. Readers might be interested to learn that I don’t have a single incandescent light bulb on my boat. Everything is either low-power fluorescent or even lower-power LED.

38: You have solar panels. How much did they help?

Harker: I have three panels for a total 28 amps, and during the day they normally provide all the power I need to run everything and to top off the 900-amp bank of batteries. I have two freezers and two fridges, but I only use one of each. I typically used 20 amps an hour, depending somewhat on how much effort my autopilot was having to make. All my instruments and lights use very little power. This Hunter 49 is very well thought out in terms of energy use.

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Latitude 38 Interview - Mike Harker: Part 3

2008-06-03T21:01:00.007-04:00

March 2008

Part 3 of 5

Courtesy Latitude 38 Magazine

38: Was any stop particularly expensive?

Harker: Tahiti would have been, but I bypassed it because I’d been there before and knew it would be expensive. But, no, I don’t consider any of the places I stopped to have been expensive.

"The circumanavigation cost
me almost nothing because
I’m a cheapo!"

38: Speaking of money, how much did this circumnavigation cost you?

Harker: Almost nothing because I’m a cheapo! (Laughter.) Plus, if you’re out at sea, where are you going to spend money? And I’m not a big spender in ports. If I’ve been out at sea for awhile, the first thing I’ll do in port is order a big salad, because you can’t keep the makings for salads fresh for very long on the ocean. So I’ll get a salad at a restaurant for my first couple of meals ashore, and then maybe a breakfast omelet. But after that, I’ll eat all my meals aboard my boat. If I’m in port for a while and want to socialize, I may go to a restaurant, but I’ll order just a cappuccino or something like that rather than a full meal. And I don’t drink alcohol which saves a lot. Right: Kayo Hollandaise in the San Blas Islands on the way to Panama

38: What do you eat when you’re at sea?

Harker: Everything I eat comes from Costco because, like I said, I’m a cheapo. (Laughter.) But Costco - which has a store in Panama, by the way - actually has the best canned chicken breast and you get eight cans of them for just $7. I’m also big on Kirkland and Star-Kist brands of tuna. I make lots of pasta dishes at sea. For example, I’ll do a chicken or tuna with noodles, or maybe a spaghetti carbonara, but I’ll always add a second portion of unflavored noodles. I do this to ‘stretch’ whatever I’m making from just a lunch or dinner to a lunch or dinner plus leftovers for a next meal. I probably eat chicken or tuna with noodles four times a week. And every morning I have Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats - from Costco, of course. But I mix in some dry muesli, plus dried cranberries or blueberries. When you add hot water, the berries, which come in three-pound bags from Costco, open right up and taste great. I also throw in a few almonds and walnuts I’ve bought in bulk containers, at you-know-where. (Laughter.) Diet is very important for good health. Even though I’m legally a paraplegic as a result of my hang gliding accident, before I started this trip, my doctor told me that I had the constitution of a 40-year-old, 20 years younger than my chronological age. My blood pressure is perfect, and my cholesterol is 150. Those are the kinds of numbers I had when I was on the rowing team in college.

38: How do you exercise on board?

Harker: Exercise, of course, is just as much a key component to good health as is diet. So besides all the exercise I get singlehanding the boat, I have a Mini-Stepper onboard that I use regularly while at sea, hanging onto the dodger for balance. In addition, I do push-ups and arched back pull-ups on the dodger. Push-ups and pull-ups are opposing exercises that are very good for you. My exercise goal is not to be muscular, but to be fit. It’s important for me to keep working the joints in my arms, legs, shoulders - everywhere. So I usually do about half an hour of exercise each morning, then shower up. Many times I’ll get my exercise in while boiling the water and otherwise preparing my oatmeal. Through diet and exercise, my goal has been to maintain the health of a person 20 years younger.

