GPS: 19 51.606S 158 18.684E
Run: 143.1nm (259km)
Avg: 5.6knts
24hr: 133.9nm
Another clear beautiful morning. With the winds dropping away we had to motor most of the night. But at daybreak we tried sailing again. We put up the genica but were not able to reach the same speeds as yesterday with such low winds. By lunch time we gave up and went back to motoring.
We reached Chesterfield Reef by 3.30pm. With Wolfgang at the helm and Andrew & Cindy up the mast we navigated across this amazingly large reef. It took us over an hour from the eastern passage to the western side where we are anchored. Most of this reef is under water 1 or 2 meters with only 4 or 5 sand spits on 1 side of the rim and one large enough for palm trees to grow. This makes it a hard place to see if you don’t have charts.
In the middle of the Pacific a giant reef and 5 other yachts arrived only a few hours before us. They are all anchored on the southern end. We opted to anchor away from them on the north western side.
Tonight Sue made Kiwi burgers for dinner. Meat paddy, egg, beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese. Cindy said it was the most amazing dinner she’s had in her 3wks on board!!
