Wednesday afternoon, we changed course from the Kermadec islands to Minerva Reef. The change in heading shifted our wind angle to more of a broad reach on our favorite starboard tack. The energy onboard shifted as well– everyone far more relaxed, enjoying sailing with the swell instead of against it.

Brothers Roland and Andreas keeping us on course!

With 400 miles still ahead to Minerva, the boat started to feel a bit like Groundhog Day. The watches usually passed uneventfully, with blue skies and a steady breeze around 12-17 knots. We were able to sail most of the way, only turning the engine on to charge the batteries or just once or twice when the wind dropped and we wanted to keep up speed.

Despite the forecasted light breeze on Friday night, we managed to sail the whole night through. It wasn’t until we reached our waypoint around 7am, just a few miles from North Minerva Reef, that the wind dropped off. Just as we furled the headsail, a squall rolled in, reducing visibility to about a mile. We motored along, triple-checking the GPS was reading accuratly, until we could see the entrance to the reef. With a few of us on the bow looking out for rocks or reef, we navigated into our safe haven for the next few nights.

Minerva Reef is, as far as I’m aware, completely one of a kind. It’s a massive circular reef about 3 miles wide in the middle of the ocean, located about 300 miles south of both Tonga and Fiji. The area inside the reef is totally protected from the ocean swell, and because of a narrow gap on the eastern side, it’s accessible by yacht and acts as a wonderful anchorage. Its sister reef, South Minerva, is about 20 miles away, and is a bit more difficult to navigate into, so the less popular option to seek refuge. We are looking forward to exploring the reef, as well as catching up on some much earned sleep over the next few days before continuing on to Tonga!

Cheers,

-Liv

Onward to Minerva

Green Flash and the Crayfish Feast

Say Cheese(man Island)!