Minerva Reef pit stop

Lying 275 nautical miles southwest of Tonga, a reef with a colorful history peeks above the surface of the ocean and provides a much-needed rest stop on the route to New Zealand.

Far-flung Minerva Reef doesn't have any land to speak of (only the top of the reef is exposed, and waves crash over at high tide), yet the Fijian and Tongan governments fought over this ring of coral for years. Tonga has always laid claim to the reef, but a few years ago, Fiji decided to fight this. War ships were stationed here. The navigation light was blown up, rebuilt and blown up again. But finally, after appealing to the international community, Tonga was able to reestablish its legal rights to the reef. Talking to Tongans about Minerva Reef makes them puff with national pride (and irritation at Fiji).

As I'm sure you guessed, we're anchored in the small coral cove formed by Minerva Reef right now. After a wet, loud, boisterous two-day passage from Nuku'alofa where we had to be in full foul-weather gear to fend off the green water streaming over the deck and splashing through the cockpit, we're loving the calm turquoise water of the lagoon. High tide brings a gentle rocking as waves break over the reef, but it's comfortable. Besides needing a quick pit stop, it feels pretty cool to be here in this super-remote anchorage in the middle of the ocean.

The weather in the stretch of ocean between Tonga and New Zealand is complicated, and if you're not careful, it can be dangerous. We'd planned to be on our way this morning, but from the latest weather forecast, it looks like we might be "stuck" here for a few more days. I'm itchy to get this passage over with -- we still have at least 800 miles to go -- and although it's the right thing to do, waiting for weather is a little frustrating. Plus NZ has extremely strict regulations on what foodstuffs you can bring into the country, so we're running on fumes in the food department. We have lots of canned corn, dried black beans and pasta, but I'm not sure how creative I can get. The good news? Nyon and Dream Time will be here in a few hours! That should make the time fly. And maybe I can bum a carrot off of them.

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