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Everybody loves an amusement park, right? The rides, the noise. What an experience. Except when you’re on passage. Then, not so much. We have, however, successfully left New Zealand behind! I am writing this from Minerva Reef, in the middle of the South Pacific. It’s not an island. Not an atoll. Not a single scrap of land to stand on. It is, as its name implies, a reef-a ring of coral in the middle of the ocean. You can’t see it, but it blocks the ocean waves. So, it seems like we’re anchored…in the middle of the ocean. Because we are. It feels a little crazy. But speaking of crazy, let’s talk about that passage!

We left Whangarei in New Zealand on Tuesday and completed the trip in 5 days. And we experienced all the things. When we left, the seas were quite confused and there was a LOT of rocking and rolling on board Meraviglia, but there was good wind, so the sailing was pretty good and we made good time, reeling off about 160 nautical miles in the first 24 hours. The second 24 hours was a mixed bag. The wind was good initially but then died off so we had to motorsail for a healthy stretch before the wind returned in the evening. Day 3 was a dud: very little wind and we motorsailed for about 18 hours. Then there was Day 4! It was glorious. The seas were pretty calm, the breezes steady, and we were able to sail the entire time, racking up about 180 nautical miles. But then there was Day 5.

Oh Day 5, you kicked our butts! The wind picked up to 20 knots sustained with gusts to 25 knots. In addition, it also shifted in direction from due east to east-northeast. That meant we were sailing into the wind on a close reach. For those of you who are not sailors, sailing a close reach is waaaaay different that having the wind coming from the side or behind. First, it causes the boat to heel, or tilt over, so we were “living on a heel” as it’s known. Like a fun house! Only not so fun. Second, because, we are sailing into the wind, the “apparent” wind speed is higher. Let’s say the wind is actually 20 knots “true” as we call it. And we are sailing into it at 7 knots. That means the apparent wind is 27 knots. That’s a lot of wind. Plus, though the gusts were reaching 25 knots, I would estimate that the time the wind was 22-25 knots was equal to the time it was 20. It was extremely windy. And guess what happens on the ocean when the wind blows? It makes waves! Big waves! We were seeing 10 foot waves and they were coming from off the starboard bow. It was quite a ride. Like a rollercoaster! Plus it was pushing the bow back and forth as they passed. Like a tilt-a-whirl! And the waves were breaking over the deck and into the cockpit. Like a log flume! See where I’m going here? It was like at the amusement park if you could ride the log flume, rollercoaster, tilt-a-whirl, and fun house all at the same time!! WooHoo!! Plus there was the belly flopping. You know how it feels to do a belly flop in a pool? Well, pretend you weigh 18 tons. Now do a belly flop. Yeah. That. When Meraviglia’s hull came off a wave just right and landed in the water, it made a boom that we could feel in our bones. It wasn’t bad in the cockpit, but down below, it felt like armageddon. Not great for sleeping.

Now, having said all that, I don’t want to make more of it than it was. At no point did we feel overwhelmed or like we were in danger. These are the type of conditions Meraviglia is built for and why we bought her. But it’s not what we’d choose, that’s for sure. And thanks to Kim, the experience was a LOT better than it would have been. Our cockpit is open on the sides and that lets wind and waves and rain come in on the sides. But Kim had a GENIUS idea: we built a screen out of a shower curtain liner, duct tape, and zip ties (thank you Destination Imagination!). I didn’t think it would work and would basically disintigrate in the first 20 minutes. But it actually lasted the entire trip. Yes, it’s worse for the wear, but it met its purpose. Life-changing, no lie.

So now, we’re going to hang at Minerva Reef for a bit. Right now, a low pressure system is passing through, so it’s extremely windy and will be for the next couple of days. After that, we hope to do some exploring here before continuing on to Fiji. And we need to fix stuff. Because heavy weather breaks things. Happily nothing critical, but… water tank blocked with sediment, shower pan leaking, cabin top leaking around the grab rails, furling line needs replacing, windlass is partially jammed, windvane autopilot bent… Plus injuries… I fell, let’s see…twice. Once I sprained most of the ligaments in my left hand (and I’m left-handed, so…). Then I fell backwards against one of our winches. So, bruise. And a loose sheet whacked my forearm against a winch. So, another bruise. I need a couple of days.

Love me a good boat project or 6 though!