21:33.19S 176:38.93W

I had a National 12 dinghy called Plane Sailing. Built by Gerry Ledger it was like a piece of crafted furniture. I lovingly painted and varnished it to a gleam that was so smooth that in a Boxing Day race on Cheddar Reservoir the side deck got wet and I gracefully slid along it and off the back of the boat. My ex wife was crewing and I remember the cries of "help!" as the dinghy oscillated its way across the reservoir before a violent roll capsized it and the rescue boat sped into action. Dinghy racing and family life were not always compatible, whether on or off the water, but I still have fond memories of that boat and the cleverly crafted pun for a name.

What has this got to do with sailing across the Pacific Ocean? Well, nothing really other than the fact today is cloudless, we have a perfect easterly force 4 wind, we sped through the night at 7kts and I was reminiscing about that beautiful dinghy when there was a cry from below.  A violent lurch of the boat propelled Annie across the galley and onto the floor, via the corner of the chart table and the chart table seat. She has a nasty large bruise and for a moment we feared broken ribs. Various cold compresses and a cup of tea have helped but it looks and feels pretty sore. Sailing around the world is not always compatible with family life.............

Our current aim is to get to Minerva Reef before strong wind and rough seas on Wednesday night and Thursday. At our normal passage speed of five knots we would make it by daylight on Wednesday. However, with 20kts of breeze, a clean bottom (we scraped it in Ha'apai) and no violent rolling we have been speeding along at 6.5 to 7kts and at this rate could make it in daylight on Tuesday. 

Navigating through reefs at night is not recommended. We well remember placing our trust in the chart plotter and the given waypoints to negotiate the passage into Beveridge Reef lagoon through large standing waves in the late afternoon. Coming down from Tonga Vava'au to Tonga Ha'apai we had just arrived at a well recommended anchorage when the wind came around to the SW. This meant that the nearby reef was a lee shore; all we got for our troubles when trying to set the anchor was a lump of coral perfectly wedged between the anchor flukes. We didn't have a good feeling about the location and so headed off to try somewhere else or spend the night at sea. Luckily for us Barry and Kim on Jadean had anchored at the main town Lifuku earlier in the day. Although getting to the anchorage meant weaving between reefs they were well marked and with Jadean keeping an eye on us on AIS we decided to give it a go. Fortunately the charted lights were all there and working and with the aid of these and the plotter once again proving to be pretty accurate we made it successfully. I doubt that we'll be trying this at Minerva.