Pentecost Vanuatu - Nagol Land Diving Festival

 Saturday 17 June 2023

The big day had arrived for the last week we had been making our way to Pentecost Island to attend the 'Nagol', the land diving festival in the Kastom village of Ratap. According to Lonely Planet this is the most remarkable custom festival in all of Melanesia.

We headed into the beach to meet the Chief's spokesman Bartholomew Garae and Lucy & John from Broadsword who were joining us. We piled into the back of a ute and we were off. 

I made a video of the pictures and video taken during the amazing day as there was a lot to take in. There were 4 yachts in the bay, each with two people aboard and we were the only foreigners present, people had travelled from other villages and the Chief's son in law had come with us to experience the event from Santo.

So what is Nagol all about......

Here's the background from wikipedia and the link if you want to ready more...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_diving

The origin of land diving is described in a legend of a woman who was dissatisfied with her husband, Tamalie (or some variation of the name).^[6] It is sometimes claimed that the woman was upset that her husband was too vigorous regarding his sexual wants, so she ran away into the forest.^[6]Her husband followed her, so she climbed a banyan tree.^[6] Tamalie climbed after her, and so she tied lianas to her ankles and jumped and survived.^[6] Her husband jumped after her, but did not tie lianas to himself, which caused him to plummet and die.^[6] Originally, women did it in respect to the original woman who did it, but husbands were not comfortable with seeing their wives in such positions, so they took the sport for themselves, and it gradually changed from trees to specifically designed wooden towers. The men performed the original land diving so that they would not be tricked again.^[7]

The land diving ritual is associated with the annual yam harvest.^[6] It is performed annually in the months of April, May, or June.^[8] A good dive helps ensure a bountiful yam harvest.^[9]

The villagers believe land diving can enhance the health and strength of the divers. A successful dive can remove the illnesses and physical problems associated with the wet season.^[9] Furthermore, land diving is considered as an expression of masculinity, as it demonstrates boldness that was associated with the bwahri or warrior.^[9] Nevertheless, the men who do not choose to dive or back out of diving are not humiliated as cowards.^[9]

The diving only takes place on Saturdays in May and June so we were keen to make sure we got here as soon as possible as the anchorage is an open roadstead and we were advised it could become untenable if the wind was anything other than East or South East

Injuries do occur, however there is only one reported death, and that was when a jump took place for Queen Elizabeth's visit in the 70s and it was out of season and reportedly the vines were not elastic enough. We were a bit anxious about how we'd feel if someone got hurt as we had paid to attend, so would we feel complicit. However it became obvious to us during the day that we were totally ancillary to the whole event, that was attended by about 200 people and just 8 paying foreigners.

The experience at the Kastom village, where there is no school church or healthcare and very basic shelter has stayed with us in the week since and I think we are still processing the experience. It really was one very special day.

Vanuatu – Efate to Pentecost

I thought a map might be useful.... the chain is as long as the East Caribbean

Clearing into Vanuatu in Port Vila actually was more cumbersome than last year in Tanna. We arrived on a Friday but made it to the Port by 1pm and there was no one at immigration or bio security. The super friendly team at customs were super efficient and Ruth and I enjoyed a few jokes, while Andrew and his new best friend outside kept us entertained – going on about fishing and the like. One thing I remember about Ni-Van women is that they are strong, like a joke and love it if you have a joke about men. We returned to bio-security and met a couple who had been there that morning and were asked to return at 2pm – so together we waited… We took a selfie to prove we had tried then went back to customs, collected our cruising permit and they found out that immigration wouldn’t be back until Monday. Argh well we are now on island time…… then we saw a bio security car pull in so decided we’d walk the full length of the port again, and yes the Bio security team were here complete with a box of chicks – it’s fine, the’re special chicks that have been cross bred and of course we should take some to Australia…. They gave us an invoice, asked us to put any quarantine garbage in the bins at yachting world and said we shouldn’t leave Port Vila after 4pm as the rhinoceros beetle might be flying and we could take it to another island. The posters on the beetle were actually really good and we really enjoyed the guys. 

