Author: Kathryn & Rick World Travelers

Oh boy, what a day! But first let me tell you about our night. The seas were calm when we returned to our boat from our sundowners at Avant. It was around 7pm. By 10pm everything was rocking and rolling. The wind had increase to 18 knots out of the west, directly into the bay. The waves built quickly to an estimated 3 ft. Complicating things was the fact the full moon tide was going out, amplifying the wave action and our discomfort. We were both up making adjustments to various aspects of the boat. Eventually we were able to get some sleep and even slept in until 6:30 (Rick’s normal wake up time on the boat is 5am).

We started the day with the plan of going into “town” to buy some more internet access. We had a leisurely morning. We had raised the swim platform last night because it was slapping the water and making a lot of noise. When Rick lowered it one of the lines snapped and the platform hanging from a remaining line, floating, completely off the boat, in the water. The wave action was causing it to bang against the boat. It was chaotic and stressful. For those of you not familiar with a swim platform it is the back of the boat and a significant piece of boat real estate.

We were able to get a line to secure the platform, but the bottom was not aligned or engaged with the supports on the boat itself. We used another line to pull the middle of it towards the boat and eventually got it aligned. Then Rick replaced the line that snapped. It took some more figuring before we got the new line on properly. The next problem was the brackets for the hinges were broken. We tried to fix them with zipties but that didn’t work, so we tried rope. That seemed to work.

By this time we were feeling satisfied that we might be able to continue on this journey without more lost time due to mechanical problems. We would still need to take care when raising and lowering the swim platform.

By now it was lunch time so we had a little to eat. Next we needed to resolve our internet problem, so we took the dinghy into shore. We normally get into the dinghy from the swim platform. But given all the problems and our uncertainty about the sustainability of the fix we didn’t want to leave the swim platform down while we weren’t on the boat. This meant getting into the dinghy from the side of the boat —  a big step down — but we were able to do it. Off to the beach! We went to the store that we thought Bill and Susan told us sold more cards for internet access, but it was closed on Mondays. Our hearts sunk because we thought we might have to stay here another day to get the internet cards. We went into the hotel and talked to our favorite concierge (she was the one that helped us with the scooter) and she told us that the store down the road sold the cards. So we walked down the road and got more cards. Then we decided we would go to the bakery and get some bread. Many places close for lunch. It was 2:30 and the bakery didn’t reopen from their lunch break until 3:30. We decided to wait. At 3:30 when it reopened we learned that the oven was broken and there was no bread. So we walked back to the dinghy and returned to the boat.

We had to step up onto the boat from the dinghy on the side. Big step up!

We want to leave first thing in the morning so we got the dinghy motor off the dinghy and onto the boat. The boat was still rolling like it was the night before so it was difficult to move the motor, but eventually we got it situated. By now we were too tired and mentally exhausted to get the dinghy onto the deck. Also it was still pretty windy, so once the dinghy is hauled out of the water it becomes a rubber kite with a hard bottom. As Scarlett O‘Hara said, “We’ll deal with that tomorrow.” We had a light diner and hit the sack early thinking it might be another rock and roll night!

It rained last night and the day started very overcast with periods of rain. We still had the dinghy motor to contend with. Not the best start to the day. After fiddling on the dinghy motor for a while we add more gas to the motor and tried it again. Lo and behold it worked. Best we can guess the gas had water in it. Whatever, it’s working again. On top of that, it was still overcast but no longer raining.

We kept the dinghy motor running while we quickly got ready to go ashore. The motor got us to shore with no further problems. We tied the dinghy to a tree and walked to the scooter rental location. Once we had our scooter we headed to the natural pool in Baie de Oro. We parked the dinghy at the Meriden.  Here are pictures of the Meriden’s very pretty entrance.

We walked about 20 minutes to the natural pool. The natural pool floods at high tide and then becomes isolated as the tide goes out. Any fish that come in with the high tide are trapped until the next high tide. It was about mid tide when we arrived. It was really lovely. Lots of white sand, turquoise water, green pine trees, and even a little sun.