38: We’re surprised to see how luxurious your Hunter 49 is; Granite-like countertops, nice woodwork everywhere, shades for all the hatches and ports, and even mosquito screens for all the hatches. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Harker: Hunter offers different versions of the 49. The normal Sail-Away package comes in at under $300,000, and includes sails, instruments, and a long list of standard luxury items - plus a five-year warranty extension. Then there’s the Mariner-Package, which includes $33,000 worth of gear for just $21,000. That gear includes a Bose surround sound system, a 15-inch flat screen for the double berth forward, and a 26-inch flat screen in the salon - although I bought a 32-inch flat screen with built-in DVD to replace the 15-incher in the bow, and a 40-incher for the salon. I have to admit that I love movies. In fact, I have 2,000 movies aboard - none of them pirated. I can have the same movie playing at three places on my boat at the same time - the third being on my chartplotter in the cockpit. I can’t get sound on the chartplotter, though.

38: (Laughter.) You must be the only cruiser who doesn’t have a pirated movie.

Harker: My Hunter 49 has added extras from the options list. It has the deep keel, a 5 ft. taller mast and includes a bow thruster, an HRO watermaker, F-P genset, 3 solar panels and lots of other stuff too, and it goes for just under $400,000.

38: How are they selling?

Harker: Hunter tells me that they sold almost 80 of them in one year.

38: Your boat is loaded with extras. Any favorites?

Harker: My favorite thing on the boat, my buddy, is my Lewmar Mamba autopilot. This is a beefed-up version of the Raymarine autopilot motor, and mine was the first on any boat. I haven’t had a hiccup or squawk, and I do 90% of my sailing on autopilot. You might remember that I burned up three autopilot motors on my 466. Actually, the whole steering system is a Lewmar Mamba, which consists of gear boxes and rods. It works really well, and is all but maintenance free.

38: We actually have the same Mambo system on our catamaran and have been very pleased, too.

Harker: The heavy-duty autopilot motor and stronger U-joints in the steering system now come standard.

38: What other gear do you have aboard?

Harker: I added things for two reasons, 1) for safety or better sailing and 2) for comfort. The safety items include the Viking RescYou 8 SOLAS Liferaft, ICOM SSB &VHF radios with DSC and Pactor digital modem, a drogue and extra emergency gear, a Flex-O-Fold 3 blade prop and Interphase Forward-Looking Sonar. This really helps when entering shallows or reef areas. Absolutely essential are the RayMarine instruments and chart plotter with the Navionics world charts on CF memory cards for the E120. I also have Nobeltec World Charts on a DVD for the laptop and I carry two extra handheld GPSs, one reading the Navionics charts for a backup. Both electronic charts were right on.

The most modern safety feature I have on board is RayMarine’s AIS (Automatic Identification System) that receives signals from all ships larger than 200 tons. I had 24 ships on screen when traversing the Torres Straits and never got close enough to a ship to set off the alarm. AIS is a true life-saver on the open ocean. For comfort I added a custom Dodger/Bimini/Dingy Davit Cage that the Hunter stainless shop built for me, a Walker Bay RIB ‘Genesis’ dingy with a 20 hp and a blow-up dingy with a 4 hp, a Cobra kayak & a blow-up kayak and even the “Sea-Breathe” HUKA for underwater exploring.

38: Be straight with us, Mike, are you still claiming that you don’t really know how to sail?

Harker: Well, all I know about sail trim is what I learned from my hang gliding days. And all I know about navigation is that I point the arrow on my GPS to my destination and push GO/TO. Then I adjust sails and sit back and have the boat take me where I want to go. I’m sorry, but that’s how I sailed around the world. I’m not proud of it, but that’s how I did it.

38: We think there’s a little more to it than that, for example, you flew a gennaker, didn’t you?