Checking in.....

Port Vila Port

Bio Security Chicks

Port Vila market

Going all Ni-Van

We went back to town, got some Vatu, and ran into Yves from Basyc at the bank – oh of course we must share a beer. Then we ran into Mark and Marian that we last saw in Fiji and just as we are getting to the dinghy dock, John and Bev (Dandelion) are coming ashore – oh golly we must have another beer, we have just been at the bar for hours and so made an early escape for a light dinner and crashed in bed. What a welcome back to Vanuatu.

 

Not having cleared immigration we had to stay in Port Vila for the weekend, not a chore as we headed into the famous 24 hour market for a traditional lunch – the market has a variety of cooking stands and we usually just wander through and see what looks good. Today was a beef chop, veg and rice with a kind of oyster sauce – and really good. We also sorted a sim card each and did a bit of shopping in the market. We were still a bit tired from the trip, but had a beer ashore and decided Sunday would be a party day. After a bit of provisioning with Yves and his handy hire car we headed to Banyan Beach Bar for a mini Sunday session of pizza and cocktails – the Dandelion crew joined us and we had a lovely chilled afternoon.

Banyan Beach Bar - a favourite spot

 

12^th June 2023 – Port Vila to Havannah Harbour

Sailing on his Birthday 

 

Monday – Andrew did fuel and immigration and I did shopping…. I did also save the day noticing a fuel can had a split cap, so a bit of clearing up but then we were off – oh yes and it was Andrew’s birthday. We were keen to get out of the city so just sailed a short 20 miles ish to Havannah Harbour – for Andrew’s birthday I had made my first ever attempt at Paté – it came with candle of course.

Birthday Pate

We had heard that they're maybe somewhere for a sundowner, but after we anchored and called argh it was closed. We did have a drive out in the dinghy and found the small kind of marina, took a walk but found nothing interesting and then I made a special meal – fray bentos steak and kidney (a birthday gift that I thought was funny – he loved it and wanted it immediately), mash and gravy – yes that was it but it came with a fine tassie pinot noir.

 

Little marina at Havannah Harbour

13^th June 2023 – Havannah Harbour to Epi Island

We had a early start as we wanted to make it to Epi in one day – we were on a bit of mission to make it to Pentecost by Friday and the wind was good for sailing. We left at 6am and in the light of dawn passed through the narrow channel back out into the ocean. By 8am we had a lovely 15 knots just south of east and enjoyed a great sail with just one squall, but we managed to use it and only get a little bit wet. By 4pm we were anchored in the lovely calm Lamen Bay on the northwest corner of Epi.

Dolphins on the way

 

It is quite a busy bay and plenty of local boats came by all waving. Our pretty old guidebook says the people from Lamen Island paddle over to the main island to farm their land and return under sail; today it was more outboard and banana boat. We had read that people on Epi believe in tree dwellers called lysepsep that have hairy feet and maybe breasts that are so long they can strangle you. Locals apparently always carry a machete in case they come across one; we wondered if that was also why so many people live on the small island and farm on the mainland. Oh how I love all the superstitions in Vanuatu. 

Big Sista at sunset

 

We were enjoying an arrival beer when a lot of commotion started in the bay and then behind us we saw a ferry arriving at high speed. We aren’t sure why, but the Big Sista decided to come between us and a French yacht anchored in the bay (we were close together and it was just two yachts in a huge bay) and anchored just ahead of us. People all waved, and the local fishing boats all appeared as people climbed out the windows and small carrier bags and chairs were passed off from all sorts of storage places – it really was quite entertaining.

