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Firefly - Passage to Ha'apai



Firefly was anchored in North Minerva Reef for 48 hours having arrived on Friday 8th May. Entering the reef through the narrow pass was quite easy. We had been told that the Navionics charting was exactly right, it was, the channel was clearly visible and the water flowing out but without any significant chop. The highest part of the reef is on the east side so during the first night there, while there was a strong easterly breeze, the anchorage was relatively calm.



Having recovered from the 6 day passage from New Zealand we then spent Saturday morning enjoying a snorkeling trip to the south west of the lagoon in company with another 6 dinghies from other yachts taking part in the Pacific Circuit Rally. It was great to get back into tropical waters once again and while the coral was limited, the water was exceptionally clear and there were many varieties of reef fish, a spotted Moray Eel and 3 white tip reef sharks all of whom were about 4 feet long - always a little unerving. Probably because there is no land there, the bird life at Minerva was very limited, as it had been on the trip there from NZ - the sighting of an albatross being the highlight on the second day out.



Earlier that morning, during the 0830 VHF communication from the rally leaders, John and Lyn on their yacht Windflower, it was suggested that departure the following afternoon would be a good plan in terms of both weather and the schedule for the pre arranged customs and immigration checking into Tonga. The check is arranged by the ICA in order that the rally boats will arrive as a group and do so at the Haapai Beach Resort on the island of Lifuka as opposed to having visit Pangai port. The afternoon was therefore spent preparing Firefly for the 2nd leg of the passage to Tonga, another 360 miles that we really were not looking forward to.



The weather was beautiful and during chores we kept stopping to take a look around at this spectacular and incredibly remote place. In the late afternoon the rally 'Masquerade Ball' was held in a raft of dinghies tied up to a wreck just off the reef. We did not go onto the reef, nor was there time to play cricket - we drank sundowners while sitting in our dinghies, masks in place, everyone in great spirits - chatting with our new friends as the sun set. The dinghy raft was untied from the wreck and we drifted as a single raft across the lagoon as the light faded - stunning.



During the night the wind backed north and the reef offered less protection so the boats were really bouncing at anchor as a grey day dawned. Several boats left early but it did not look inviting, despite the VHF calls from the early birds to say that outside the reef it was actually on a moderate sea and a great sailing breeze. It took all morning to prepare to leave and this time the passage out was really rough with a section of white water and standing waves for about 100 metres. Firefly was all prepared with hatches shut, mainsail up in case of engine failure, lifejackets on etc etc and we passed through ok.



Leaving Minerva behind we set the sails and although a little grey at first, the next 30 hours provided brilliant, fast beam reaching exactly on track for Tonga. The GRIB based weather forecast had been difficult to analyse and we had expected to be motor sailing for much of the trip. The relatively calm sea state helped make this one of the best passage making sessions we have experienced. The SSB radio chat at 0800 the next morning (on Monday 11th) revealed that the boats 50 miles behind had been overtaken by some heavier cloud and their wind had backed to a run and it was raining hard - it took until 1800 for this to catch up with Firefly and passed through within about an hour. We were then left running goosewinged and the wind faded to the point were the engine came on and it seems like the original prediction for motor sailing for a good proportion of the trip was correct.



Its now 1330 on Tuesday 12th May, we are some 60 miles from our intended destination but its a reef strewn area and not ideal to undertake at night and we are therefore going to stop for the night at an anchorage on Nomuka Island. Stopping before being checked in not strictly allowed but we will only arrive a couple of hours before dark and be gone at first light - we hope to have time for a swim to cool down as its now really warm!



Paul and Susie

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