
We've arrived safely at Chesterfield Reef (Latitude: 19 57.69S, Longitude: 158 28.42E)
It was a nice passage. Surprisingly, instead of southeast trades, we had light west to southwest winds for almost the whole trip - the winds strengthened and moved south only hours before we arrived. We motored for half the time and sailed the rest. It took us 4 days so that's an average speed of only 4.5 knots. But seas were quiet.
Chesterfield Reef is part of a huge system of reefs that border part of a shallow bank or lagoon which is 70 miles long (north-south) and 40 miles wide (east west). The atoll is also bordered by Bampton Reef to the north. There are a number of small coral and sand islets on the reef, and we are anchored by Loop Islet at the southernmost point, as winds are now southerly. We anchored right here during our last visit in 2008.
Chesterfield is uninhabited but belongs to New Caledonia. The New Caledonia authorities are generally tolerant of boats on passage stopping off here. We've seen no other boats, so far.