It is always instructive to read cruising notes from veteran offshore sailors who know the cruising game well and know the landfall they are writing about from a host of first-hand experiences. Such is the case of Rich and Michelle Marshall’s write up of famous or infamous Minerva Reefs.
The reef lie north of New Zealand and more or less along passage routes to Tonga and Fiji. His put them right on the annual cruising migration routes and because they have wide open passes and secure anchorages, cruising boats frequent them.
The twin atolls are much lower than you will find in the Tuamotus in French Polynesia, and the tops of the reefs are submerged at high tide. This feature allows large swells to break right over the reefs and can create quite rolly conditions. This substantial ingress of water into the lagoons greatly reinforces the out-flowing current in the passes as the high tide ebbs.
Rich and Michelle have visited the Minerva Reefs over the last eight seasons and their insights and observations are up to date. Even if we’re not headed to this amazing landfall, it is easy to enjoy learning what it would be like if we did.
