Category Archives: 2017 New Caledonia

It has been a while since my last post and I normally revisit my blog when we return to bossa nova ready for next new ‘adventure’. But … this year the ‘adventure’ is somewhat more adventurous … we are sailing to New Caledonia and Vanuatu! So while we are home and our boat is in… Read More: 6 weeks to go! »

It is just as well that I am the Queen of Lists! We have lists for – Jobs Here Jobs There Things to Take Buy Here Buy There January Jobs House Jobs Health Appointments Bill Payments We have New Lists, Old Lists and Revised Lists and if it wasn’t on the list, it’s added to… Read More: Queen of Lists I am! »

We arrived here at The Boatworks on April 25 and I know its hard to believe, but it is only now that I’ve managed to find time to put ‘pen to paper’ and update my blog. Everyone here, particularly the Go Easters, is frantic.  We have never seen The Boatworks so busy.  Many of the… Read More: 28 boxes of crackers! »

It’s now a waiting game. We had to be ready to “go” by May 11.  Now its all about a weather window. We have to cover approximately 800 nautical miles (1,500 kms) and this depends on our route.  So, we need 5-7 days of a good forecast.  We are using the Rally’s Metbob (who is… Read More: Time to … wait »

Happy Mother’s Day mum! I can’t remember not sharing Mother’s Day with family but this year we have returned to The Bossa a bit earlier due to the Rally requirements. We are missing our family on this special day but I know they are getting together to celebrate. It will be one to remember, with mum… Read More: Happy Mother’s Day mum! »

It is Monday evening.  Our crew have arrived and after a 3.30 am start they are both in bed.  I am taking a moment to catch up on emails, texts and a few phone calls while we still have internet coverage.  And of course, complete one last post before we head out to sea. The… Read More: Time to go! »

Bonjour Noumea! We left the Gold Coast Seaway at 7.30 am Tuesday 23rd May, 2017. We arrived at the Amadee Lighthouse entrance of New Caledonia Sunday at 8 am 28th May, 2017. Our crew John and Saxil arrived the day before departure, quickly got up to speed as well as joining us for the formalities… Read More: Bonjour Noumea! »

It seems like we have been in New Cal forever!  Not sure if that is a good thing.  The days do seem to blend in to each other. We left Noumea less than a week ago.  With a wind change our anchorage became quite lumpy to the point I was getting sea sick writing my… Read More: Ile des Pins »

A few photos have been passed on to us … from our passage and our arrival party … Also, “congrats” to John Hembrow, our Downunder Go East Rally organiser.  He has just won a Marine Award for his efforts.

We have spent the majority of our time here in New Cal’ around Ile des Pins (Isle of Pines).  We may have had more foresight than we realized.  Not only did we see a beautiful island but we did luck some reasonable weather. We did enjoy Baie Kuto, visiting twice.  The sand on this beach… Read More: Situation Généra »

Ilot Casy is a tiny island in Baie du Prony, south of Noumea.  What a great little spot.  Sand, palm trees and clear water. After a few nights at Baie Ue (no these locations do not roll off the tongue) we looked at the weather (of course) and decided to drop in to Ilot Casy… Read More: A Touch of Paradise … »

We have had some sunny calm days lately.  Time for some snorkeling. After a night on a mooring at Ile Maitre and a walk around the resort island, we motored to Ilot Kouen.  A tiny little sandy islet surrounded by reef.  We stayed two nights. The False Pass on the outer reef was only 20… Read More: New Caledonia’s lagoon … »

I had all but decided I’d had enough snorkelling for the day, when we decided to try another reef nearby.  I’m glad I did. This family of Nemo’s was unusually friendly.  We weren’t in a tourist area so I’m sure they weren’t used to big bodied lugs like me, but a few of them didn’t… Read More: Finding Nemo! »

When we thought about joining the Go East Rally to New Caledonia this year, the deciding factor was that we knew some of the boats who were going. So out of 23 Rally boats, we already knew six. We now know a lot more! We have spent the last week or so exploring the islands… Read More: New Friends … »

We have just spent a few glorious days below the water.  Calm sunny weather and low tides in the middle of the day … perfect for snorkelling! We visited Ilot Signal and the Dumbea reef pass. Here’s a few pics, including captions. And also some photos of my ‘little’ fish.  I chase these around, watch… Read More: Underwater Adventures »

Ahhh … some good internet at last … What a difference the weather makes to a yachtie! Yes we like wind and we have had plenty of great sailing here.  Many days of 15-20 knots.  But this last week or so, we have also had what the brochure claims … South Pacific weather! Today was… Read More: Feeling the love! »

