Sat. Nov. 5th: Analysis Paralysis

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24 28.90 S
179 30.86 W

Wind: hardly anything
Seas: not much
crew: Bret hanging from the ceiling, Colby, Peter & Cyrus on deck, Mac sleeping, Brooke writing.

Comments:

We woke. Our electric blue calm lagoon had transformed and turned an ash Grey ominous lake, mimicking the dark clouds hovering slowly over us. In the distance, the sky is ink. The cruiser boats huddle together in anticipation of their journey. The sail from Tonga to New Zealand is one that seems to cause people anxiety. Indeed, it should be carefully planned with the weather and due to the proximity to the more Southern Oceans, the weather can churn up quickly. There have been some famous storms that have snuck up and surprised a few boats, trying to eat them. Some were eaten.

Minerva Reef is sort of a waiting room for this crossing. One of our cruiser friends coined it "Analysis Paralysis Reef". We noticed this phenomenon with many cruisers, who gather together like barn yard chickens, swapping the news, analyzing the weather, the reports, charts and maps and wind diagrams all are splayed out on various tables, beaches or boats, as they gather together to decide when to jump.. when to 'go for it' then they hesitate, hesitate, analyze and hesitate. Just recently as we arrived at Big Mama's, there was quite a bit of a blow. 2 boats had decided to just 'go for it'. One was knocked down and the other had damage... cluck cluck cluck! The chickens were quite upset by this. Like watching one of their own get plucked up to head to a soup pot, they were all concerned and gather daily on various cruiser nets, giving their lat and longitudes, giving suggestions and swapping weather. This morning, we left the waiting room, driving into a very dark horizon. The chickens were unsettled and began to cluck as they saw us head out.

We were the largest in the lagoon, thus they think we have up to date accurate weather (which we do), and they probably assume we are working with a professional weather router (which we are for this leg).. so when we pulled anchor and left them snuggled up against the Northern tip of the lagoon... immediately the radio crackled to life with sudden panic about doing weather checks.. "what have you heard? Do you have current reports???" etc. Everyone is second guessing themselves, and as far as we are concerned, they should be. They are all waiting for that perfect down wind sail, but in this situation,,, they were about to be hit by a dark storm packing 35 knot winds which was from the South... We watched at a distance as the boats all swung to wards the reef. One boat was on the radio.. they were dragging, others decided they should check their anchors... and this will happen for some time while this low moves over and now that glassy lagoon of yesterday is now a Grey windswept pitching pond, as they are anchored at the far end of it. There are many other reasons why we didn't feel they should wait and when asked our opinion we gave it. But they wait... Analysis Paralysis. Our departure only worsened the ailment. They are frozen... waiting for a large voice to boom down to them... GO! GO NOW!!! I hope they hear it at the right time.

We got a fabulous rinse in the rain and wind, then found ourselves in sunshine and calm .. the winds should pick up later tonight.. at which point, we hope to sail most of the way to NZ,, if not all the way. Time will tell. Big entertainment for the day? What we like to call, "Olympic boat standing". Two people stand side by side with feet directly pressed together. Yep.. that is it. First one to stumble or fall loses. It is a fabulous new sport creating hours of entertainment for our crew. And amazingly entertaining to watch the flailing arms, splayed knees and facial expressions. Yes, that is what is new here.

All are well on board~

Brooke

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