Harker: I flew the gennaker from my old 466, but it blew out in strong winds near Vanuatu. But I also flew my new Parasailor2, which is a rather unique spinnaker from Germany that has a full-width opening about two-thirds of the way up, and an ‘air batten’ wing that helps keep it from collapsing. It’s a beautiful concept. It means you don’t have to sail as precise a course or, thanks to the inflatable wing, worry about the chute collapsing as much. Plus the elastic bands on a vented flap spill the wind when it starts blowing hard, so you have more or less the same pressure on the sail in 30 knots as you do in 12 knots. While crossing the Indian Ocean, I had my Parasailor2 up for more than a week without taking it down, and I flew it in the South Atlantic all the way across the Equator to the doldrums. It costs about 25% more than standard spinnakers, but I love mine and think it’s worth it. Oddly enough, you never see them in the States, but more than 40 boats carried them in the last Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

38: What was typical weather for your trip?

Harker: Most of the time the wind was under 18 knots, and about 50% of that time it was 12 to 15 knots. It rarely blew under 12 knots, but when it did, it seemed to be very light for days on end. That happened three times, and was the least fun of all, as the boat rolled like crazy. Three days south of Indonesia in the Timor Sea was the worst of all. The water was like glass - in fact, it would have been perfect for the barefoot waterskiing that I did in my younger days.

38: How many hours did you put on the engine?

Harker: I’ve got 1,200 hours on the main engine, but some of those are only because my Fisher-Panda genset got water into it and stopped running. That meant I had to charge my batteries using the alternator on the engine until I fixed the gen.

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Latitude 38 Interview - Mike Harker: Part 2

2008-05-28T16:41:00.012-04:00

March 2008

Part 2 of 5

Courtesy Latitude 38 Magazine

38: But be honest, is an 11-month circumnavigation a realisticgoal for most sailors?

Harker: Yes, it is, and even for singlehanders. With crew, it would have been an easy jaunt. The biggest factor is how much time people want to spend in places. It might sound as though I rushed around the world, and I certainly did move much faster than most cruisers, but it’s not like I didn’t stop at places. For instance, I spent nine weeks inAustralia - even though I'd only planned on spending three. Of course, that meant Ihad to race across the Indian Ocean. It turned out there wasnothing wrong with that, as I didn't find anywhere desirable to stop in the Indian Ocean on the way to South Africa. I spenttwo days at Christmas Island, two days at Cocos Island, andthree days on Mauritius - which was about one day too long. There's nothing in the Indian Ocean on the way to South Africaexcept a few islands with water and sand, and there's much more beautiful water and sand in the Bahamas. Right: Mike in Sydney Harbor

I also spent quite a bit of time in South Africa, which I loved. Here's why: I just happened to arrive in Durban at thesame time as the Clipper Around-The-World fleet. And it just so happened there were 14 front row slips, but just 13 Clipper entries. So an ambitious Hunter dealer arranged for my boat to be put in the 14th slip at the same time as the Clipper group. This apparently confused some of the thousands of people who showed up for the celebrations, because I was treated like a superstar! People thought that I was famous. (Laughter.) They had bands, big crowds, and it was a really big deal. Right: Welcome to South Africa with the 'Clippers' in Durban

Since my boat was in the front row, I was visited by many people, among them two families, each of which had 15-year-old sons. One was named Marx, and he was the South African Laser champion. The other was Pieter, and he’s about to do the Santa Cruz to Panama leg of the Clipper race with his mother. Anyway, about an hour after leaving my boat, both youngsters returned and sheepishly asked if they might sail with me. I told them I would take them if they could get approval from each of their mothers. When the mothers assented, the boys jumped up and down like crazy. Right: Pieter and Marx in Durban South Africa

The two youngsters sailed all the way to Cape Town, a distance of about 800 miles, with me. We were together for five weeks, as we had to stop all the time to avoid the famous storms that blow along the southeast coast of Africa. Most Latitude readers are probably aware that, in that part of the Indian Ocean, you get a storm lasting three days, then two days of lull. It happens like clockwork. You have two days of calm, then three days of gale-force winds - and I mean a real 50 knots of wind, not just 30 knots. Plus, the strong current flows in the opposite direction to the wind, so the seas become big, square, and horrendous. I don’t know what it’s like to be caught in those conditions because we managed to avoid them, but it would not be fun.

