Minerva Reef was named after the first of several whaling ships to be shipwrecked there in the 1820’s. It has an interesting history - in the early 1970’s an American millionaire attempted to create a Tax Free Sovereign Micro-nation on the reef, allegedly he had a budget of $100 million, barges of sand arrived from Australia in an attempt to create dry land. The surrounding Pacific Nations did not approve - Tonga was officially handed all rights to Minerva Reef. Undeterred by the first failure, another group of Americans attempted to occupy the reef in 1982 and were rebuffed by the Tongans. All was peaceful until 2005 when Fiji decided to have a go. In 2010 they blew up the lighthouse - the Tongans rebuilt it - the Fijians blew it up again - the Tongans rebuilt it and proposed a trade off with Fiji’s L’au group of islands for Minerva Reef. The debate continues!
The remnants of a previous lighthouse on the North Minerva Reef - Nautilus is one of the yachts in the background.
Minerva Reef at low water.
Waves crashing onto the reef on the windward side of the atoll. This is all covered at high water.
Minerva makes a very convenient stopping over spot for yachts between Tonga and New Zealand - we were joined there by Hugh and Annie from Vega, as well as Rito and Angela from SheSan, and Pele and Ulla from Loupan. Along with Rick and Amanda on Duplicat, we ended up spending several days sheltering there from some very strong winds before we set off on the final push to New Zealand. The diving on the outer wall of the reef was absolutely spectacular - fantastic coral canyons and a drop off that almost gave you vertigo. Unfortunately due to the strong winds we were only able to do the dive once, with Rick.
Finally there was a break in the weather and we set off for New Zealand - a 915 nm trip. Having waited out the strong winds in the lagoon, we ended up motoring for 3 full days of the 7 day trip. It did however give us plenty of opportunity to sort out the boat in preparation for clearing into New Zealand. New Zealand makes great efforts to protect its agriculture and wildlife, and for that reason no eggs, plants, seeds, uncooked fruit or vegetables or meat that is not tinned can be brought into the islands.
Ian was not at all upset to be chucking the last of our dried beans and pulses overboard before arriving in New Zealand!
Our instruments record the Longitude as we cross the Prime Meridian from West to East - we have sailed half way round the world!
Superbe sailing conditions (although rather chilly!) as we head for Opua, New Zealand. We even had a pod of whales guide us in to the bay.
We completed the paperwork formalities in Opua and spent several days in the marina before heading on down to Port Whangerei for a haul out and some repairs - sorting out the welding from the damage we sustained in Panama being one of the essential jobs on the list.
Nautilus dwarfed by the 100 ton Travel Hoist, she only weighs 12 tons.
Andre from Industrial Rebuilds Ltd cutting out the damaged area of the hull. It’s never relaxing watching someone with an angle grinder working on your boat.
Job Done! The corner of the transom fully repaired and the fuel locker at the back enclosed by Andre of Industrial Rebuilds Ltd and new extended stainless steel guard rails built and fitted by Mark from Northern Marine Machining. We could highly recommend both of these companies to carry out boat works.
And finally - our route to New Zealand
The statistics so far ...
Total miles sailed since leaving the UK: 26,423nm
Miles sailed in 2017: 9,195nm
Nights spent at sea in 2017: 55 nights
Longest single passage in 2017: 24 days, Galapagos to Marquesas. 3033 nm
Number of Countries visited in 2017: 11 (Dutch Antilles, Columbia, Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas, Tuamotos, Society Islands, Cook Islands,
Niue, Tonga, New Zealand)
So now the boat is out of the water, sails and ropes washed and removed. We will be leaving her here for several months and heading home via South Island, catching up with friends and family and finally experiencing a winter again! We plan to return here at the start of the Southern Hemisphere winter, a few more things to sort out on the boat and then hopefully Fiji and maybe back to Minerva Reef and Tonga in 2018. This blog only covers sailing, so will be on hold now until we’re back on the water.