Lamen Bay

Lamen Bay

 

Next morning, we went ashore to brave the tree people. We met Max and Chuck as soon as we landed, they invited us to a fund raiser for their church, everyone was going and the ladies were all dressed nicely around the village – we missed the veggie sail but did get a plate of food and I chatted to the ladies of the womens ministry and Andrew chatted to one of the pastors and the chief from Revelieu Bay. What was interesting was that the men cooked the food, and the women served it. Max lived on the island the asked if we had a sail thread as he wants to make a sail for his boat to sail to Efate – how could we refuse, so Max came by Askari later that day. We will go back to this bay and visit Lamen island as apparently that’s where you can swim with Dugongs.

Ladies serving

Ben was really happy we'd come along

Lunch with the pastor

Men cooking lunch

 

We had planned to have lunch at the small Sanda café on the beach – so after we went for second lunch; simple wahoo and veg served with big smiles. This is a real local place as we met one of the schoolteachers – Roy. We really enjoyed chatting to him; we said how we had met some of the students and our experience was that they were shy, he explained that in Ni-Van culture children should never raise their voice above that of an adult so they would rarely ask questions of us… Roy invited us to see the school – sadly we didn’t make it as when we got back to the boat we found the holding tank was blocked – now that was a glamourous job!

Lunch at Sanda Cafe

 

We also met Isel and Lucy the village bakers, gathering rocks on the beach, so we went to the store and grabbed a loaf of freshly baked bread. What we found in Lamen Bay was an industrious village with all the features of a small town but on a small scale – shops, churches, two schools, a market and even an airport. Such a lovely place.

That afternoon Zenna and Broadsword arrived in the Bay – so drinks were arranged on Broadsword – funny evening and how unusual to have 3 UK flagged yachts in a bay in Vanuatu – even though two were really Australian and one was Scottish ;-)

 

 

15^th June 2023 Lamen Bay to Ambryn Island

Dolphins on the way again

 

A leisurely start to that day for the short sail downwind over to Ambryn; we arrived in Craig’s cove at lunch time to check it out for a future stop and then went to carefully check out an uncharted anchorage near Lake Lonwolwol that we were planning a tour from on Monday. Then headed under motor along the north of Ambryn and anchored near Ranon for the night. As we came along the coast we spotted a fabulous waterfall dropping straight into the sea in a small cove. We ventured in to see if we could anchor but sadly it was 60-90 metres deep.

Waterfall Bay

 

16^th June 2023 Ambryn Island to Pentecost

Askari at anchor Ambryn island, Vanuatu 

 

We enjoyed the morning at anchor before Lucy and Andrew from Broadsword whizzed over – we joined them in our dinghy to show them the waterfall and we all took a swim- pretty nice. 

Had to be done!

We then lifted the anchor and sailed over to Pentecost. The channel between the two islands is only 6 miles but faces directly South East and was pretty rough with compressed winds up to 25 knots. We couldn't believe the anchorage at Homo Bay would be tenable but as we approached the beach the swell subsided and actually the anchorage was calm.

 

Our mission was complete we anchored at Homo Bay and were met by Barthelomew Garae, the spokesman for the Chief of Ratap Village where tomorrow there will be a festival that has brought us here. We had been messaging Garae and Pete, a tour guide, so he knew exactly when we would arrive and he was there in a dugout canoe, looking pretty relieved to step onto Askari to tell us all about the program for tomorrow….. 

Andrew taking the guys to Broadsword - Mr Garae appeared to prefer our dinghy to the canoe

Canoe left at Askari - maybe I should take it for a spin

 

New Caledonia to Vanuatu

We had planned to spend a few weeks exploring the lagoon and small islands of New Caledonia, however after we enjoyed lunch at our favourite French bistro, stocked up at the fabulous market and had a lovely party on board Uhuru with friends on Isis, El Gaucho and Katoosh we came to the conclusion it was still too cold so we opted to clear out on Monday and make our way to Vanuatu. 