But having to stop all the time meant getting to visit all these great places like Knysna, or Port Elizabeth. My favorite was False Bay, the last one before rounding the Cape of Good Hope. I did a presentation at the local yacht club, then let the two boys sail my boat around the Cape. They were great kids.

38: Did their parents pay for them to sail with you?

Harker: No. My rule with crew is that they pay the expenses necessary to get to my boat and to return home but once on the boat, I pay for all the food and other expenses. I would never pay anyone to crew for me.

"I don't think I ever sailed
upwind - except for three
days off Cape Town."

38: How much of your circumnavigation was upwind?

Harker: (Long pause.) I'm thinking about it really hard, butI don't think I ever sailed upwind - other than three days nearCape Town. It would also have been upwind from Vanuatu to

Sydney but, when I got to Brisbane, I waited three days for thewind to change direction, then continued on with a fair wind. I don't sail with the wind on the nose because I don't like it. As I think back, the wind was always on my stem quarter,except for the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispanola,when it was on my port beam. It usually blew on my port quarter, except in the South Atlantic, when it blew on thestarboard quarter. My boat was heeling to starboard for eight months, then to port for two months. (Laughter.) Right: Leaving Sydney with the new Parasailor

38: What was your worst weather?

Harker: I never had any really bad weather. The only roughstuff that I didn't wait out was 36 to 40 knots of wind between Samoa and Vanuatu, but it was coming from my stem quarter, so it wasn’t bad. The seas were big, however, maybe 18 to 20 feet. They’d been generated by 70-knot winds in the Southern Ocean. Some boats further south got dismasted, and some mariners were drowned down there. But Wanderlust 3 handled the conditions well with three reefs in the main and a staysail. We were doing about 9 knots, and the boat was loving it. Wanderlust 3 doesn’t heel as much as my 466 did, so it was quite comfortable. She’s also a dry boat because she has a bit of a hollow or concave in the bow that causes the water to shoot out to the side instead of up and over the deck. I had some waves crash onto the dodger of my 466, but that never happened with my Hunter 49.

38: What other differences have you noticed between thetwo boats?

Harker: The H-49 tracks better downwind and doesn'tyaw as much. She behaves like she has a long keel, yet sheturns on a dime. She also feels like a much bigger boat.

38: Was her larger size a problem?

Harker: Not at all. My 466 was actually only 44’6”, while my 49 is 49’11”. Plus, the new boat has a plumb bow and carries the waterline almost all the way aft, so she’s truly a much bigger and faster boat.

38: What did you consider to be a good day's run?

Harker: Wanderlust 3 had no problem sailing at 8.5 knotsfor hours on end, so I had many 24-hour runs in excess of200 miles. My best week was from Christmas Island to Cocos Island, during which time I covered 1,396 miles in seven days, or an average of just a hair under 200 miles per day. For a luxurious and relatively heavy boat being singlehanded by a guy who wasn’t racing, I thought that was pretty good. Right: Christmas Island

38: How did you get your weather info?

Harker: I got GRIB files via SailMail when atsea and, while on land, I used the U.S. Navyforecasts from fnmoc.navy.mil and Passageweather.com. The SailMail files come in black and white and are based on the color charts from the U.S. Navy. But the Navy has the best ocean weather info around. They are really good. Plus, they can provide you with a lot more information than just the surface winds and sea conditions.

38: Did you see many other single-handers?

Harker: It seemed that no matter where I went, I was introduced to “that other singlehander.” There was never more than one, but there was always one, and they were usually French. Three of them were women. One of them,Jeanne Socrates, had done the last Singlehanded TransPac in her 37-ft Najad Nereida. She was going around the world on a ‘fast’ circumnavigation too and having a great time. Interestingly, I’ve never met another singlehander on a boat larger than 40 feet. Most of them have older style boats, with long keels and lots of overhang. I don’t know, maybe it just means they couldn’t afford newer and more expensive boats, but they were having just as much fun and adventure as I was. Right: Cocos Keeling

38: Did you have any problems with any port officials?