There were about 10 people there, a couple of them were snorkeling. We had brought our snorkel gear but it wasn’t very warm so we opted not to snorkel. We walked in the pool and fish swam around our feet.

After enjoying the pool for a while we hopped back on our scooter and drove to Baie de Gadji which is the other major bay on Ile des Pins. On the way to Gadji we stopped at the grocery store for some eggs.

Like Oro, Gadji is very shallow. Now we understand why we couldn’t anchor in either of these bays. Had we anchored in navigable water we wouldn’t have been able to make it ashore in the dinghy.

I tried to walk out to the water but the sand was like quick sand. Here is a picture of my footprints.

A man and his son were selling coconuts so we enjoyed fresh coconut water and coconut meat while admiring the bay. Here are some pictures.

Throughout the morning we had overcast skies with periods of sun. The forecast said thunderstorms were expected in the afternoon so we figured we should just get back to the boat. We drove back to Kuto, dumped our snorkel gear and new provisions in the dinghy and then drove back to the rental “office” (it was really someone’s porch) to return the scooter. On our way back we stopped at a hotel to check out their restaurant for lunch. This is the first meal we have eaten out in New Caledonia. It was very good and the view was amazing. Here are pictures.

We returned to the boat. Fortunately, no problems with the dinghy motor. We felt like even though the day didn’t start off so well we recovered and had a nice day exploring a beautiful island.

Once back at the boat, I tried to log onto the internet to buy more data for our sim card. Unfortunately, the website would not accept our credit cards. While we were struggling with this our boat neighbors came over to introduce themselves and to invite us to their boat for sundowners. At 5:00 we headed over to Avante to have drinks with Bill and Susan. We had a really nice time. They are from Telluride and Scottsdale and have a lot of experience sailing around here, so we picked their brains about their experiences sailing to the Loyalty Islands, etc. We really enjoyed ourselves and hope our paths cross again soon. They will be in New Zealand while we’re there, so maybe . . . .

We came back to the boat and relaxed before another early night.

Originally we were going to leave Ile des Pins tomorrow but we need to deal with this issue of internet access so we are staying put for another day. It’s important because that how we get our weather updates so we don’t want to be sailing blind!

We had some rolling last night associated with high full moon tides, but we slept OK.

We were up early because today is scooter day! Before we left the boat we emptied the two 20L jerry jugs of diesel into the tank. It was trickier than it sounds because we wanted to make sure we didn’t spill it. We certainly don’t want it in this pristine water, but also it makes quite an ugly mess if you spill it on the boat. We were successful and didn’t spill a drop. We are back up to full according to the fuel gauge. Next trick will be figuring out how to fill the jerry jugs and get them back to the boat, but before we do that we need to go pick up our scooter.

We dinghied to shore and tied the dinghy to another tree. Then we walked about 2 miles to the campground where they rent scooters. Here are a couple of pictures from our walk.

And here are pictures of our scooter.

We were a little early but a few minutes after our arrival a lady came out and to complete the paperwork. Then we were off. I am always nervous then we start scootering and I’m continuously asking Rick to go slower, but eventually I get comfortable and relax. We wanted to go to the Saturday open air market in a small town, Vao, about 4 miles to pick up some vegetables. We easily found the market but we either arrived too late or they just don’t have much produce this time of year. Here are some pictures.

We left the market shortly after we arrived and headed north. We drove along the coast. It was beautiful. Here are some pictures.

We continued north until we reached Baie de Oro, home of the Meriden (very swanky) Hotel. We went into the hotel, Rick had a cup of coffee and we logged on to their wifi. The scenery was magnificent. It was low tide and the bay is very shallow, so you could walk across it with water only up to your knees. Lots of pines were visible on the other shore. I have learned that they are called columnar pines. Here are some pictures of the Meriden and the bay.

We talked to couple from Australia about traveling around the pacific islands. They talked about their sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands, another place that’s definitely on our list of things to do.

We left the Meriden and headed back to our boat in Kuto. Along the way we stopped at two grocery stores to pick up some more provisions. Carrying two six packs of 1.5L bottles of water is tricky on a scooter, but we managed. There were lots of people in Kuto because another cruise ship had arrived this morning.

