October 6, 2007 - Enroute to Beveridge Reef, Day 6

The end is in sight. Thank god. We've been rolling viciously in the swell. Sten's valiant attempt to make pancakes and coffee wound up all over the galley floor this morning. Somehow the pancake batter launched itself three feet across the galley onto the face of the microwave. Poor Sten. He handled it much better than I would have. Then this afternoon we had another accidental jibe. This time rather than stretching, the preventer line simply snapped.

We are only 60 miles from Beveridge Reef. We don't dare approach it at night, so we will heave to about 20 miles away and wait for sunrise to make our final approach. Why so cautious? Beveridge is considered a "dangerous reef." It is almost entirely awash. The only visual clues that you are getting close are the wreck of a fishing boat and the swell breaking against the reef. Our chartplotter shows the reef three miles from the GPS coordinates on a hand drawn chart that we have. So we will be waiting for good light to approach it.