Last night started out a little rocky-rolly, but the winds and seas calmed as the night progressed. We were up early. We got the sail cover unzipped, the dinghy lashed to the deck and we were off the anchor by about 6:30. We had a lot of boats join us in the bay from a sailing rally in Lifou yesterday (there were a dozen), but no one was stirring when we left.
We motored out to the head of the bay and put the sails up. We had 4-5 ft waves and I wasn’t feeling so good so I took a Dramamine. Dramamine always puts me to sleep — you know what they say about a foolish consistency — well it did. I woke up as we entered a little squall. We reefed the sails (reduced our sail size) because the wind was picking up and getting a little squirrelly. Once we were made it through the squall the skies cleared and the moderate winds returned. We shook the reefs (un-reefed the sails) and continued uneventfully to Port Boise on Grand Terre. Grand Terre is the main island in New Caledonia.
It was chilly, probably around 72F, but there was a strong wind of 12-14 knots so we both donned our jackets.
We pulled into the bay of Port Boise and anchored.
We relaxed until dinner. Rick started to cook steak and some vegetables. Midway through the stove ran out of propane. Unfortunately the gas is stored under the swim platform. We didn’t want to lower it in the dark because if it came off again it would be hard to get back on,so we tried the grill. It was out of gas too! We put the steak back in the refrigerator for another night and had cold cuts for dinner.
Here’s a map our route today.
