our little anchorage at Ile Ouen. The wind started turning further and
further north, which made the anchorage more and more exposed. We
didn't want to go to Iles de Pins with such poor visibility. There are
dozens of reefs on the way, so good light is essential. We thought
we'd spend another day there, so the kids started school. Soon though
things got worse, so we decided to make the 16 mile trip to Bay de
Prony. It's a huge, deep bay with lots of little inlets that provide
good shelter in any weather.
Sophie wanted to get some practice handling the boat, so she was in
charge of navigating, driving the boat and making all the decisions.
We motored into more than 30 knots of apparent wind, but it wasn't bad
at all since we were in the lee of the big island so there was no
swell of chop. By about noon we dropped anchor at the end of Bonne
Anse, the first inlet in Prony.
Sophie made lunch for the kids. I was feeling crummy (which apparently
also affected my cognitive abilities) so I decided that having a bowl
of oatmeal with a dozen prunes in it was somehow a good idea. You can
imagine how I spent my afternoon.
That evening a couple more boats came into our small bay. The boat
that anchored next to us got the usual angry stares (from inside the
boat so they can't see). I don't know what it is. There's a strange
sort of territoriality that establishes itself at anchor. You don't
want anyone near you because if someone drags anchor you could
collide. On the other hand, the other guy has to anchor somewhere. I
always hate being the latecomer to an anchorage and having to be the
one anchoring "close" to the next boat. In fact, I'll often choose to
anchor elsewhere rather than squeeze in with the pack.
The wind did a complete 360º overnight and this morning the rain
stopped and we can see patches of sky. We're going to go for it and
head for Baie de Gadji at Ile des Pins (which the snobby cruisers
insist on calling The Isle of Pines in English since it was named by
Captain Cook). There's a good trolling spot on the way, so hopefully
we'll get a tuna or wahoo. It's a 7 hour trip, so we're in a bit of a
rush to get going as it's already 7:15 and we need to get there before
the sun is too low.
For our friends who are following our footsteps in the next couple of
days, we are anchored at: 22º 22.57' S; 166º 55.11'E
We are headed to: 22º 31.903'S; 166º 25.277'E
That is all.
-maurice