Harker: No. But I always make an effort to present myself well, and I’m very courteous. I smile, I’m patient, and I’m never demanding. But above all, I put myself beneath the officials, letting them know that they are in charge. They love that! (Laughter.)

WATCH FOR PART III

Relaunch of Wanderlust 3 after minor repairs at
St. Augustine Marina Center in Florida.

TheSailingChannel.TV Father's Day Special

Latitude 38 Interview: Part 1

2008-05-27T18:23:00.009-04:00

March 2008
Part 1 of 5

Courtesy Latitude 38 Magazine

Mike Harker
As a result of a horrible hang-gliding accident off Grenada decades ago that left him under water and unconscious, Mike Harker spent six years in a bed, all but unable to move, and being assured by doctors that he’d never walk again. Although he’s paralyzed from the top of his “butt bone” down - except for the insides of his thighs - he’s managed, through relentless effort, to resume a normal life. And, to make remarkable passages with his boats.Harker started sailing at 52 by entering the ‘00 Baja Ha-Ha, learning as he went along. The following year he singlehanded across the Atlantic, then sailed back across to Panama and the South Pacific. After returning to California, he had planned a circumnavigation that was, for reasons he’ll explain, delayed for more than a year. His goal, now that he’s 60, is to complete a 26,000-mile trip around the world in 11 months, sailing half the time and enjoying stops in ports the other half.

This interview was conducted in St. Barth when he had 1,000 miles left to go. By the time it was over; and. before this was published, he’d actually covered 27,800 miles in 10 months, three weeks - the greater distance a result of doing an unplanned additional 2,000 miles on the east coast of Australia just for the fun of it.

Harker’s worst scare of the trip? When he mistook some wicked hot sauce for ketchup at Cheeseburgers in Paradise in St. Barth. He was choking so badly and. in such genuine pain that we were seconds from summoning professional medical help before he began to recover. While making his circumnavigation, Harker’s home at Lake Arrowhead burned to the ground. He’ll not rebuild. When he’s through sailing - which isn’t going to be anytime soon, as you’ll soon learn - he’ll move into one of the units in his triplex on the water in Manhattan Beach.

Harker: Let me start off by saying that you’re the first person who speaks ‘American’ that I’ve talked to in over 10 months.

38: Cool. Well, tell us, how did this very rapid and mostly singlehanded circumnavigation come about?

Harker: As some readers might remember, I started sailing by doing the '00 Ha-Ha with a used Hunter 34 WanderLust. At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about sailing. After doing a singlehanded Baja Bash back to Southern California, I bought a new Hunter 466 in Miami. Although I intended to have crew, I ended up singlehanding Wanderlust II across the Atlantic. I then cruised the Med for 8 months, and that winter came back across the Atlantic and ultimately to French Polynesia via the Galapagos. Then, while on the way to Hawaii, the rudder broke. After getting a replacement rudder from Hunter, my plan was to sail back to San Francisco, do the Ha-Ha again, do the Puddle Jump to the South Pacific, then continue on to Australia and around the world.

But the folks at Hunter liked what I was doing. They invited me to their booth at the show in Miami and suggested that I trade my 466 in for one of their new H-49s - which wasn’t even completely designed at that point - and do my circumnavigation with one of those. They made me a hard-to-refuse offer, and had me come to the factory to get my ‘non-sailor’ input on the boat. Having accepted their offer, I had to postpone my circumnavigation for a year in order to sell my 466 and for them to finish designing and building the H-49. Right: New H-49 launch and rigging in St. Augustine Feb 2007

38: We've gotten to know you over the years, so we expect that you put that year of waiting to good use.

