Beveridge Reef: The middle of nowhere

We left Aitutaki after about a week there and made our way to Niue, which was another 3-day, 480nm passage. Beveridge Reef is unlike any place many people have ever been in the world. There is no place to make landfall here, only a few bits of rock are exposed at low tide, and one or two shipwrecks provide the only sense of scale here.

Like most passages, we arrived with a minimal amount of personal hygiene  being undertaken since leaving the Cooks, and with most arrivals, we were really looking forward to a good swim and wash once we were anchored. Our appearance at the reef also coincided with a double hook-up of tuna at the pass. Knowing we were only 20 minutes away from being anchored, we left them on the aft steps, to be filleted once we had stopped. The smell of fish and the scent of blood in the water however did attract some unwelcomed friends that on top of the fact that numerous people who had been here before commented at how “unfriendly” and “wild” the sharks are. Sure enough after seeing the frenzy that happened during the fish filleting, and just how hungry they appeared, no one was too keen to get in the water for a dip.

A sign of brighter weather to come

Sal with one of the tuna's we hooked up on the way in, moments after this photo, the reel was hooked in to the next catch.

Andy jumped in the water once we anchored to check the sharks hanging around the boat, he soon got out saying that they aren't the usual friendly sharks we have come to know.

Sal getting a peek.

Hannah meanwhile had to resort to the old bucket instead of jumping in the water.

Feeding the pets.

Sunrise

 It was kind of surreal, being anchored in the middle of the Pacific, surrounded by nothing but a 5km diameter reef with no land in sight. There was, however, plenty of evidence of humans nearby, with many shipwrecks, or remnants of, dotted throughout the lagoon and over the reef. Most of the wrecks were that of fishing boats that had most likely come unstuck due to Beveridge’s lack of navigational markings or land, also because its charted position is out by a few miles and the depiction of the reef is so basic that it makes child’s stick figured family portrait look like it could be in line to win the yearly Queens portrait grant.

This guy in the middle of the lagoon, it hits about 20-30 metres deep in the middle, this shark is over 40 metres away showing just how clear the water is.

One of the many wrecks that littered Beveridge Reef

 Being so far from anywhere does have it’s advantages though with our time there being spent purely alone, and with over 70 metres of visibility in the water (so you could see the sharks from a while off!), coupled with postcard weather during our stay made it the perfect stopover before heading to the big smoke of Tonga.

Beveridge Reef 

Next stop: Tonga.