Passage to Beveridge, day 2

Date: July 2, 2014
16° 58' S 153° 48' W
Previous 24 hour run: 104nm
Water Temp: 82.4
Log: 14403
Distance to go: 815nm

I left Bora Bora yesterday, July 1st, in the afternoon. My visa had expired on June 30th and I had to move along. Goodbye French Polynesia! There are informal rules about being able to stay a little longer if the weather looks bad, the boat is not in order, etc, but for me none of that applied. The weather looked like it was going to be on the light side, but sailable, and Luckness is in fine shape.

The seas out here are comfortable and the winds are light - something like 7-12 knots from the E to ESE and I'm making slow progress. The winds are forecast to improve soon, then fade away again, and then pick up. I'm now sailing in an area where the normal trade winds no longer dominate. There is actual weather down here - with low pressure systems crossing a few hundred miles to the south, west to east, on a regular basis. As the lows pass by, the weather where I am is affected and the trades go away.

I'm heading to Beveridge reef, which is something like 140nm SE of Niue. I believe Niue is the worlds smallest country - a smallish outcropping of coral that sounds absolutely charming. Niue is associated with New Zealand and there appears to be many hiking trails on the island, along with decent beer and other things you would expect from NZ. Beveridge reef is a reef out in the middle of nowhere without any land. At high tide the reef is completely submerged and at low tide the reef is exposed slightly. I understand its an atoll in the very early stages of being formed. It is reputed to have water clarity which is outstanding, along with great snorkeling. As I approach, if the weather is unfavorable I will skip Beveridge and head straight to Niue.

All is well onboard.

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