Cruisers in the tropics of the South Pacific have to make a critical decision as cyclone season approaches in November: find an anchorage that qualifies as a hurricane hole for the season? Head south to New Zealand? Follow the sunset west to Australia?
Read MoreIn the northern anchorage, we spent an hour swimming around a large bommy 100 meters from the boat. The water was diamond clear and the bommy was swollen with coral and humming with fish of all sizes. Crimson and evergreen sea fans waved in the current.
Read MoreWe had an inkling a hundred miles out of Chesterfield Reef that we would be in for a lot of birds—three red footed boobies roosted overnight on our bow, one slept on our spreaders turning our dodger, deck, and mainsail into a modernist masterpiece of black and white smears.
Read MoreAfter four and a half days underway, we arrived at Chesterfield Reef. Chesterfield, a string of motus hovering just over half way between Vanuatu and Australia, is a marine reserve controlled by New Caledonia.
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