[p]pjr4728
[s]
pos: 19 15.700s 161 02.0w
sp: 5.5
h: 243t
w: 6kn 150T, cloud 8/8 (85%), SS waves0.5m, well 0.5-0.75m ESE&SSW
d: 21/10/20 12.00 GMT+1300
Well, 5 days down and we are coming to the end of the 'Entree'! It's been pretty relaxed in mainly very balmy weather,-except for some decent wind on Day 2. Progress has been a bit slower than anticipated, mainly due to having counter-current for a fair bit of the way (we have sailed/motorsailed 75nm further than the 609nm so far covered over ground).
Last night we passed about 3nm N of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Sadly this was at around 10:30pm, so sightseeing was necessarily limited. Mind you, the Cooks are currently closed to visitors, so we couldn't have stopped anyway.
Tonight we will turn west and run along the 20S latitude towards an atol called Beveridge Reef, which we should pass in about 3 days from now. This is a potential stopping place, although being full submerged,it doesn't offer great protection in 25kn - which is what we are likely to have there if we stop. No need really, so at this stage we are planning to just box on.
The wind should pick up this afternoon, so the next 3 days should be a wee taster for the 'Main Course', the 650nm between Beveridge and Minerva Reefs. The current forecast is for more 'robust' winds along this section, although not dramatically bad. Still, we'll certainly be keeping a close eye out for the lows than can spin up fairly quickly between Fifi and Tonga and travel SW across this path.
A stop in the uninhabited Minerva Reefs, about 6 days out from NZ, also looks unlikely at this stage. Whilst its been a traditional intermediate stopping place for yachts passing between Tonga and NZ, if we stop there, we've been told the quarantine clock will restart on arrival at NZ and instead of counting all our (19-20 days total) 'sea-time' from Huahine towards the required 14 days (and thus being free on arrival - or at least after a negative Covid test), we'd be transported to a managed facility in Auckland for 8 days or so, to serve the rest of our sentence.
That's the downside, although of course we'll still consider if necessary. Hopefully though, if the current forecast holds(!), by the time we arrive around Minerva the winds should be abating and we can jump on the back of what we hope will still be a passing High for the last leg of 9 days SW to NZ - so we'd have no need to stop and wait for good sailing weather anyway! We're really hoping this stage will be more of a sweet Desert.
Not that one becomes food-focussed on passage or anything, but the skipper is already dreaming of a nice Creme Brulee.
PS Congratulations to our friends Carl, Lloyd and Dantelle aboard 'Catching Up', who have just completed their epic (over 3,500nm) passage from Tahiti to Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia!!!!
[END]