If in Noumea do try and get a table at La guinguette

Always the best parties on Uhuru

 

Andrew went off to clear out and I spent hours on Monday trying to find somewhere to change some money to Vatu that I had promised Jin after he bought me a meat grinder at Carrefour – more on that later ;-). I met a nice English lady at the currency exchange who was also getting Vatu, and we met again at the fuel dock – their boat Broadsword also heading to Vanuatu.

5^th June 2023 We finally got clear on the marina just before midday and as we left the harbour at Noumea we had the biggest dolphin ride our bow, I am sure he was looking right at me as he followed me to each side of Askari and turned right on his side; I never get bored of dolphins. We sailed on the tide all along the south west of New Caledonia in a lovely SSE wind; overtaking our new friends on Broadsword but nearly being overtaken by a French boat as we approached the Canal Woodin where we needed some engine to push us through the narrow chanel protected from the wind. The current had just turned and we had about a knot against us at 1530. We opted to pull into Baie de Prony for the night where we knew there was public moorings in the protection of Ile de Casey. French customs give you 48 hours after clearance to exit the island so all was good and we enjoyed a lovely calm evening off a beautiful island sadly with a view of a very ugly mine site. That is sadly the story of New Cal- it’s a complicated island with a lot of tragic issues from mining and historical treatment of the indigenous people. We haven’t spent enough time here to understand, but it doesn’t feel good – perhaps another reason to head off to Vanuatu.

 

Sailing by Broadsword

Mooring Ile de Casey

6^th June 2023 We dropped the mooring at 0700 and motored out of Baie de Prony, as the Prony Express whizzed into the Bay bring workers to the mine at 30 knots. This vessel was one of Andrew’s so we are probably complicit in benefitting from the mine too ;-( 

 

By 0830 we were sailing again with mostly 12 knots of wind from the SSE, but it was a little gusty as we approached the pass around the southeast corner, the wind strengthened to 18 knots and followed us around the island and we sailed downwind with just the genoa up the east side of New Caledonia for the day. The sea was a bit confused and we both felt a bit pukey as we approached Cape Pouareti, so we motor sailed for a bit until we turned a little west and sailed again along to Baie de Kouahoue where we dropped anchor in 18m of sticky red mud – super pretty, protected bay with high cliffs all around. There was one small village as we entered the bay; it’s marked at ‘Prive’ on the chart so we made sure we anchored out of sight, but the fishermen came by and gave us big friendly waves as we enjoyed a sundowner beer and took in the scenery. It was a bit gusty in this bay overnight but calm and we both slept.

Pretty anchorage at Base de Kouahoue

 

7^th June 2023 we woke early at 0520, and so decided to get underway and sail to towards to loyalty islands. There were a few squalls around but the wind was mostly 15 knots from the SSE, we were treated to a lovely rainbow as we sailed north east making about 7knots over the ground making our way back out into the Pacific Ocean. During the day several bands of showers came over playing with the wind but we managed to avoid getting wet. The sea was really confused and Andrew really wasn’t feeling good, so I had a day of playing ‘sailor girl’ – I actually think I did pretty well, sailing downwind as well as close hauled all on the same course, throughout the day with heaps of different wind strengths and angles. 

Leaving New Caledonia at sunrise

 

We reached the corner of Lifou and decided to make another stop, so Andrew could get over his ‘mal de mer’. The wind followed us around into the huge Baie du Santal and we were able to sail straight into the anchorage. The island smelled so delicious – the real smell of land with a powerful frangipane aroma – we really didn’t like how Noumea smelled so this was such a treat.

Sailing into Lifou

 

We didn’t plan to go ashore but before we had even set our anchor in the crystal clear water – (yes I could see the bottom in 17m!! ) fishermen with a very speedy looking boat and huge reels came by to give us a loud ‘Bienvenue’ and said we were welcome and that Pierre would like us to go ashore and say hello. We didn’t know who Pierre was but we were told he lived in a blue house…. We had heard a rumour that the loyalty islanders might not be welcoming; something we found hard to believe as our experience tells us island people are some of the kindest most welcoming. Lifou was no exception, even when we explained we had cleared out but would just rest and push on. Pierre gave the impression he’d like us to stay and explore their island, he showed us his family traditional house and we chatted about island life and the kids future for a while in our broken French and his broken English. 

