We had 3 surreal nights at Minerva reef. There is north and south Minerva reef, we went into the North one. The reefs are conveniently located on the way to Tonga from New Zealand, 485 kilometres (301 mi) southwest of the Tongatapu Group.
The Minerva Reefs are a group of submerged atolls located in the Pacific Ocean between Fiji, Niue and Tonga. The islands ownership are contested between Fiji and Tonga. Currently it is under Fiji.
The North reef is circular in shape with a small entrance into the flat lagoon with a deep harbour. It is about 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi) in diameter. The South reef is approx. 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi).
Remnants of shipwrecks and platforms remain on the atolls, plus some functioning navigation beacons. Geologically, the Minerva Reefs are a limestone base formed from uplifted coral formations elevated by now-dormant volcanic activity.
We arrived the day before the forecast strong winds. We sat out strong winds gusting over 40 knots with about 30 other boats. At high water you cannot see the reef, but it breaks up the swell and waves from the Pacific Ocean. Its been an amazing experience being anchored in the middle of the Ocean over 300 miles from the nearest bit of land. 40 knots is a lot of breeze, but thankfully we have a very effective ‘Rocna’ anchor and loads of heavy chain to keep us safe. Despite waking several times during the night as the wind howled, our Vesper Anchor watch app on the phone beside the bed showed us stationary just bobbing up and down in the chop. Very reassuring.
and explored the reef at low tide. Many others caught crayfish.
Perigee Sailboat hosted a sundowners evening for all the boats anchored in Minerva Reef. Can you believe we first met up when we were the rafted up at the start of the Suzie Two rally 6 years ago.