Austalia: WanderLust 3 Sails North to the Torres Straits

September 25 2007
14*40'S
145*27'W
Lizard Island

12 DAYS AND 1200 MILES AGO, I left Sydney alone heading north along the East Coast of Australia. Just north of Brisbane and around Moreton Island is a terrific small marina, Mooloolaba. There I picked up the Hunter salesman, Matt Lunsdroin and the Williams family for a 5 day voyage. The Williams Family had ordered the new Hunter 49 at the Sydney Boat Show and I offered them a long weekend cruise on WanderLust 3 so they could get the feel of the big boat. They were delighted and I reported about the trip on my web site (www.H-TV.com) a week ago. We overnighted on some beautiful island bays on the way up to Airlie Beach.

In Airlie I finally met up with my long time buddy Walt Nielsen from Mill Valley CA. He married Jan and now lives between her large ranch above Airlie and his home in Northern CA. They showed me a great time the 3 days I waited for the next guests to arrive. Matt Hayes is an Olympic and Australian sailing champion who invited his 2 sons, Josh 13 and Alex 8, along with his long time buddy Tim Hayes, a former Australian Navy SEAL with his 2 kids, Harry 13 and Kayla 16, for a cruise up the coast to Cairns. We stopped during the day at truly gorgeous island bays then Tim, Matt & I sailed through the night to the next anchorage hitting such famous spots as Whitehaven Beach off Hamilton Island, 'Magnetic Island' above Townsville, the Amazon like Hinchenbrook Channel up to Dunk Island and our favorite bay so far Fitz-Roy Island just below Cairns. The enclosed photos are all from these well known Coral Coast Hot-Spots.

In Cairns, Matt and Tim flew the kids back to school and another Hunter 49 customer, Allan Pascoe, came aboard to sail up the last leg of the Coral Coast with me to end in the Torres Straits at Thursday Island. We had powerful SE winds of 20-26 knots and sailed the first 24 hours at a 9.5 knot average putting us over the 200 miles-in-24-hours mark again. We are now taking refuge at Lizard Island inside the 'Great Barrier Reef' system. In the well written guide book "Cruising the Coral Coast" by Alan Lucas, he says; 'Lizard Island is a popular terminus for cruising boats sailing north with the northeast winds. The island has one of the best trade wind anchorages on the north coast. On approach the island appears drab, dry and bald in patches but belie the real beauty of this island with its combination of reef, clear water and white sand.' The peak, at 358 meters, is named 'Cook Lookout' from where Captain Cook sought his escape from these waters and spotted a passage where his "Endeavour" could finally go east out of the reefs and off soundings. Captain Cook wrote in his log, "with a mixture of hope and fear proportioned to the importance of our business and the uncertainty of the event..." he ascended the hill.

After a good meal then a long rest, Allan and I will set sail for the final leg of 300 miles which will put me at Thursday Island. On Thursday is the last Customs office where I will check out of Australia and head across the entire Indian Ocean towards South Africa. I will report weekly on my progress but it will be difficult to send any quality photos. That will have to wait until I get into a port on the east coast of South Africa, probably Richards Bay then Port Elizabeth.

Australia: Whitsunday Island Group

Australia, September 19 - 23, 2007

Matt, an olympic sailor and Hunter Yacht distributor for Australia and New Zealand, wanted to have his family experience the joys of the cruising lifestyle. Along with his two sons, Alex (8) and Josh (13), he invited his good friend and former Australian Navy SEAL, Tim with his two kids Harry (13) and Kayla (16), along for the voyage. With only 5 nights to sail north from Airlie Beach to Cairns, we chose 4 of the most beautiful tropical islands for our daily stopovers. (Left to right: Josh, Alex, Matt, Kayla, Tim & Harry )

Australia: New Hunter 49 Owners

WanderLust 3, the new Hunter 49, was a tremendous hit at the Sydney International Boat Show.

US Yachts, Matt Hayes' distributorship for the Hunter brand of sailboats in Australia and New Zealand, recorded 8 positive sales of the boats made in Alachua Florida, including 2 cash down-payments on the new 49 with 4 other interested parties also recorded.

(left) Having put a large down payment on the new Hunter 49 at the Sydney Boat Show, David and his wife Grace take a test sail on WanderLust 3 in Sydney Harbor. They will fly up to Cairns at the end of September for a 5 day sail to Thursday Island with Mike Harker.





On my way up the Australian East Coast, I was able to invite the Williams Family along for a 5- day sail. I singlehanded from Sydney 500 miles up to Mooloolaba to pick up the family and the Hunter salesman Matt Lumsdaine.


