Minerva revisited

Anchored at: 23º 37' 24 S and 178º 55' 27 W

So here we are, back at Minerva Reef, a spot that still defies logic as we are anchored in the middle of the South Pacific in about 10 metres of water, not a sign of land and about 450 nautical miles away from absolutely anything. 

We have met up with our good friends aboard Cooee Too to enjoy some good snorkelling and spear-fishing. Fish abound on and around this atoll and, as Helmke is an outstanding sushi chef, we look forward to plenty evenings enjoying such.

Our trip here was a real mixed bag. The first day was with good winds in the right direction (predictions indicated no wind), the second day was a day from hell with gale force winds and the worse seas we're ever experienced (prediction: no wind), the morning of the third day was light winds from a southerly direction (prediction: almost right), but the afternoon dropped to nothing so we had to motor (prediction: wrong again) and so it went on. Apart from that one morning, the weather reports were 100% wrong! Well, the important thing is that we arrived intact, dropped the anchor, relaxed for a moment or two and then got on with the important issues such as socialising in this amazing setting.

As I mentioned before, when we were here last time, we were unceremoniously ejected by the Fijian navy who promptly destroyed the lighthouse the Tongans had erected. The Tongan navy has just been here to build another stronger one and had to chase the Fijians away so we now sit wondering at what stage they return to attempt to knock it down again.

The situation between Fiji and Tonga is incredibly tense at the moment as a former Fijian army chief, Lt Col Mara, fled to Tonga after being charged with sedition in his own country. He had been part and parcel of the Fijian coup some years ago but has now sought refuge with the Tongan King. He was recently charged with mutiny and accused of trying to overthrow the Bainimarama (Fijian) regime. The fact that he escaped on a Tongan naval vessel and is currently a guest of the Tongan royal family hasn't helped the situation either.

All of this on top of the dispute over Minerva Reef as both are laying claim to this (non-existent) piece of land. Tonga's claim was recognized by the South Pacific Forum almost 40 years ago but others indicate that it lies in Fiji's economic zone so they have full authority to control the activities here. All very exciting.

The Rugby World Cup will start in a few months and is being held in New Zealand this year. As both Fiji and Tonga are great rugby-playing nations, it should be interesting to see how things develop. We'll enjoy the time we can spend here and, hopefully, not be bothered or caught up by such politics.

Off to get all those warmer clothes washed, dried and put away so we can finally drag out all our skimpy stuff to enjoy the warmer conditions. Soooooooo nice not to feel constantly cold!

Leaving Terra Firma

Our current position is: 27 36 22 S

177 34 63 E

This is the 21st Century and being such, one would think that the weatherman could be a little more on track. Not so. We left New Zealand on Saturday afternoon with predictions of light winds for the first couple of days, turning southerly (just what we wanted) then a bit more of a serious blow about five days down the line. Reality was somewhat different.

No sooner had we got out into the open ocean than we got 20 knots of wind from the WSW which was really good for fast sailing in the right direction so no complaints there. Then all hell broke loose and the second day of "light winds" turned into a raging gale. The winds themselves weren't horrendous, 30 to 35 knots from a reasonable direction, it was the seas that got the better of us. We've often used the term "like a washing machine" but, in this case, that is a very mild description of the conditions we experienced the second day. The waves beat us constantly from all sides hour after hour with huge breakers crashing down on top of us. Paul braved all this to deploy our storm sail - the absolute FIRST time we've ever felt the need in all our years of cruising.

It was too soon to have gained our sea legs after such a long break so things aboard were a tad uncomfortable especially for me. Thank goodness for all those nice warming stews I'd precooked and frozen as there was no hope in hell of me standing at the stove preparing anything. Paul managed a few cups of tea/coffee/hot chocolate but even the kettle received its first battle scars when it went flying during one of those operations. We were hit so badly on the starboard side with one particular wave that the entire hanging cupboard door and frame came flying out of the bulkhead and landed on the bed! Fortunately, no damage, just a matter of fixing it all back in place again.

During all this time, it naturally had to make things even more miserable by pelting down with rain so there is not much aboard the good ship Calypso which is dry at the moment.

On the positive side, we've already caught a small tuna and a large dorado (Mahi Mahi) which have certainly helped stock the freezer. Conditions have improved tremendously so nice fresh fish was on the menu this evening.

Our friends aboard Cooee II are waiting for us up in Minerva, now only about 250nm away. They tell us that it's been gorgeous there but that another nasty bit of weather is predicted for Friday - we're hoping to get in about that time. Interestingly enough, when we were in Minerva on our way down from Tonga last year, you may remember that we were forced to leave when the Fijiian navy patrol boats came along claiming that Minerva belonged to them and that we were there illegally. It seems that just after this, they dynamited the lighthouse built by the Tongaans. Cooee tells us that the Tongaan navy have just spent a couple of weeks there rebuilding the lighthouse so they were there for the inaugural switch on. However, just as the Tongaans were about to leave, a Fijiian patrol boat arrived which was promptly chased away by the Tongaans with guns at the ready. A day later, the Tongaan navy boats had to leave so Cooee are there all by themselves hopefully protecting the new lighthouse. Currently, there is such tension between the two nations over other political issues that we may yet experience a little drama on that front but we hope not. We'd simply like to stay in Minerva and enjoy the fishing and diving for a while. More on that when the time comes.