position S023 39.500 W178 54.000
Ocean Rival Journey Log
Adam Power Diana Power
Fri 19 Oct 2018 08:19
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Friday 19 Oct. North Minerva
Reef We arrived at North Minerva just before dawn this morning and had to tack across the entrance a couple of times to allow daylight to confirm the chart was accurate and that the entrance could be negotiated without touching the sides. The pass in is relatively benign in daylight with plenty of width and no massive breakers to contend with, just a gentle bubbling of surf either side. We motor-sailed across the lagoon to join one other yacht at anchor up against the windward side of the almost perfectly circular ring of coral and once secure rewarded ourselves with bacon, beans and egg with toast for breakfast. The wind is still a steady 20kn so although the boat is steady the surface of the lagoon is sufficently disturbed to make snorkling tricky as the waves swamp your snorkle tube. I made it only about half way to the reef before being pushed back by wind and current.  This is the reef at low tide. It almost disapears at high water but just keeps the big waves at bay the other side. We have enjoyed a restful day making up some soup for the next blast to NZ, doing a bit of deck sanding and generally being lazy.  |