Leaving Vava'u for Ha'apai and Minerva Reef

Hi everyone. Well, I was pretty slack in finishing the blog. I guess you could say I lost my momentum – but…after a month after landing in New Zealand I figured I better let you all know we’ve arrived safe and sound!
I'll begin by saying we finally made it out of Nieafu. We were running the risk of becoming locals so we knew it was time to boogie outta there! Here’s a few picture of our final days.

Bill installing the new mixing elbow that stranded us in
Vava'u for so long!

On the beach with Rachelle and Patrick (the Nama-Nastys)

Sand crab races.... Vrooooom

The WINNER!

Bill (Harry) with Cheryl and Brian at a beach party. They really helped us with our SSB relays while en route to NZ.

Carolyn & Rachelle at the beach bon fire

Sunset

Vava'u wildlife: Pigs on the beach....again!

Vava'u wildlife: how would you like to wake up to this spider in your bed?

Vava'u wildlife: a dead squid we found one morning in our dinghy

Vava'u wildlife: dog chillin out in a restaurant :)

Carolyn entered a costume competition. She won second place for her outboard motor hat.

Leaving Nieafu, Vava’u for the Ha’apai Group

The passage from Nieafu, Vava’u to the Ha’apai group was about 80 miles. The course was strewn with reefs and islands, and the forecast was for strong headwinds. We were tired of waiting for the perfect weather window and decided to get going anyway. We departed early in order to give ourselves plenty of time to tack our way southward. As it worked out, we used all the extra time we left up our sleeve and arrived at Pangai 24 hours later. No – we weren’t winning any races! We dropped anchor and went ashore to check into the Island Group without any hassles. The town had been hit by a cyclone in February of this year and signs of the devastation were everywhere. Roofs peeled back like a sardine can lid, and other  buildings only had the frame structures left standing. There seemed to be plenty of aid and loads of rebuilding projects were well underway. We didn’t have our camera with us so no pics.
We decided not to stay in town long and went to anchor off Uoleva island offering protection from the SE. We had 5 fantastic days there in crystal clear blue water and the best white sand beach we’ve encountered on the trip. Carolyn was in heaven. There was even a little reef to snorkel when we got tired of combing the beach for shells.

During our time there we were looking for a weather window to sail to New Zealand via Minerva Reef. Suddenly, an opportunity arose and we jumped on it. Our friends on the sailboat Pamela announced on the radio that they were also heading off so we had company along the way!

Bye bye Tonga! We’re off to Minerva Reef!

The350 nautical mile passage was fraught with squalls and variable changing winds. It made steering with the Butler (windvane) extremely frustrating. It would only stay on course for 10 minutes before the wind direction would change and we’d be out there tweaking the steering vane to bring ourselves back on course. On a fun note, we had constant assaults of large flying fish. Most would clear the obstacle of the boat, but the unfortunate few would flop around until we were able the chuck ‘em over the side. Those that didn’t survive (there were many!) left marks in blue stain and scales that seemed to become one with the gel coat.
As always happens with us and every other boater we’ve met, everything happens at once. We were sailing along in very light winds. We decided to run our Honda generator as the solar panels weren’t keeping up with the demand of the electronics. Bill got it all set up on deck and fired it up, then two things happened; the wind increased to 20+ knots heeling the boat over which meant we had to reef the sails and retrieve the Honda before it was juggernauted into the sea! Next thing, Bill says “Oh Shit!”. Now, behind the boat was a huge Mahi Mahi which we somehow managed to hook. Yes, the first big and only strike we’ve had on the entire voyage. Seeing the electric blue colors of the fish thrashing about in our wake was truly spectacular. We were in no position to land the fish for many reasons. One – it was far too big. Two, we had to save the Honda, and Three the sails needed immediate reefing attention. Hummm. What to do. Well, luckily the Mahi Mahi solved that problem for us. With one of his mighty thrashes he managed to throw the hook and swam away to live another day. Must say, we were quite relived. Sorry everybody – no big fish tales, and NO PICS! It all happened so fast!
After 4 days of sailing along at anywhere from 7.5 knots to 2.5 knots, we finally made it to Minerva Reef. It is truly an amazing place to stop. We had no idea what to expect and have been thrilled with it. It’s a wide easy pass, the lagoon is navigable and without hazards, the charts are accurate (or are so far) and the holding is excellent.
The reef is circular and is about 2-3 nm in diameter. At high tide the reef is only just submerged and the waves dribble over causing a slight swell, but nothing that causes discomfort at least in moderate weather. At low tide, the reef is visible and can we walked on. It’s quite unsettling walking on live reef as you’re unsure how much damage you’re inadvertently causing. The reef itself is quite wide. At a guess, it’s about 1/4 mile wide. We eyed live lobster, octopus, fish and various other unidentifiable creatures. Humm, mind boggles.

When we entered the reef’s lagoon, there were only 2 cruising boats at anchor. Pamela and us made 4. Two days later, there were 12 boats anchored nearby, all waiting for a weather window like us. The very next day, a SSB weather broadcaster announced it was a good time to go if you could get there in 6 days. Ha! No way Kailani could manage that, so we stayed put while the fleet of longer mono-hulls and catamarans did a mass exodus trying to beat the front scheduled to arrive in NZ 6 days later. Good luck to them. We waited it out and set sail Saturday the 1st of November for the 8-900 nm journey.
The last part of our journey will be here soon!