As always Mom, sent to friends as an update.
We are 5 days out of NZ and have had a fantastic run, sailing the rumb line (a straight
line) to Minerva reef. Its been one of those crossings a sailor dreams about, downwind,
fresh breeze, blue skys, getting warmer and warmer every day, and with one of the most
"out of the way" destinations in the world waiting for us at the end.
Re-cap on Minerva reef: two reef atolls, once volcanic mountain tops protruding as
islands hundreds of thousands of years ago, then slowly sinking back under their own
weight into the ocean as their fringe coral reef continues to grow, reaching toward
the sun. Island eventually sinks completely, reef continues to grow and what is left
is a blue lagoon with no land whatsoever, a ring reef awash at low tides, but just
underwater by a couple feet most the time. We sail through a narrow pass in the reef
ring, and drop anchor in a crystal clear sand filled lagoon. It's a anchorage in the
middle of the ocean, with a protective natural breakwater, one mile round, calm
turquoise waters, like a protective shield holding the ocean at bay which, from the
sky, looks like a giant bright blue eye amidst a dark blue oceanic backdrop...... And
then there's lobster, tons of them, virtually unmolested because its so far out of
the way, giant grouper, pristine coral formations, underwater caves, a diver/snorkler's
paradise.
At this time, our ETA is half of the time it took Tina and I to get down to New
Zealand, from Minerva, our weather window being the best of the year so far. I'll
admit that David and I have been working the ole tub pretty hard, constantly trimming
sails and adjusting course, maintaining max speed, but the winds have been fair & its
not been hard work. We have motorsailed for only 6 hours in 5 days. Been eating good,
(made some of your chicken soup/ david made his moms barbecue beans) doing small projects
and reading up on our trip to Fiji & Micronesia. Basically, we have deduced that, if we'd
sailed our planned itinerary 140 years ago, we'd have been cannibal excrement, and your
son's moppy head would be stuck on some pole as a trophy outside some guy with a bone
through his nose's hut. So much for my Polynesian princess, & thank heaven for the
missionaries (of whom the first ones must have tasted like shit to the locals). Much
more on this later (it's going to be gory).
So last night we had the perfect wind angle and wind speed, had every stitch of sail
flying, clear sky and a half moon. We were making 8 knots and the sea was so flat one
could wander about the boat without a handhold. It was one of those moments (few hours)
that makes all the busted knuckles, money, & frozen toed nights in the dusty boat yard,
worth it. I could almost throw in a few years at the office as well. So I made an
offering shot from my last bottle of tequila from Panama, curled up in the cockpit with
the remainder, cranked up the stereo & had a smoke. FREAKING MAGICAL!
Will send another email when we arrive Minerva, love you, miss you, ben.
PS late note:, we just arrived minerva and are anchored safely, love ben.
.....
