Mike Harker after he was brutally beaten during a robbery aboard his boat in St. Martin.
Mike Harker’s Hunter 49, WanderLust 3, was anchored in a Lagoon below Mt. Fortune in St. Martin when he was robbed and brutally attacked recently. Here’s his firsthand account of the ordeal.
“Last week two big men swam 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 your cash.”
I said “I only have cash in my wallet, you can have all what’s in there.”
The little man told the big man to “Stick him!,” so the big man put the tip of a spear to my forehead and pushed.
I raised my right arm, grabbed the end of the spear, and then with the left arm, pulled the spear out of his hands, and bent it 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.
Courtesy of Mike Harker| |Mike Harker in much better days.|
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. Just before I passed 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 michrophone there so I called a “Mayday” on channel 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 channel 14 to be on the lookout for my special Walker Bay dingy with new 8 hp Yamaha outboard.
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. Within 20 minutes, someone three miles away reported to the police the dingy was drifting near his dock.
Courtesy of Mike Harker| |Mike Harker’s Hunter 49 Wanderlust 3.|
I have a cracked cheek bone, a splinter around my right eye socket, and a cracked rib, but my spirits are high, and the doctors did a great job with my wounds. The chief surgeon told me that the cracked cheek bone is back in its place and will heal without an operation “As long as you don’t get hit like that again.”
During an interview with the local police I saw photos taken from the video security camera showing two men, exactly as I described; a smaller man with longer straight hair and a big man carrying a fins and a big black bag.
The good news is, I’m now able to see again and my spirits are good because I am not dead yet.”
No arrests have been reported yet.
