Tonga to New Zealand

Tonga to New Zealand

October 29, 2002

The passage from Tonga to New Zealand takes about eight to nine days. There is, however, one place to stop on the way. That’s Minerva Reef, located about 200 miles southwest of Tongatapu. Minerva is actually two separate sunken islands. North Minerva Reef is where we stopped. But, just 14 miles due southwest, right on the rhumb line to New Zealand, is South Minerva Reef. Minerva provides a respite from the seas. There’s no shelter from wind. But, inside the lagoon its calm assuming the seas are moderate outside. Here you can stop take a rest and watch the weather window you have into New Zealand. The lows coming across the Tasman Sea are notorious and, if you’re lucky, you can time your approach to avoid them. I also spent a few hours on the ham radio using the callsign A35XX/p (our Tongan call as this reef is claimed by Tonga). We spent 24 hours here before resuming our passage.

The wreck at North Minerva Reef

November 1, 2002

During this passage, we crossed from the Western to Eastern hemisphere. Once again, we watched the GPS change designations, this time from a W to an E as we crossed the 180 degrees longitudinal line.

GPS reading as we cross west to east

November 4, 2002

Despite our valiant attempts at avoiding weather, we were reminded we were traveling in an El Nino year. The low pressure systems were moving across New Zealand every 3 to 4 days instead of their usual 5 to 6 days. So, it was virtually impossible to avoid one of the systems. It actually wasn’t so bad. We had been receiving predictions of 40-50 knot winds. But, we never saw more than 30-35 knots. And, it didn’t last too long. What was more discouraging was the fact the wind stayed pretty much on our bow for three days, slowing our ability to make way towards Opua in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. We finally decided to just motorsail close to the wind. Final Straw just hammered into the waves on a beat as shown in the photo below. Note that our speed when this photo was taken was 7.7 knots. Not too bad! At times, we saw Kevin in his forward bunk flying in mid air as we fell off a wave.

Beating to New Zealand

November 5, 2002

We finally arrived in Opua at 1:30 pm just ahead of the next predicted low pressure system. It was very nice to be here. New Zealand, with its’ majestic mountains and green pastures, looked beautiful as we approached. We were very glad to be here. Suzy and Michelle were there to greet us. We had a wonderful dinner ashore and one great night’s sleep!

November 7, 2002

Kevin took this picture of, as he put it, "Here’s Dad finally smelling the roses!"

Clark smelling the New Zealand roses

With the arrival in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, we had successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean. We next planned to visit and tour this magnificent place over the next 18 months.

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