Harker: I went to Sea School in Fort Lauderdale to get my Captain’s license, then I went to school in Pensacola to get a Masters upgrade, and finally I went to Orange Coast College’s School of Sailing and Seamanship for my offshore and sailing endorsements. I now have all the certificates. Right: Looking down on 'WanderLust 3' from the new Selden mast

38: Were the classes helpful or did they basically teach you what you already knew?

Harker: There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t know, the classes were helpful. Among the most useful stuff I learned is a lot of sailing and nautical terminology that I wasn’t familiar with. You have to remember that I learned almost all my sailing in the Ha-Ha with German friends, and we only spoke German. And since I’ve singlehanded more than 90% ever since, I haven’t learned the English terms from subsequent crew.

38: So you mostly sail alone?

Harker: The only crew I’ve had for a long distance passage was from the Canaries to the Caribbean with my 466. I don’t think anyone has sailed more than a couple of hundred miles with me on my current boat. I only need crew for coastal waters where there is a lot of local traffic because, with someone else watching, I can safely go to sleep. Right: Sea Trial from Miami to Atlantis Marina in Nassau Bahamas

"I’m a guy who likes to move around,
and I discovered it was possible to
circumnavigate in 11 months."

38: What was the concept behind such a rapid circumnavigation?

Harker: While waiting for my boat to be done, I spent a lot of time planning a circumnavigation. I studied Jimmy Cornell's ‘World Cruising Routes’ for the best times to be in the places I wanted to pass through. The primary determinants of the best times are avoiding hurricane and tropical cyclone seasons. For example, you don’t want to leave Mexico for the South Pacific in the summer or fall, nor do you want to be crossing the Indian Ocean after October of any given year. I know that most cruisers typically take three to five years, but I’m a guy who likes to move along, so I found that the hurricane seasons would also allow me to do a circumnavigation in either 18 months or two years. But after doing some more studying, I realized that I could actually do it in just 11 months. Right: Alone to Matthew Town, Inagua

Cornell’s book was my bible. Not only did I spend a year planning my route with it, but I visited with him at the Annapolis Boat Show. In fact, I had two $5O/hour consultations with him about my route. When I showed my plan to him, he said, “I’ve never seen anyone with a plan like this, but it looks perfect!” Jimmy has been around the world something like 5 times and really knows his stuff. But don’t get him started talking, because he can go on and on. (Laughter.) 38: What were you figuring for an average speed or distance covered in a week? Right: The 'Windward Passage' between Cuba and Haiti

38: What were you figuring for an average speed or distance covered in a week?

Harker: The distance of the circumnavigation was about 26,000 miles, and there are 52 weeks in a year. I wanted to average 1,000 miles a week, so if I sailed at an average of 6.5 knots, I could be sailing half the time and resting or exploring ashore the other half of the time, and still make it around in 11 months. But as it turns out, I did nearly 2,000 more miles on the east coast of Australia for the fun of it.

38: But we all know about the inevitable breakdowns, new boat teething problems, and schedules going all to hell.

Harker: I don’t know what to tell you except that, as I’m here now talking to you, I’ve completed 26,900 miles of what will actually be a 28.000-mile circumnavigation, and that I’m currently just one week behind schedule. Had I wanted to, I could easily have been right on schedule.Right: The Errol Flynn Island in Port Antonio, Jamaica

38: That's pretty remarkable.

Harker: It’s not to say that I didn’t have delays or spend more time than I planned in some places. For example, I ended up spending three weeks in the Galapagos waiting for the people at customs in Quito, Ecuador, to release an alternator that I needed. I’m normally a very patient person, especially on boats, but that was the first time I got really frustrated. As a result, I had to make up three weeks crossing the Pacific. So while I did have delays, there was enough leeway in my schedule that I could make up for it.

WATCH FOR PART II.

Wanderlust3 up on-the-hard for new bottom paint, zincs, and rigging inspection. Selden wanted to inspect the mast after 28,000 miles of sailing in 11 months. This was the first H-49 fitted with Selden's Tall Mast and they wanted
to study the whole rig.

