Day 385, Year 1: Passage to N Minerva Reef, Day 1—Crappy Beginning, Great Ending
Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Weather: Sunny Morning, Partly Cloudy Afternoon, Winds Just N of E 18 Knots
Latitude: 175 degrees 32 minutes S
Longitude: 21 degrees 03 minutes W
Location: Passage from Tonga to N Minerva Reef
Miles to Go: 235 to Minerva Reef

We did it! We left Tonga today, but not as early as planned. That was due to the crappy beginning of our day (pun intended). When I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I was not able to flush the head. I woke Mark up to warn him. He got up early and started to work. He found that the “exit” hose was indeed blocked. Calcium deposits had built up gradually and finally blocked the flow. It took him more than two hours, but he was successful. The clean-up process was one of those experiences one could live without, but once it was done we were on our way by 1030. Mark definitely gets the “Captain of the Day” award. If you are not a handyman, I have no idea how you could be a cruiser because there is always something to fix.

Gdansk did not leave with us, but Windcastle is traveling close by. There are two other boats that have been in sight most of the day. One is Nereid, a boat out of Anchorage, Alaska, and the other, we think, is Pleite from Germany. They were next to us when we were Med-moored in the inner harbor in Nuku’alofa and the boat we see through the binoculars looks like Pleite.. The boat from Alaska is captained by the father of another boat captained by his son. This is the first time we have run into a father and son duo. The son and his wife left for Minerva yesterday, so they will be there when we arrive. Right now, Windcastle is still in sight to our starboard. Mark just finished checking us into the Pacific Seafarer’s Net and we heard Paddy of Zafarse check in. Evidently he left Pangaimotu this morning a little ahead of us and right now he is twelve miles in front of us. His girlfriend from Australia just flew into Nuku’alofa last night, so he surely didn’t waste anytime heading south. I’ll look forward to meeting his girlfriend in Minerva. There are also a number of boats that left yesterday, so there is no shortage of company out here. North Minerva Reef has a big anchorage area, and I think it is going to be crowded.

I left Tonga wearing a bathing suit. I refuse to let go of the tropics until I am forced into long underwear! It is only 74 degrees F out here, but with the sun shining brightly it is comfortably warm in the cockpit. Of course, we do have some of our plastic side curtains down to keep out the wind, and as night approaches, I’ll bet we put up even more side curtains. It is really nice to be able to easily raise and lower these plastic curtains. I don’t think I would enjoy cruising half so much without them. Many do not have this luxury, but I surely appreciate the fact that we do.

The best news of the day is that the new auto pilot seems to be working great. Never again will I take the auto pilot for granted. From now on, we will give thanks and praises for each and every hour that it is working. Mark also loosened our steering considerably and that seems to be working as well. We have to sail about 1,000 miles from here to New Zealand, so let’s just hope everything keeps working until then.

061107 Day 385 Tonga, Pangaimotu Island–Leaving for NZ