Hey, Meraviglia family! ⛵✨
If you’ve ever wanted to know what it feels like to anchor in the middle of the open Pacific Ocean with absolutely no land in sight—while a massive weather front screams over your deck—pull up a chair. Chapter 190 has been an absolute rollercoaster!
We arrived at North Minerva Reef a week ago after a challenging passage. For those who don’t know, Minerva isn’t an island; it’s a sunken coral atoll that mostly disappears at high tide. You are literally anchoring inside a giant ring of coral in the middle of the ocean!
📍 Smooth Arrivals & Cruising Camaderie
Our entry through the pass went smoothly , thanks to some incredible cruising karma. Before arriving at Minerva, we reached out to a fellow cruiser who shared his GPS tracks and prime anchorage coordinates. It made navigating the coral bommies stress-free! Thank you Rich for the info and the incredible cruising guide you made to Minerva!
We got our anchor set, tidied up the decks, and were thrilled to watch two new ships that we had been communicating with during the passage, (Komaru and Te Whai Rahi) drop anchor right behind us just before the weather turned.
Boat Envy Alert! 🤫 Komaru happens to be a fellow Stevens 47 like Meraviglia, but with some stunning interior upgrades. We got to hitch a dinghy-taxi ride over for drinks and left feeling just a little bit jealous of her beautiful interior!
🌬️ The Night “Rocky” Became Our Hero
Monday and Tuesday turned into a blustery waiting game. We hunkered down inside, securing gear and watching the barometers drop. We went to bed Tuesday night with the wind hovering around a manageable 25 knots.
Then came 11:30 PM.
We awoke to a sound every sailor knows in their bones—the ominous, roaring howl of rapidly increasing wind. Bob jumped up to check the instruments.
- Sustained winds: 40 knots.
- …and then it kept climbing. 📈
The Peak: A screaming 53 KNOTS! This was officially the most wind we have ever experienced at anchor. The boat was bouncing, the rigging was singing, and our nerves were on edge. But thank goodness for “Rocky”—our trusty Rocna anchor! He bit into the seabed and held fast without dragging an inch. After a tense couple of hours, the gale subsided enough for us to finally get some sleep. Whew!
🤿 Wrecks, Wet Suits, and Wayward Lines
When the weather finally gave us a breather on Thursday, we threw on our shortie wet suits and splashed the dinghy. Even though 70°F (21°C) water sounds warm, in the windy Pacific, it feels brisk!
We spent the afternoon exploring two fascinating shipwrecks scattered across the reef. The remnants were teeming with vibrant sea life:
- 🐠 Schools of colorful fish
- 🪸 Brain coral formations
- 🦔 Clusters of spiky sea urchins
By Friday, it was time to fix the storm’s leftovers. The 53-knot blow had untied one of our lazy jack lines, leaving it tangled high up on the mast. Despite a bit of a rolly anchorage, Bob braved the climb, retrieved the wayward line, and spent the rest of the afternoon recaulking our deck grab rails to fix a few pesky leaks from our passage.
🗺️ Next Stop: Fiji bound! 🇫🇯
As we look at the weather charts for Saturday, the Pacific continues to throw us curveballs. There is an even nastier front heading for Minerva next week, which means staying here is a no-go. We have to move!
MINERVA REEF ➔ ➔ ➔ [ 2.5 Day Sporty Passage ] ➔ ➔ ➔ VUDA MARINA, FIJI
The Game-Time Decision: A smaller front is crossing over us on Sunday evening. We hate leaving a reef in the dark, but leaving in daylight means arriving in Fiji in the middle of the night!
The Plan: We will likely utilize our GPS track from our entry to safely navigate back out of the pass in the dark, hoping the standing waves aren’t too wild.
It’s going to be a sporty 2.5-day passage, but we are dreaming of the warm welcomes at Vuda Marina.
Keep your fingers crossed for us, track our progress, and we’ll see you in Fiji! 🌴🇫🇯
Love,
The Crew of Meraviglia 👋
Good luck, fair winds and behaved seas on your way to Fiji!
What an incredible time!
Here’s to sailing to Fiji on calm waters.