Lifou beach so perfect

Pierre shows us his traditional house

 

 

Lifou

We took a packet of TimTams to share a bit of Australiana with him; he didn’t know they were Australian and said how much he loved them (I don’t’ think the kids were getting any), it was a great intro to talking about our favourite foods and how they get goods on the island. As we arrived at the beach, he was being interviewed by a TV reporter on climate change. His island had been subject to a coral bleaching event and the water was reportedly far warmer than it usually was. I agree it was warm – when we got back to Askari I had my first ocean swim in oh so many months – yaaaay! It was still cool in the evening, but we did eat dinner outside.

 

We are really getting such benefit from our Starlink – in all these remote spots we have stopped in, usually we would only be able to get limited weather and updates. Now as soon as the anchor is down we have super-fast full internet connectivity – just amazing. We don’t have it fully wired in as yet but it is probably only a matter of time….. We were also saying how when we spend time in places, we can probably help locals etc by allowing them access – I know several examples where people have had to go to other islands to speak to family or submit school work – how cool if we could help!!

 

Sunset at Lifou

8^th June 2023 As much as we would have liked to stay in Lifou and get to know Pierre and his family better, but we had cleared out and had a good weather forecast to sail to Vanuatu – should only be overnight from here about 200 miles. We pulled anchor at 0700 – today Andrew was on the Stugeron…. We motored out of the bay in the rain with a glorious rainbow towards what looked like a ‘mer tres agite’ – hmmmm not what we expected…. It turned out to be the effect of really strong current at the top of the weird shaped island; we motored sailed through it and out into lovely gently ocean with 15 knots of wind from the south south east – we set the sails and pointed to Efate, Vanuatu.

Rainbow leaving Lifou

 

What an amazing sail towards Vanuatu – we did have a few squalls and rainbows; which were a feature of this trip, but winds only once got above 25knots and mostly were 15 to 18 from the South East, the perfect wind angle to Port Vila. Around squalls sometimes the wind dropped or went more south but mostly the sea didn’t get too big and Askari enjoyed a lovely broad reach across the coral sea, averaging just about 7 knots. 

 

Position 1200 local 8^th June 2023 20 degrees 24 minutes south, 167 degrees 11 minutes East, SOG 6.9knots, COG 012 degrees mag, wind 13 knots at 143 degrees mag.

 

I had made a quick lasagne and sourdough bread in Lifou so didn’t have to cook this trip but we were a bit peckish Thursday afternoon so I did make some vegemite and cheese swirls, which were a huge success. The sourdough was the first one I’ve made with oats and all white flour – pretty yum food all round.

 

9^th June 2023 – approaching Port Vila

 

Yes we had a rainbow over the stern of the boat as we enjoyed our morning coffee. And Andrew had even taken off his fleece; which I think he’s worn every minute since we left Australia. We are really hoping it will be a bit warmer in Vanuatu.

 

The wind eased of a bit in the early hours so we added some engine assist so we could get in around lunchtime to hopefully arrange clearance. With this wind angle we only need 1500 revs and the speed increased to 7.5 knots and we charged the batteries, made water and had hot water for arrival showers.

 

Andrew is apparently monitoring the water maker ;-) we don't usually sail in such disarray

Sailing into Port Vila - perfect!

10am and we have less than 20 miles to go and the island is clearly visible.

By 1330 we were all ashore and getting cleared in.

Roslyn gave us both a big hug to welcome us back to Vanuatu

Passage Australia to New Caledonia

Welcome back to the blog - lets see if I can keep it up this season?????

 27^th May 2023 – Departed Australia, going East…..

