The weather for the past couple of weeks has been up and down. We got back from the trip to the Isle of Pines and went to anchor and hunkered down in Noumea harbour on Wednesday June 4th as there were some strong westerlies with rain forecast for two or three days. We could have found a remote anchorage somewhere to ride out the weather but being in the harbour would allow us to restock with some perishable items for the final week. When the weather turns it’s a bit depressing being on the boat but we make the best of it and try and get some jobs done.
I removed the autopilot and stripped it down to
try and see if I could ascertain the problem.
I got as far as the clutch before a lack of tooling stopped me removing
any other parts. Whilst I could not
locate the issue I now am confident it is in the clutch. Have been chasing a completely new autopilot but was told
that is 8 to 12 weeks away! Am sending
this unit back to Australia with Nik to be looked at by the specialists at
South Fremantle Marine Services.
We got into Noumea town on a couple of
occasions and restocked with food and drink.
Its always great being on the French islands as they have all the food
stuffs you can find in mainland France – the cheeses, meats, bread, wine
etc. I feel that over the last month I
have put taken on a fair bit of extra ballast.
Nik’s return to Australia was booked for 17th June and I was planning on leaving New Caledonia shortly thereafter and heading to Vanuatu. For the last week we decided to visit three or four of the islands near Noumea. The weather was very calm and overcast most of the time which allowed us free reign of the island anchorages. We visited Laregnere, Signal, Maitre islands and also Dunbea pass on the outer reef and spent some memorable days and nights enjoying the solitude for the most part and the scenery. All the locations proved to be really worthwhile. The islands are all wildlife sanctuary’s and have set moorings for use of visiting Yachts. There are no facilities on the islands but you can go ashore and have a wander around.
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| Ilot Laregnere |
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| Sea Krait |
The real attraction is the snorkelling which was fantastic – beautiful extensive coral gardens and all manner of sea life - fish everywhere, sharks, rays, sea snakes, lots of turtles etc. The most disconcerting were the white tip reef sharks which freaked Nik out until she realized they were not really out for a bite. The Dunbea pass site was the most amazing as it was on the protected side of the outer reef. The water was crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise. We dropped the anchor in about 8m of water and could see it clear as day from deck. Dunbea Pass is a popular surf spot and we could see surfers riding curling waves at the pass while we sat motionless on the inside of the reef. The reef is extensive and once anchored we took the tender to view the coral formations. Certainly this is one of the highlights of the trip.
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| Sea Otter off Ilot Signal |
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| Nik on Ilot Signal Beach |
We completed the islands tour on Friday 13th and motored into our berth in the Port Moselle Marina for the last time and carried out the preparations for Nik leaving and the boat departure. We managed to get out to a lovely restaurant called Marmite Et Tire Bouchon (pot and the corkscrew) on the eve of Nik leaving for a splendid meal. Then the next day (17th June) Nik was gone and I was back to just myself on the boat – but not for long.
I am planning on departing New Caledonia on
Saturday for Vanuatu. It’s a sail of approx.
200NM so should take only 1.5 days. I
have managed to attract another crew member to help me with the sail both
across to Vanuatu and further on to Darwin.
His name is Peter, he is from Bulgaria and he joins me on 18th
June.
So that’s it for New Caledonia. It has been a great experience. Given the natural beauty of the island its surprising
that there are not more tourists around but the tourist infrastructure seems to
be lacking possibly something to do with the political situation regarding the
independence push. Most of the visitors
we met were either French or Australian and given how close Noumea is to the
East Coast if Australia am surprised there are not more Australian
visitors. It is a bit pricey compared to
Asian destinations but the scenery both above and below the water really is
stunning and certainly worth a visit. We
enjoyed our time here and really appreciated the friendliness of the people and
the whole French vibe.
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| Sunset over Ilot Signal |
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