25-year-old Henry Mickle is sitting on the bow of his 42-foot sailing yacht, listening as the nearby village slowly comes alive in the early morning sun.
He’s anchored in the turquoise waters of Katiu — a tiny atoll that’s part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Lost? Yeah, so am I… but after checking the map, I discovered that it’s almost halfway between South America and Australia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Katiu has a population of 250 and is one of the most remote places on Earth, taking Henry and the crew 27 days of nonstop sailing to reach it.
Henry’s love for adventure started a long time ago, when he used to lose himself out the back of his parents’ property and explore the riverways by canoe in the small town of Leschenault, Western Australia.
His first real boating experience came aboard the iconic Leeuwin, where he developed a taste for life at sea and a career in the marine industry.
“I had no real plan at that stage. I was always a bit of a nuisance at school and didn’t put in the work required to achieve top-notch results.
“It was probably because I never really gelled with the idea of going to the big smoke to read more books. I met a fork in the road, so I thought about the Leeuwin and getting on the water.”
Henry’s decision to travel the world by boat, however, stemmed from a different experience — one that would put things into perspective and change his life forever. While attending a rave deep in the Daintree Rainforest, he saw a four-wheel drive tip over and roll into a nearby river.
“The river was flowing hard, so I jumped in to try to save whoever was in there. This guy’s ankle was hanging out the window, so I was pulling on that as hard as I could.
“I started my breath holds to go below the water to pop the seatbelts and pull him out, but the roof was crushed in.
“I’ll never forget how cold he went as he was drained of life. Some other guy pulled me away from the car and said, ‘He’s gone, bro.’ After that, I had to get the hell out of there and away from the situation.”
Henry flew home to Western Australia, where he suffered with PTSD, reliving every moment from the tragedy. Determined to get his life back on track and start over, he decided to revive his dream of sailing around the world.
“Luckily, I was cashed up at the time, as I had just sold my property in Margaret River. I thought, ‘F**k it, I’m going to kick off this sailing thing — but I’m not sailing around Australia, I’m sailing around the world.’
“Within a month, I flew to Greece, bought my yacht, and taught myself to sail.”
Since that decision, Henry has sailed his boat, Revelry, halfway around the globe, visiting 14 different countries and three continents while crossing two entire oceans — talk about life-changing!
Between hairy moments, sketchy characters, and interesting encounters, Henry and the crew have become accustomed to the nomadic life of sailing.
“One thing about sailing is the simple fact that your doorstep is where you drop your anchor. Being able to wake up, fire up the inverter, make a coffee, and have cooking waves out the back of the boat — with little reef sharks and big humphead Māori wrasse swimming around — is all-time. I’ll never get sick of that. Ever.
“We’ve had plenty of dodgy moments. I’ve been held up with a pipe in Grenada, had the dinghy stolen twice, and got king hit at a techno festival after crossing from Gibraltar to Spain. I’ve also found myself taking wrong turns and ending up in seriously dodgy ghettos.
“I accidentally attended a notorious gangster’s boat party and got searched for guns while the guy had a balaclava and a machine gun on us, and we sailed through a medicane (a rare and intense cyclone in the Mediterranean) that killed upwards of 2,000 people in Libya.”
I just had to ask what it was like to sail to surf — to arrive at a break in an amazing location completely by your own means. These guys travelled so far and, being keen surfers, had surely come across some epic setups.
“Surfing from a sailing boat is way harder to do than it sounds. Finding an anchorage near a wave that’s safe and comfortable is pretty rare. In saying that, we’ve had the best waves ever.
“For most surfers, you can jump in the car, travel half an hour, and you’re at a break. Whereas onboard Revelry, if a swell is coming, we’ll sail for a few days to be in a spot where we can surf. In some cases, we’d cross an entire ocean just to be in the right place for the surf season.
“I feel like when you’re in a lineup, you sort of get treated differently. Someone asks how you got to this random ass spot that you heard whispers of, and you say, ‘Yeah I sailed here, and my boat’s over the headland. I just walked three hours through the jungle to get here.’ People give you instant respect for that sh*t.
“One of my favourite places for waves was Martinique in the Dutch West Indies. We were there after we crossed the Atlantic Ocean. We had cooking waves just a short dinghy ride from the boat. Occasionally, there would only be one or two other guys surfing — incredulous that an Australian was in the lineup, because he’d never seen anyone else surf there.
“Some people are like, ‘Where the f**k is Australia?’ Then you mention kangaroos and put your hand out in front of you like one, and they click. Or they’re just way more confused.”
Revelry calls French Polynesia home for the time being. During our chat, the crew was waiting for a huge swell to arrive, passing time by spearfishing, visiting the local communities, and sharing incredible sunsets with like-minded nomads who had sailed their craft to do the same thing.
“After fishing for food, I’ll usually pull my hair out in frustration for a while, then have lunch and a few beers with the other guys on their boats. We exchange stories, then wait for it to get dark before walking the reef to get some crayfish for the next night’s dinner.
“Then I sleep it off, wake up, and do it all again. Our entertainment out here is a little different from normal.”
Henry’s ambition for adventure and discovering new and exciting places is infectious. You can’t help but be jealous in the best way possible, and with the utmost respect. After all, it’s determination and perseverance that allow us to fulfil our dreams, and Henry has both in abundance.
“I’ve been inspired lately to go and do something that’ll be a serious expedition. I’m in talks with a guy who can help get my ideas off the ground, helping with applying for funding and turning it into a documentary — something with other explorers.
“I won’t let on too much. But I’ve always wanted to be involved with uncovering a mystery, and I’m thinking somewhere cold.”
