Captain Mike Harker, "The Wanderlust"...............

[Skyskier]

Sorry to barge into your forums here with this sad news,........Mike Harker was my friend for over 50 years, I just heard about Mike's passing last friday in Marigot. I am NOT a sailor but I have been around boat racing since I met Mike in 1961, we ski raced together, started in the 13 - 15 boys class, behind 18 ft. flat bottom boats. I'm trying to find out ANY info as to whether or not Mike's death was a result of the beating he took awhile back when his boat was boarded while anchored in the harbor. All we know at this time we got from a post on another site, stating it was thought he had a stroke. Me and a couple other "old ski racers" were gonna meet Mike up in San Francisco at the boat show later this month. The attached pics are of Mike riding a skyski when he was here in the states.....
all of us ALWAY's looked forward to the rare occasion when Mike was here in America. If anybody know's of another sail boat forum this could be posted on , please let me know. Like I said, we are just looking for more info, hopefully someone who knew Mike and was in Marigot last week will see this post
thanks in advance, and sorry for such a long read on my 1st post.

Denny Scales

[sailor50]

Skyskier,

He was an outgoing man, our condolences to you.

[JonEisberg]

Damn, that's a real shame, he was a remarkable guy...

I had the pleasure of meeting Mike in Miami several years ago, one of those people you just liked immediately... It was easy to see how he managed to get all those cute young things to go sailing with him... He certainly accomplished a lot in his comparatively brief career as a sailor, and his loss should serve as a reminder to us all the value of just getting out there and doing it while you can...

For those not familiar with Mike's life story and accomplishments, I highly recommend checking out the series of interviews he did with LATITUDE 38, they're still archived on their site... What he managed to accomplish in his life after nearly being killed and paralyzed in a para-gliding accident, truly inspirational... One of those individuals who touched everyone he met in a positive and uplifting fashion, no doubt about it...

Sad loss, but he still had a pretty damn good run, all in all...

[sailingnanc]

Such sad news. I just heard that Mike is dead.

I was in email contact with Mike over the last year, but hadn't heard from him in a while. Was working on an article about him. I would also like to know if and how this happened. Hope to hear from anyone who has details.

Thanks,
Nancy
YourCruisingEditor
cruisingeditor @ gmail

[Skyskier]

Originally Posted by sailingnanc

Such sad news. I just heard that Mike is dead.

I was in email contact with Mike over the last year, but hadn't heard from him in a while. Was working on an article about him. I would also like to know if and how this happened. Hope to hear from anyone who has details.

Thanks,
Nancy
YourCruisingEditor
cruisingeditor @ gmail

Nancy, if you send me an email, I'll fill you in on what little info we have thus far.
I do NOT have enough posts here to email, post an email address etc. I'll try this

denny scales at gmail dot com
Denny Scales