Leaving Scarborough - thanks Penny for the pic

Leaving our lovely base in Australia

 

Well we decided it was about time we went sailing again. It feels like a lifetime ago since we arrived in Brisbane back in November. I really wasn’t feeling good when we got here, I have been struggling with self-esteem and purpose for about a year so we had agreed I needed a break and we booked a base in Scarborough, QLD. From here I got help, did yoga, made friends and even considered getting a job and buying a suburban home. Around my finding myself again, we went on two fabulous long trips – diving in Raja Ampat and hiking in Tasssie. The Tassie trip took in lots of good friends and family along the way and we even had a go at house sitting. After a lot of soul searching we have concluded this next chapter needs to include time on land and expeditions with our beautiful Askari. Simply put we are at our best when we bring a bit more balance into our lives and not full time sea gypsies. 

 

Australian customs have been really helpful in permitting us to have Askari in Australia, under a control permit for up to 3 years, as we are not currently resident here, despite being Australian citizens. We talked with them about potentially sailing around Australia and that would have been fine, however we are at our happiest when we are in the water and especially happy when that involves diving. So we have made the decision to put on our ‘big girl pants’ and head to Vanuatu, Solomons and PNG for ‘the season’ – an expedition of diving and cultural encounters after which we will look to take another land expedition.

 

So Saturday morning we rushed  out for our last full strength Aussie coffee, some smashed avo on toast, hang out with all the trendy coffee shop families and their designer pooches, feel out of place then go and meet the border force officers at Askari for our clearance out of suburbia and back to the ocean. As we walked to the marina, we did agree it would be much easier to hang out here and get a dog…. Ho hum, off we go sailing to windward on the back of a cold front; as that’s the time to make east. One last set of hugs from our marina family and we glide out into Moreton Bay – it’s 1230 glorious, bright blue sky, south west winds and the bay is empty and calm.

Last breakfast

 

The whole afternoon we are sailing in the protected waters of Moreton Bay and on sunset we gingerly round the inner freeman passage, it’s calm and the tide is running out not too strong. We have not used this pass before but it was beautiful, with a minimum depth of just over 3 metres you could see the bottom. We sailed along the white sandy beach at the north end of the island, while 4wds burned up and down the beach – see yous later bogans!!

 

Sailing in the bay

Top of Moreton Island

The swell picked up as we passed the lighthouse and approached the drop off – actually a really quite confused sea, making these land lovers both feel a bit queasy. Perfectly on time the coast guard announced the cancellation of the strong wind warning on the radio as we exited – it was like they knew we were wondering how it would be out there. But there was a nice 15 knots of wind from the south and Askari stiffened up and ploughed through it. After a few hours the sea got a little more regular and as the evening progressed we even picked up a very helpful current.

 

Our first night at sea was uneventful but oh so cold. We even dug out our dubarry boots we haven’t worn since Europe; yeah they didn’t fit but they looked pretty cool and we felt like salty sailors trying them on. I reverted to purple socks with yellow sailing sandals – particularly stylish… We even had the full king size down duvet out in the sea berth – super snuggly though.

 

We will sail east for as long as we can even though we want to go North East, we are expecting after this high pressure moves off that some reinforced winds will mean it’s harder to make the easting, so we will run a kind of L shape course, east then north. If the winds are not too strong and the sea doesn’t get too uncomfortable, we will carry on to Vanuatu, otherwise we will make a stop in Noumea for a bit of French cheese and patisserie.

 

Position 1200 AEST 28 May 2023 – 26 degrees 51 minutes south and 156 degrees 04 minutes ease. Speed 7.2 knots, COG 060 degrees magnetic, 617nm to Noumea.  

 

So good to see the sunset in the ocean again

 

29^th May 2023 – Still making East

 

After the cold front moved off the wind dropped out, so we motor sailed and then there wasn’t enough wind for the genoa so we cruised along under engine and main for a few hours of very confused sea. The good news was it was so much warmer, although the second night at sea still had us tucked up in the duvet but no socks or hats were required.