Mike Harker and Wanderlust3

Mike Harker Circumnavigates with Fischer Panda Genset

2008-04-22T17:31:00.007-04:00

The following is a Press Release by Fischer Panda -- TheSailingChannel.TV

In daredevil Mike Harker’s early days, he flew powerless craft to his near death. Now, the intrepid adventurer circles the globe through Fischer Panda power.

A native Californian, Harker, 60, always gravitated toward extreme sports on the water and in the air. He was a national water skiing champion at age 16 and 18. As a young adult, he pioneered early ‘70s hang-gliding development. In 1977, a terrifying glider accident thrust Harker into a 400-foot freefall, leaving him unconscious for a year and paralyzed from the knees down. Through multiple surgeries and arduous physical therapy, he persevered until he could walk again.

Despite his injuries, the bold world traveler learned to sail offshore on the California coast five years ago. Long-range sailing was a perfect fit for Harker’s career as an international sports photographer/cinematographer and sports legend. In no time, he began dreaming of circumnavigating the world alone.

In 2003, he sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic in a trial run for his yearlong expedition circling the globe launched in March 2006. In preparation for the 28,000-mile voyage, Harker sought the best equipment available. He purchased his third and largest Hunter sailboat, Wanderlust III, a 49-foot cruiser. Harker had visited the Hunter factory in Florida and knew from his two previous Hunters that the manufacturer utilized only proven equipment, like Fischer Panda generators.

He had heard about the reputation of Fischer Panda Generators as being the smallest, lightest, quietest and most efficient generator in the market. “These sailors would point out other boats and ask, ‘Do you realize there’s a generator going?’ It would be purring like a sewing machine. My previous one sounded like a tractor,” he said.

Harker is dependent on good equipment to go around the world. He said he has confidence in his Panda 12 DP because everything made in Germany is made with precision. “That’s why I chose a Fischer Panda Generator as an orderable option. I’m living off my generator. It has to perform without flaw.”
Left to right, Mike Harker, Jeff Till, Fischer Panda dealer and marine sales representative, and Chad Godwin, Fischer Panda marine sales and marketing manager, aboard Wanderlust III.

Harker doesn’t connect to shore power in foreign ports because his boat is wired for 120V American power and the voltages are not compatible. In order to re-supply his systems, Harker moors in a harbor and runs his Fischer Panda generator. “In three and a half hours and on less than a gallon of gas, I’m able to charge my batteries and fill my water tanks all while I’m watching a movie on my wide-screen TV. It’s vibrationless and noiseless – quite a luxury,” he remarked.

Don’t look for this over-achiever to take it easy for too long in his cabin. Next, Harker plans to solo sail Wanderlust III around the world in the opposite direction.

Chad Godwin, marine sales and marketing manager for Fischer Panda Generators, said his company is proud to be a part of Mike Harker’s journey. “Over the years, the continuously advancing technology of Fischer Panda Generators has increased our reliability and efficiency. Having the team of Mike Harker and Hunter Marine as a valued customer has been beneficial in learning what we can do to offer the best generator and support worldwide.”
Chad Godwin, marine sales and marketing manager for Fischer Panda (right), checks the installation of Mike Harker’s FP 12 DP Generator.

Fischer Panda has played a pioneering role in the design and manufacture of marine and vehicle generators for the past 30 years. In 1978 in Germany, Fischer Generators developed the quietest diesel generator in the world. That trend towards small, quiet and super efficiency was to continue, and in 1988, Fischer Generators added "Panda" to its brand and introduced its proprietary and water-cooled asynchronous electric plant. Fischer Panda U.S., which began operations in 1995, is located at 4345 NE 12 Terrace in Oakland Park, Florida. For more information, please call 954-462-2800 or access the company's web site at www.fischerpanda.com

By TheSailingChannel.TV

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