We had trouble starting the dinghy motor and we thought we had flooded it, so we rowed back to the boat. Once back at the boat we had some lunch and ran the engine to charge the batteries.

An hour later Rick tried to start the dinghy.  No go. He set about to fix it.  He worked on it for quite awhile, called the base for consultation, even got it running for about 5 minutes, but couldn’t fix it.

We had to go back in to take care of the scooter. The wind was coming from the land so rowing in was going to be near impossible, so we the skipper of a nearby boat.  He arrived in his dinghy and was happy to tow us in to shore. We took the two empty diesel jerry jugs with us. We drove the scooter to the gas station with me holding the jerry jugs on each hand, making it impossible to hold on to Rick! We filled up our jugs and Rick tied one onto the rack on the back of the scooter. I stayed at the gas station with the other one. He dropped it at the dinghy and then came back for another round. Once the diesel was delivered we went to the camping ground where we rented the scooter to see if we could park it on the beach near our boat and use it again tomorrow.  Denied!  We left it there and walked back to the dinghy. We will have to walk back to the campground tomorrow to pick it up again. We rowed the dinghy back to the boat.

Once back onboard we both took showers.  What a luxury in our water conservation mode!  It felt really good to be clean. Needless to say we are not rowing into town for dinner so it was dinner on board and an early bedtime.  We were beat. Another amazing sunset tonight.

A couple of random things about New Caledonia

1. The weather has been very nice. Day temps are in the mid 70s and night time temps are in the high 60s. It’s a nice temperature because it doesn’t feel too hot when you are ashore and it’s great sleeping weather.
2. There are very few bugs. So far I have gotten one mosquito bite. We have had a couple of flies on the boat, but they’re no big deal.

Rick woke up early as he usually does, sat in the cockpit and watched the turtles and the fish doing their things. There were areas in the water, about 6 ft in diameter, where we could see fish thrashing about to escape and engage each other with gulls hovering and diving in to pick up the spoils. Yesterday there were three large fish, maybe 3 ft long, hanging around the boat awaiting any morsel that escaped our decks.

Whatever they are they were they were clearly out for food.  There was a lot of thrashing and the fish were partially jumping out of the water. Then the area would become calm and the thrashing would start somewhere else.

The water is amazingly clear. We are anchored in about 20 ft of water and we can see the bottom clearly. We saw our anchor dug into the sand. I even saw a ray swimming along the bottom. Multiple turtles live in the bay. They pop their head up every 5 minutes of so, take a couple of breaths and head back down. One of them seems to have a plastic bag stuck on his rear flipper, sad!

At around 7AM we put the motor on the dinghy and headed into town.  A cruise ship was anchoring out beyond the bay, so we decided we should get into town before they started unloading passengers. We had read there was a bakery and we were hoping to get some decent croissants. We beached the dinghy tied up securely. Here are some pictures of the bay and the beach.

We talked to a gentleman walking up the beach who told us where the bakery was and implied that the bakery was not open to the public but supplied bread to the island’s restaurants and grocery stores. We walked towards the bakery just to check it out.

Everyone is very friendly. While walking to the bakery a dozen cars passed us and everyone waved and smiled at us. We never made it all the way to the bakery. After about 1 km we decided to turn around and went to a hotel along the water for breakfast. They had a buffet so we decided to try it. We ate a lot because the breakfast was expensive and we wanted to get our money’s worth. After breakfast we walked into town to the dock where the tenders were dropping off their passengers. Lots of people. Here is a picture of some men in traditional costumes dancing for the cruise ship passengers.

There is a very narrow piece of land in town with a beautiful harbor on the other side. If the wind shifts to the west while we’re here we’ll move other there. Here are pictures of it.

After a little exploration we returned to the boat. We decided we wanted to rent a car tomorrow so we could explore the rest of the island. I called several car rental companies and they were all booked up for the weekend. Next week is school vacation so a lot of people are coming down to Ile des Pins with their families. Our guide did not give us the names of scooter rental companies so we decided to go back into town to work on a scooter rental.   We went to the hotel where we had had breakfast because we read on the internet that they rented scooters. They didn’t but the nice lady at the desk called the scooter rental company and reserved a scooter for tomorrow morning.