 

The sea calmed off late afternoon, so we decided to add some of the spare diesel we were carrying; one of the lids is a bit dodgy so we thought it would be better in the tank than our lazarette and you never know when you might get a chance to add fuel on a trip like this. All was going well with the jiggly pipe but we hadn’t used as much as we thought and even in vitually no wind the boat was healed a bit…. Andrew saw the fuel coming up the pipe so put his hand over the cap, I grabbed the lid (which isn’t attached anymore thanks to a fuel pump attendant somewhere back down the track) – omg the pressure not to drop this thing and then woosh a column of diesel shoots towards my face. I have no idea how my nerves held and I didn’t get a face full of diesel but I got the thing on and we only ditched a little fuel. Yes learnings in even the smallest of tasks after all these years.

 

The night was oh so calm as we motored across the high, we both got heaps of sleep, maybe I got more than my fair share ;-) but Andrew binge watching Ted Lasso, so I think he was happy enough and was now over his first days sea sickness. 

Sailing into the night

 

This morning, we had bacon and egg muffins for breakfast and spotted a huge pod of pilot whales – oh so lovely and just perfect with the now blue sea and clear skies we have been blessed with so far. A light northerly was starting to build as we approached the other side of the high and we set the sails again. We are expecting this wind for the rest of the day before a pulse of energy from another weaker cold front, reaches us, that has just come off the Australian coast. That should give us some westerly winds again later tonight and then after that moves off we expect the trades to fill again from the South East. That is when we will turn for New Calendonia – that’s the current plan…

 

Andrew also had a play with our starlink during the calm this morning, just checking if it connects at sea (we haven’t got the sea package, as this one is for the cabin). It did connect and he was very excited. That was until he packed it away and realised his Garmin app had connected to the internet and updated now requiring him to accept the T&Cs  - this app is one of our comms and weather tools so out came the starlink again. It’s pretty amazing to think we can do fast internet out here if we need to. For now we prefer to stay offline as its one of the joys of ocean sailing; that and long naps ;-)

Starlink in place

 

Position 1200 AEST 29 May 2023 29 degrees 19 minutes South and 159 degrees 01 minutes east. SOG 6 kts, COG 061 degrees mag, wind 11 knots from the north. 461 to Noumea.

 

30th May 2023 – Over half way to Noumea

 

The last 24 hours have been motoring and motor sailing through glassy seas with surreal sunset and sunrise. The sunrise this morning being one of the most crazy beautiful weird I have ever seen; a mirror ocean and a bank of cloud with strange shapes on the horizon but appearing as if it was just a few miles ahead due to the atmospherics. It looked so like land that I double checked the chart and put the radar on to be sure.

What an amazing sunrise

 

Surreal sea

Last night we stuck to a strict watch system and that works much better. We often get drawn to let the person asleep stay sleeping – who wants to wake their loved one just so they can sleep?? But what ends up happening is that the system doesn’t work and one gets short changed on sleep. 

 

Its been such an amazing day, we have been working on our tans…. Yes I know, what are we thinking? But we are honestly paler than we have ever been and I hate not having a slow base level tan so just a little bit on sun baking on the back deck was quite a luxury.

 

Our mates on Isis- Dave and Trace have closed in on us today; they left from the Gold Coast a bit before us on Saturday and following a more direct route so tonight we have them on AIS – it will be cool if we both arrive in New Cal at the same time. We have decided we are stopping at New Calendonia – Andrew did some detailed weather work today and we will wait for a better forecast to sail on to Vanuatu. As a result I have been cooking and preserving anything I can today as the biosecurity in Noumea will take fruit and veg, etc.

 

Position 1200 AEST  30 May 2023 25 degrees 35 minutes South 161 degrees 52 minutes East, SOG 7.3, COG 060 magnetic, wind 4 knots westish. 309 nm to Noumea.

