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Latitude 38 Interview - Mike Harker: Part 5
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.
Labels: Antigua, circumnavigation, Galapagos, grounding, Hunter 49, Iridium, Las Perlas, Latitude 38, rudder, SailMail
posted by TheSailingChannel.TV @ 6/10/2008 05:34:00 PM
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