Whirlwind Tour to the Isle of Pines

Just a day after our arrival in Nouméa, our friends McKenzie, Meewon and their son Ronan arrived for a 10 day visit. Our plan was to go south to the Isle of Pines, but we were delayed a couple of days by bad weather. We fueled up and headed out for a wonderful tour of the Southern reefs and l'Ile des Pins. We moved the boat to a new spot almost every day, and we came to learn that the wind here is always on the nose, regardless the direction of your travel. Lots of motoring...

My "big brother" Raymond had shown us all the good spots to explore and anchor. He even drew a circle on a chart and said, Here, you will catch Yellowfin tuna. As soon as we entered the circle, McKenzie and I started bitching about how awful this place is and even in the "fish catching areas" there was no fish... Right as we reached the center of Raymond's prescribed area, one of the lines sang out and a few minutes later, sure enough we had a Yellowfin on board. We landed a second one a couple of days later and speared a couple of Parrotfish to make "fish nuggets" for the kids. They'll eat anything fried (no comment on the Speedo and cubicle-induced pallor).

One of the highlights was the Isle of Pines itself. It's an incredible place with beautiful, very shallow anchorages. There were a couple of times we only had a foot of water under the deepest part of the boat, but I guess a foot is as good as a fathom as long as it's low tide.

We visited "la Piscine", a natural mini-lagoon full of tame fish that eat out of your hand. The kids loved that. It was great fun seeing Ronan get the hang of life aboard and in the water.

On the way back to Nouméa we stopped at the Phare Amedée and since we were the only people on the island, the keepers let us into the lighthouse for our own private tour. 250 steps up and we had an incredible view of the whole lagoon at sunset.

New Caledonia- Arrival and the One that Got Away

After 5 days at sea, 4 of them motoring and one in a near gale, we were psyched to make landfall. The first 3 days were pretty cold and all of us were wearing every bit of clothes we had to keep wrm during night watches.



We got 30+ knots of true wind (up to 40 knots apparent as it was before the beam) for about 30 ours and made some great time. The boat was doing 9's and 10's. The benefit of making good progress was some pretty violent noise on board from the confused seas. Every minute or two there's an explosion, and if you're in your bunk, you get knocked sideways a foot or so. Despite horrified certainty on your part, the boat doesn't break in to pieces and things go on, mile after mile. Check out the video of us going along at 10 knots. Even though it looks like it's only blowing 15-18kts, it was actually blowing 30 or more during this clip. Amazing how the camera flattens the conditions.

On our last day, as I'd promised Austin, we put the fishing lines in the water for our final approach into Nouméa. About an hour away from the pass into the reef, one of the reels sang, and a few seconds later a HUGE marlin did 5 or 6 jumps across our stern, just 30 yards away. After that, the fish sounded and the fight was on. 2 hours of fierce fighting later- 1:55 with young Austin on the rod and me with a :10 turn- we got the fish right behind the boat. It was so big, none of us had any idea what to do to get it on board. Luckily, as we were bringing in the last few feet of 550lb test leader line by hand, it surprised us by swimming gently towards the boat and unhooked itself. We all stood there in awe at the great prodigious beastie. Estimates on board vary, but on the conservative end I'd say 8 feet long and 300 or 400 lbs (at times there were pronouncements like, Dude! It's at LEAST a THOUSAND POUNDS!!!).

The fish provided us with such an adventure that we forgot about the crossing and it really felt like we'd just been out fishing for the day.

Our emotional arrival was marked by the warm welcome we received from dear old friends here, the departure of our dear young Austin, and the arrival of McKenzie and his family (it's with McKenzie that I sailed to New Caledonia in '95 and met Sophie).

It's felt like a real homecoming.

We'll be taking our guests down for a trip to the Isle of Pines for a week, then we have to figure out what we'll be doing in New Caledonia and beyond. For the moment we haven't a clue.

Vive la Caledonie!

Nous sommes maintenant a Port du Sud!! au ponton "visiteur".
Attendons les differentes autorites pour faire les formalites d'entree.

Bises a tous,
sophie

New Caledonia Crossing Update #5

Position: 23º 03.77'S 166º 44.16'E
Steering for Waypoint "Amedee"
Distance to Waypoint: 34.9 miles
Eta: today during the afternoon
Course: 316º M
Speed: 7kts
Wind direction: SE

Land - ho! Nous pouvons maintenant voir les cotes de la Caledonie et
tout l'equipage est excite a l'idee d'arriver. Le vent a continue a
tomber durant la nuit ce qui nous a permis de passer une bonne nuit de
sommeil. Ce matin, meme chose, c'est petole! avec des grains de pluie
un peu partout. Les canes sont a l'eau et peut-etre feterons-nous
notre arrivee avec du poisson ce soir!
Nous arriverons a l'ilot Amedee en fin d'apres-midi ou nous passerons
la nuit. Nous serons a Port du Sud demain matin, apres on attendera
les douanes.
Grosses bises a tous et a tres, tres bientot!
sophie

New Caledonia Crossing Update #4

Position: 25º 25.43'S 168º 18.49'E
Steering for Waypoint "Amedee"
Distance to Waypoint:201 miles
Eta: May 28th
Course: 312º M
Speed: 7.5kts
Wind direction: S

Wind died during the night. As far as I am concerned, I had a great
watch - mine starts at 6:30pm and ends at 10:30pm: wind was still up
to 30knts and Ocealys was Happy! and for the first time since we left
I wasn't freezing cold. Also, the sky was beautiful and full of stars.
Compared to the previous night that was very cold and pitch dark, that
was a treat.
So, we are motor-sailing right now to make sure we arrive tomorrow. We
are all excited to see Noumea and to be in T-shirt again! We'll send
an email when we arrive at Amedee.
See you sson,
sophie

New Caledonia Crossing Update #3

Position: 28º 26.15'S 170º 01.75'E
Steering for Waypoint "Amedee"
Distance to Waypoint:404 miles
Eta: May 28th
Course: 316º M
Speed: 9kts

Winds picked up during the night but was on the nose. This morning, it
is up to 25knts with some gusts up to 36knts and the wind's direction
is at 76 / 86 degre. Two reefs in the main with the jib. we are going
fast.

sophie

New Caledonia Crossing Update #2

Position: 30º 40.02'S 171º 14.69'E
Steering for Waypoint "Amedee"
Distance to Waypoint:551 miles
Eta: May 28th
Course: 316º M
Speed: 7kts

Still no wind!! The engines are running and we are waiting for the 20
kts forecasted. All is well and last night was actually a little bit
"boring".... but I like boring during a passage.

Talk to you tomorrow.