Position Update 1200 (UTC+11) Coral Sea Day 5

Vega
Hugh and Annie
Sat 22 Sep 2018 07:11
19:44.74S 158:30.58E
COG 260T
SOG 5.7kts
Wind F6 to F7 occ F8 SE
Sea rough
Vis good
Baro 1023

Genoa 2 reefs, mainsail 3 reefs
Our 1200 position was just outside Chesterfield reef where we are now at anchor. We anchored in 9m of pale blue water with white sand bottom adjacent to a low sandy island on the reef. The “lagoon” within the roughly horse shoe shaped reef is 9 miles across at the entrance and 11 miles in length. Plenty of scope for the wind to whip up steep seas as we discovered when painfully motoring down the lagoon against 30kts of wind!
We have had a rough passage and the hydrovane is making ominous creaking and grinding noises so we were anxious to stop if at all possible. With the strong wind expected to continue Annie is keen to stay for several days despite the reef and tiger sharks reputed to be here. We will also walk on the island with lots of nesting birds.
This is now a marine reserve under the protection of New Caledonia and a permit to visit is required. We applied for this two months ago and after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing of emails the government is going to consider our request on 25th September! They did send us a map showing permitted and prohibited anchorages and we have complied with this. We are not alone and were delighted to find Ansoba with Alex and Wendy from Australia also here, having left Vanuatu three days before us.