One of the things we want to do while on this island is get more diesel fuel. All the other places we have been were completely deserted, no restaurant, no gas stations, no nothing. Our friend at the hotel told us where the gas station was so we walked there to check it out. The station was closed for lunch but we determined that it was too far to carry the full 20 liters (5 Gallons, 40 lbs a piece) canisters of diesel so we need to figure out a plan B.

Along our walk we talked to several people from the cruise ship. They had left Sydney on Sunday and arrived in Noumea on Tuesday and reached the Ile des Pins this morning.

We returned to the boat to relax and write the blog. We considered going back into town for dinner but decided we should eat leftovers instead. We relaxed for the afternoon,reheated leftovers for dinner and enjoyed the sunset.

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Last night Rick had trouble sleeping so he was reading about Ile des Pins in the Rocket Guide, written by a local and available for download. Ile des Pins is about 30 miles southeast of the main island of New Caledonia.  He discovered our the route we had previously planned required us to sail around reefs, doable but not our preference. It turned out that it was best to leave from Anse Magique. We woke up to beautiful sunny morning and decided that rather than do the hike we would take off early to make the Ile des Pins with plenty of daylight. We were off the ball by 6:30, motored through Prony Bay and put up the sails. Conditions were perfect, 9 knots of wind building to 12 knots, out of the northwest. We sailed most of the way (we are working on conserving fuel because there aren’t that many places to get more). As practice for our crossing to the Loyalty Islands, I skippered for most of the way.

As we got close to the island we passed several small islands and you can see why this area is called Ile des Pins. It looks like lots of those cell towers we have at home disguised as pine trees. Here are some pictures from our sail.

After about 7 hours of sailing we pulled into Baie de Kuto which is absolutely beautiful. The water is a magnificent turquoise blue, the sand on the beach is white with palm trees and pines behind. We share this view with six other boats.

At around 2 we finished anchoring and decided to eat lunch. Then we did our usual chores,relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

We just had a lite dinner, having eaten a late lunch. It was a very clear night with lots of stars and the moon is almost full. I finished my book and started a new one before going to bed early.

There were rain showers on and off overnight into the morning and for much of the day. In Anse Magique, there is a hike to the top of a hill which is supposed to have beautiful views. We didn’t do it yesterday because we thought we’d rather go in the morning when it was a little cooler, so we planned it that way.  Unfortunately the weather did’t cooperate. It was overcast and, although visibility was good, the view would have been compromised by the clouds. Additionally the overnight showers would make the trek pretty muddy. Apparently the red dirt that we see everywhere stains and red mud is probably worse.

We relaxed until about 8:30 when we saw Jim leaving. He said he was going to Ile Casy in the middle of Prony Bay. Sounded like a good idea so we decided to follow him.   We packed up (put the dinghy on deck and folded up the swim platform) and headed out. We motored and sailed on the jib. We arrived at Ile Casy which only had six mooring balls, all of which were taken. We went around the corner to another anchorage where Jim was moored and found it completely exposed to the prevailing east wind, so we headed on. Stephan, the base manager, had recommended another anchorage in Prony Bay, Baie de Carenage, so we headed up there. It was like going up a river and when we got there Rick didn’t feel comfortable with the anchorage so we turned around and headed back to Anse Magique.

We had trouble catching the mooring ball but a nice gentleman came out in his dinghy to help us. He helped us get the first line on the ball. Best practice is to have two lines from the ball to the boat, one for either side to avoid overstraining the line and avoid chafing.  Also, if one gave way, the other line should hold the boat on the ball in a pinch. We lowered the dinghy and I took the other line to the ball. While all this was going on another boat came into the bay and picked up the ball on the first try. I would have loved to learn their methodology.  (Rick thinks strength is an important factor.)

After our boat was secure we had a lunch of leftovers from the previous evening. It was still overcast so we decided to wait until tomorrow morning for the hike.

We relaxed in the afternoon, had cold cuts for dinner and it was another early night.  Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of our journey in Prony Bay.

