Wanderlust 3 Sailing Adventure

March 2008

Part 2 of 5

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

Labels: Australia, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, Christmas Island, Cocos Keeling, Cuba, Indian Ocean, Latitude 38, Mauritius, Mike Harker, South Atlantic, Sydney, Vanuatu, Wanderlust 3

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.