23:37S 178:55W

Crossed the date line 11.00am yesterday

We were the first boat to arrive in North Minerva Reef and had some difficulty in finding it due to the large waves and swell with 30+knots of wind. The night before was tough – big waves and boat speed of up to 13.6knots.The skipper got all the crew out of bed at 05:00 concerned of imminent rig failure but Laroobaa was excellent, ploughing on through the white foam whilst big waves crashed down behind her.

As we approached Minerva Reef entrance a Marlin jumped out of the water on its tail. We anchored, washed, ate and slept. 25 knot winds outside persisted for 2 days....