At Anchor, North Minerva Reef - At Last!

The Adventures of the Good Ship Equinox
Cate and Chris Galloway
Sat 14 May 2011 05:31
Position at 1500 NZST: 23.37.2651S 178.54.2081W
 
Wind - Northerly at 10 Knots, sea light - moderate, weather fair , temperature 3 deg C.
 
Ahoy Lubbers,
 
At long last we have finally dropped the pick in the lagoon of the North Minerva Reef. Ater and epic 7.5 day voyage, four of it battling eadwinds, we have managed to sail 980 nm to make good the 760 nm distance required. It was, to say the least, a lumpy road!
 
Overnight we had a really good night's sail in perfect breeze and dropped the pick at about 0800 this morning. We then enjoyed a plunger of fresh coffee, the first in a week, before a full fat fry up. Everyone has lost weight through the "too rough to eat and hang on" fitness club so making up for lost time is becoming a theme. After Allan and I had a brief visit to WINDFLOWER we returned onboard and took the kids over to the reef for an afternoon snorkel. All the while we have been making water with the Honda generator running keeping things topped up.
 
We will be departing for Tonga late tomorrow on a light but generally favourable forecast - we were going to stay a few days longer but there is a bit of a blow coming on on Wedesday, and we have definitely had enough of those!
 
The girls say hello to Mardi and Granddad (we love you), and Angus says "Hi Mum".  Al says "I'm definitely flying next time".
 
Until tomorrow, TTFN!
 
Contribution from wierd Al anchor winch.Dont listen to him .....I may fly next time if I am not welcome. It seems as though the passages are lumpy or the wind unpredictable mainly when I am on board so I may not be welcome again. It seems as though lucky is not my middle name.PS Minerva reef is amazing especially considering it is sooooo far from any land.Angus and I are blessed to be here.