One thing I haven’t written is all the harbors we have been to so far have NOTHING ashore. Specifically, no restaurants. We knew this when provisioning so we’re well stocked with food.

 

 

We had originally planned to go back to shore this morning to explore the abandoned resort on the beach, but decided it would probably just be dilapidated old buildings with not much of anything interesting. So we  stowed the motor on the rail and raised the dinghy on a spare halyard to position it on the foredeck. We pulled up the swim platform (in other boats pulling up the swim platform involved pushing a button. On this boat we have use a line and the winch. Not a huge effort, but not as easy as pushing a button.) We were off the anchor by 7:30. We motored, motor sailed, and sailed up the coast of Ile Ouen, through Woodin Canal into Prony Bay and ultimately to Anse Magique.

Here are pictures of the Woodin Canal.

To this point we have anchored, but here in Anse Magique there are mooring balls to keep anchors free of the delicate coral that line the harbor floor. This harbor has six mooring balls, three of which were occupied. As we were cruising around developing a plan we spotted a boat from Victoria, BC so we went over and asked the people about their approach to grabbing the mooring ball. The captain of the boat, Jim, was nice enough to offer to come aboard to give us some expertise, some additional muscle and an extra set of hands.  The additional set of hands made all the difference and we were on the mooring in no time. We spoke with him briefly while he was onboard, but he had to go back to his boat because he and the family were preparing for a hike to the top of a nearby to view the reefs and surrounding islands.

We shared the taxi from the airport to Noumea with a gentleman from New Caledonia who owned a sailboat and had done a lot of sailing in the area. He said Anse Magique was one of his favorite spots. Now that we’re here we I see why. The water is turquoise blue and calm. The harbor is very lush and green with red gouges where nickel had been mined. The wind is blowing and the birds are singing. Definitely magical.

We relaxed a little and then had some lunch.  This afternoon Rick made chicken masala and rice for dinner.  It hit the spot!

We were up early and off the anchor by 7am. There wasn’t much wind so we motored. The wind built as the morning progressed and eventually we put up the sails.

We were making 4 knots on 8 knots of wind, not bad. At around noon we arrived at Baie de la Tortue (Turtle Bay) on the island of Ile Ouen. There was only one other boat in the anchorage.

Throughout New Caledonia the soil is very red due to the high nickel content. Here are pictures from the anchorage.

We had some lunch and then prepared to go ashore. Similar to Greece we carry our dinghy on the bow rather than tow it and risk losing it. So we use a halyard (a line to the top of the mast typically to hoist a jib) to raise it up over the life lines and then lower it into the water. Then Rick and I tie off the motor to a stanchion, take the motor off the mount fitted to the railing on the back of the boat and move it to the dinghy. Getting the motor started was a bit of an effort, but with enough pulls we got it going. We stopped by the other boat in the bay to say hello. It was a couple from New Zealand who had circumnavigated the world several times. They seemed like interesting, nice people.

On shore we tied the dinghy to a palm tree. You don’t want it to float out to sea if the tide rises.  Ashore there is an abandoned resort that closed about 15 years ago.  The guide suggested there was a nice walk to an old jade mine, but it didn’t give us very detailed directions. We set off and after about 10 minutes ran into a gentleman, Alex, who said he was the gardener for one of the  properties on the island. He told us where to go for good views. We followed what we thought were his directions and wound up in someone else’s front yard. At this point we decided to turn back. We got lost several times on the way, but after a couple of tries found our way back to both the dinghy and the boat. Here are pictures from our walk.

We had an amazing sunset that evening. A red fireball from the sun setting behind the clouds!

Rick made spaghetti with meat sauce. One of my favorites! All in all a great day.

 

 

Well, I finally slept in until 6:30.  Rick was up at 6:00.  Maybe our bodies are beginning to adjust. We are in conserve mode regarding water on the boat, so we showered at the marina. Showers were OK if you don’t mind hitting the on button every 15 seconds to keep the water flowing. Beautified, we headed to the market to get fruits and vegetables, as well as some tuna for dinner. Interestingly the tuna was cheaper than the pineapple. I guess not surprisingly considering the tuna is local and I assume the pineapple is from elsewhere. Generally, the vegetables seemed expensive.