They plan to sell their farm in Australia's Outback and buy the New Hunter 49 to sail back to England, home- (boat-) schooling their kids along the way.

After dropping off the Williams family in Mackay, Matt and I took out 2 other families interested in the new H-49 and will meet up with 2 more families waiting for us at Able Point Marina in Airlie Beach. In Airlie there are also 2 charter boat companies interested to upgrade their fleet with at least 1 each of the Hunter flagship H-49.

None of these interested customers would have even thought about looking further into the HUNTER brand of sailboat if I hadn't brought the boat from Miami Florida to the Sydney International Boat Show. This was confirmed by all parties personally to me.

It was well worth the extra effort to get here.


Mike Harker
S/V Wanderlust 3

Indian Ocean: Finally Leaving Sydney

I am finally leaving Sydney after the mechanics and rigger have finished with their work. I will head towards the Whitsunday Islands and visit my good friend Walt Nielsen on Airlie Beach.

I have added four (4) new pieces of equipment to make my sailing safer, more secure, and faster for the second half of my 'Around-the-World' voyage.

1) A new style of spinnaker with built-in paraglider called a "Parasailor" from the German Sailmaker ISTEC.

2) A new electronic ship proximity warning devise called 'AIS' Automatic-Identification-System from RayMarine.

3) A forward-looking sonar from 'Interphase' to warn me of approaching shallows and reefs.

4) A new diesel fuel filter system for all of my fuel tanks. After getting poor quality fuel at both Jamaica and the Marquesa Islands, I ruined my fuel injector pump on the Yanmar. I now have the "Fuel-Boss" dual diesel filter cleaning system for the main tank and the "Filter-Boss" fuel filter and polishing system for the 80 gallon reserve fuel tank transfer pump.
And...a new, faster black bottom paint after repairs to the boat after hitting the reef on the Karoina Atoll.


Here is my review of the PARASAILOR spinnaker. Reviews of my other equpment additions will follow.


While crossing the entire South Pacific Ocean from East to West the route is mostly downwind. I was using my two head sails, one polled out to windward (wing-on-wing) and keeping a steady but safe 8.5 – 9 knots. I had my 5 year old asymmetrical spinnaker up for a few weeks, but I blew her out, ripping the head of the sail from the halyard. I have had the sail repaired in Sydney but I also have a brand new type of downwind spinnaker that is supposed to make my downwind sailing faster and safer but especially easier to set. This new spinnaker sail is a German built ‘Istec PARASAILOR’ and she looks beautiful against the Sydney sky line with the Opera House in the background. Left: Parasailor on ‘WanderLust 3’ before the Sydney Skyline.


The Parasailor is an invention of a German champion sailor who is also an experienced Paraglider. It is said that this patented technology shifts the center of pressure on the sail and the lift gained from the wing keeps the bow from rolling, yawing, pitching and broaching.

This new type of spinnaker allows sailing at a greater wind angle, from 70 degrees to 180 degrees, and the opening in the sail for the wing can expand enabling wind gusts and stronger winds to simply spill out, allowing usage in stronger winds than normally used with a standard spinnaker.

The wing performs two critical functions while sailing. 1) The wing lifts the sail and bow of the boat up and out forward increasing speed. 2) The air-filled wing gives considerable lateral and horizontal stability to the edges of the sail and the sides are prevented from collapsing. This is all good for a guy single-handing his boat across oceans in downwind conditions. I am VERY happy to have this addition to my Hunter 49 to help me in my Around-the World voyage.


Jimmy Cornell writes in his “Cruising World Magazine” article:

"Once up, the Parasailor seems to act just like a normal spinnaker but this is just an illusion as the ‘slot’ helps the Parasailor to stay full even in light winds. We used it in as little as 5 knots of true wind and everytime it looked like collapsing, the back pressure exerted by the slot filled it again. But it is in strong winds that the Parasailor really comes into its own. Normally I drop the spinnaker in winds above 17 knots, but on this trip, when I saw a squall approaching, I decided to leave the Parasailor up and see what happened. From 15 knots the wind went up and up and peaked at 26 knots. ‘Aventura’ took it all in stride, accelerated to nine, then ten knots and over.
Meanwhile, the Parasailor was behaving as normally as before , but now its slot was wide open, the ‘flap’ streaming ahead, the large mouth acting as a relief valve and almost visibly spilling the excess wind. Wonderful!"

For more information on the ‘Parasailor’: http://www.istec.ag/ or info@istec.ag

Mike Harker