June 2019
Kelefesia Island
We left Tongatapu and sailed to Kelefesia, about 50NM north. On the way, we caught a mahimahi. Something for the freezer! Bull mahimahi We found a sandy patch and anchored with plenty of swing room. [...]
Tongatapu Tour
We took a couple days to get checked in with the Tongan officials, rest and reprovision. The weekend was coming up and Saturday was looking like it was going to be a nice day. Our [...]
Passage Moments
Not everyday, but as we approached Latitude 25, and again between Minerva and Tonga, we had some squally conditions. It took our full concentration, watching the skies and radar to try to anticipate their path [...]
South Minerva Reef
We arrived at the South Minerva Reef on May 6th. North and South Minerva are atolls about 18 miles apart, set roughly 800 miles from New Zealand, 250NM from Tongatapu and 350NM from Suva, Fiji [...]
Birds on Passage
As we leave New Zealand we see numerous seabirds like gannets and petrels but as we get further from land, encounters are less frequent. A few hundred miles north, we sometimes see Albatross. This pair [...]
May 2019
Social Side of Bay of Islands
Opua, Bay of Islands Lots of cruisers were now assembled in Opua looking for a window for sailing north to the tropics or west to Australia. A few informal meetings were scheduled to discuss cruising [...]