We returned to the boat with our vittles. The last thing we had to do before leaving was put our empty suitcases in the office (Stephan, the base manager, is concerned they could damage the boat if they slide around in the cabin. They are soft-sided, so I doubt we’d have a problem but it’s easy to comply with his wishes we did so. The office didn’t seem to be opening today so I called Stephan and he told us to leave them on another boat. Mission accomplished, we were off!

Our shakedown cruise is to Ile Uere, only about an hour and a half away.

Rick wanted a relatively short journey today to give him time to get use to the boat, in general, and specifically, the gps, since it’s a brand he has never used previously. We motored the entire way.

Here are some pictures of Noumea from the water and Noumea harbor.

Here are some pictures from our trip from Noumea to Ile Uere.

We pulled into a lovely horseshoe shaped bay with about 4 other boats.

We got  and had the anchor down without a hitch and had lunch. We relaxed for the afternoon, aka wrote this blog and watched the kite surfers and jet skiers. Rick marinated the tuna which we had for dinner. Another early night after a hard day’s sail!

The weather seems perfect not too hot and not too cold. Today it is about 75F and with nice breeze!

I haven’t yet written about New Caledonia. When I mentioned we were going most people had never heard of it, so I here’s the scoop. New Caledonia is composed of several islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 750 miles east of Australia and about 1,500 miles north of New Zealand. The main island is called Grand Terre and then there are three other major islands, collectively called The Loyalty Islands.  Noumea is the capital of New Caledonia.  The country is a special collectivity of France and its people are French citizens. It has a population of about 300K, which are mostly of European descent or Kanak, the indigenous people. The Loyalty islands which are three islands, north of the main island, are home to mostly Kanak people. They’re governed by clan chiefs. New Caledonia’s main export is nickel. New Caledonia has about 25% of the world’s nickel resources. Another interesting fact about New Caledonia is that it has the richest biodiversity in the world per square kilometer. Should be an interesting place to explore!

Another early morning for us.  We woke up at 4. We left the apartment at 6:30 to go to the market to pick up bread.  Yesterday the lady selling bread told us to get there early to make sure she had enough bread, so we stuck to the plan.  Here are pictures of the lady and her bread.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped at a boulangerie for coffee and a escargot de choco (yum!). After some serious fortification we packed up our suitcases and walked 1/2 mile from the apartment to the boat.  We dropped off our suitcases and went to the grocery store for provisions.  $400 later, we hoped we have enough food for at least half the trip.  With all that stuff, including over 100 liters of water we had to get a taxi for the short distance from the grocery store back to the boat.  We stopped along the way to get ice for the icebox.

We stored the groceries and then hung around the boat for awhile getting unpacked and familiarizing ourselves with the boat.  The boat, a 2014 41ft Beneteau with 3 cabins and 2 heads, is pretty nice.  Its name is Artois, which I don’t think means anything in French.  Here are some pictures.

Just before lunch we walked back to the apartment one last time to get the rest of our stuff, including food for lunch.  We returned to the boat and enjoyed the harbor view while eating.

After lunch the base manager, Stephan, gave us a technical briefing, reviewing the features and mechanics of the boat.  Next we got a chart briefing. During the chart briefing the base manager talked about places to go, places to avoid, and various navigational issues.  By this time it was already 6:00.

We talked to Stephan about where to go to dinner.  Turned out two of dinner recommendations were closed.  Not sure why they are closed on a Saturday night so we went to the restaurant at the marina.  It took a very long time to get menus, nothing looked particularly good, and it was very expensive so we just came back to the boat and ate our own food.

I was very tired, but I was able to stay up until 9 (since I got up at 4).  Rick lasted until about 9:30.  The sun rises early here, around 5am and sets early, around 6pm. It is best to sail early because the winds are more moderate and it’s easier to see reefs when you pull into a harbor. I think our ideal schedule will be to go to bed around 9pm and get up around 5am.  At least that’s what we are working towards for now.