 

Now tonight’s problem is serious – actually we are both a bit cross about the 5 huge birds on the top of our mast – two on our very expensive raymarine wind instrument, that was only replaced a few months back. We have tried everything to get them off but I guess they’re tired and want to spend the night destroying our instruments, pooping on our sails and down our mast.

 

31 May 2023 Wind – Yay!

Sailing into the wind - whoosh!

 

The wind slowly arrived last night, filling in from the west and then by 7am this morning we had a lovely south wind about 14 knots, perfect conditions in a flat calm sea and so wonderful to turn off the engine. We haven’t been running it hard as we have mostly had some wind in the sails but it still makes a difference to the feel of the boat and the mood aboard. With this light southerly we have continued our easting and enjoyed some great sailing. We made some adjustments to our sail tension, as this was the first time we have really pushed the boat since we changed all the running rigging and had the sails off for inspection. So Andrew did a detailed inspection and also checked over the engine and steering – all good. This boat amazes us; we have hardly done any sailing while in Australia and we just pull out on the wind into the Pacific and she’s ready – yes we have done a lot of maintenance in Australia but still – we are so happy with her.

Happy place at the nav station checking weather

 

Position 1200 AEST 31May 2023 24 degrees 14 minutes South 164 degrees 31minutes East, SOG 7knots, COG 045 magnetic, wind 14 knots at 135 degrees mag. 147.73 nm to Noumea.

 

I spent some time cooking up a curry with all our left over ingredients before we arrive in New Calendonia, unfortunately after it cooled I went to stow it in the fridge for the next day as a wave caught us and the curry complete with turmeric and lots of crushed whole spices and lamb oil ended up all over me and the galley flooring, floor, shadow gaps, and walls – what a complete nightmare. We then spent the next hour cleaning up, including cotton buds throughout the shadow gaps and floor gaps and askari has a wonderful new smell that would be more akin to a London Indian restaurant. I have never done that in all these years of sailing, I can’t have had my sea legs after all. I am also sporting a broken finger so perhaps I can blame that….

Yuck - fast and furious 

 

The wind was up to 18 gusting 22 by early evening, we turned a little toward Noumea but kept pressing east of our course as we were expecting the wind to become more easterly overnight and possibly strengthen. 

 

1 June 2023 Arrived Noumea New Caledonia

 

Overnight was pretty sporty but super fast and Askari was in the groove. The wind came about to the East South East around 20 knots gusting a little more and we were pretty hard on the wind with a full genoa and heavily reefed main sail. As I came on watch at 2330 Andrew said to me that she’s fast (8-10 knots) but balanced and not over pressed but the washboard was in place – hmmm! Apparently a wave had actually broken into the cockpit – omg seriously we never get waves in our cockpit, it had even splashed inside so he got a bit sploshed on the couch.

By 5am we were starting to get a bit of protection from the reefs that extend south of New Calendonia but we were still sailing fast, maybe even faster in the calmer ocean. Andrew had a sleep in and I edged us round to line us up for the Boulari pass just south east of Noumea. We had made it faster than planned so the tide was running out, but whilst we saw huge waves breaking on the reef the pass looked calm so we entered at 9am, we did have a knot and half against us but by 10.30 we were inside an by Amedee island where we took a "quick" break before proceeding to the marina at Noumea for clearance.

Amedee Island

 

We pulled up alongside Katoosh, who we had given our old genoa to in Fiji – they were happy to see us again. We connected the starlink and received a message to say that Uhuru was waiting for us and was arranging a welcome party on Friday night – how amazing to not just be back ocean sailing but back in our cruising community of wonderful friends.

Katoosh we met in Fiji - came by to say hi

We will definitely come back to this spectacular anchorage

We docked at Port Moselle, Andrew cleared us in and I tidied up, then he came back to say we were expected at the bar, pre-party drinks with Isis, Uhuru and El Gaucho. Perfect end to a great passage – well planned by Andrew, executed by Askari and sustained all along the way by Carolyn's cooking.

Selfie at the bar thanks to Jin's long arms - what a welcome!