I am writing this post while sitting out a blow in Baie Uere, just south of Noumea.  We have had a few glorious days of sunshine and calm waters, but we knew we needed a secure anchorage for last night as we had a forecast of 20-30 knots for today. Sure enough, it blew up,… Read More: Family Matters »

Thought it was time to mention Noumea.  As my sister says, “Noumea strangely enough, grows on you”. Noumea has been our only port to restock, refuel and shop.  While we have been keen to get in and out of there as quickly as possible, because there’s so many better places to visit, Noumea has served… Read More: Noumea … it grows on you! »

We have spent the last few days in Baie de Prony – Ilot Casy and Anse Majic with Easy Tiger and Sans Souci.  We have visited Prony before. It’s a picturesque bay with multiple anchorages for any weather, about a five-hour sail from Noumea. It is also the site of a large nickel mine that… Read More: Two Great Walks »

Gadji is such a beautiful spot!  Has to be one the best anchorages we have not only seen in New Cal, but anywhere! We are back at Ile des Pins, anchored at Gadji in the ‘inner’ anchorage, with Sans Souci and Easy Tiger.  It is times like these that we cats appreciate our shallow draft. … Read More: Gadji »

I’ve learnt to spot my favourite clownfish now, by catching that flash of orange. Here at Gadji I’ve been lucky enough to see a variety of different species of clownfish.  But a few snorkels ago, I spotted another fish that I have not seen before. It has the most amazing colorful patterns. It’s called a… Read More: Clowning around? »

We left Kuto on Ile des Pins this morning.  A bit sad really. Amazing what a bit of peer pressure can do … we walked up the mountainous Pic N’ga Track (262 m), the island’s highest point.  Fantastic views!  We chose the day well as a cruise ship was in port, along with its 4,000… Read More: Kuto … until next time! »

Every stopover here in New Cal has something to offer, above and below the water. We only had an overnighter at Ilot Brosse, an island not far from Kuto and we didn’t snorkel, but we had a lovely beach for a walk and enjoyed one of the best sunsets so far from the beach.  We… Read More: Southern Lagoon »

I have found that every venture in to the clear blue water here in New Cal has offered something different.  But a few things have been constant, making the barrier reef here quite exciting. The Grand Terre (mainland) is surrounded by its barrier reef creating a large lagoon.  It’s the largest lagoon in the world… Read More: Coral Gardens »

After a few weeks of cruising with Easy Tiger, Sans Souci and Cruising Kitty, we all decided to share our New Cal photos.  This came about when we got together one night after one of our walks.  We ‘airdropped’ (a brilliant way to exchange photos thanks to Apple) each others photos to our various devices. … Read More: Newcalademy Awards »

Ouvea … Loyalty Islands We departed Toupeti at 5 am one week ago for the Loyalty islands, leaving Grande Terre behind us for the last time.  It was a vigorous sail to Ouvea averaging 8.1 knots, arriving at midday, much earlier than we anticipated.  Nothing better than a quick passage! Waow!  Ouvea. Turquoise waters, 25… Read More: Ouvea … Waow! »

We have arrived in Vanuatu! After 31 hours at sea, we entered Port Resolution on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu at 7 am. Sunday.  Hearing the village roosters and seeing the steam rising from the cliffs, we knew we were in the right place. We had departed Ouvea at midnight on Friday so we… Read More: We have arrived in Vanuatu! »

Apart from the island of Tanna being one of the shortest passages to Vanuatu from New Caledonia, the main reason we chose Tanna as our destination, was its volcano, Mt. Yasur. Mt. Yasur is an active volcano and is accessible by 4WD followed by a short climb.  Many of our rally yachts had already visited,… Read More: Mt. Yasur … an active volcano! »

Cats in the Rally … By popular demand … Neville’s “unoriginal musical score with original words” performed to the tune of Harry Chapin’s ‘Cats in the Cradle’.     Johnny Eyebrow planned a rally just the other day To sail to New Cal in the usual way But there were boats to prepare and bills… Read More: By popular demand! »

We are now at the island of Eramango, 50 miles from Tanna.  Port Vila is next. As we entered Dillons Bay after a brisk sail with following seas (with our kite getting a gig), we were greeted by local ni-Van villagers in their dug-out canoes. Children and adults. Before long soccer balls and dinghy oil… Read More: ni-Van village life on Eramango »

Port Vila is one place we knew what to expect.  In 2014 we visited with friends John and Denise BCP (before Cyclone Pam).  We spent a very relaxing two weeks seeing the sights, with our friends showing us Efate by road (many of which we remember being in a state of disrepair as well as… Read More: Port Vila »

We now have a timeline.  My flight is booked for the 9th October and our two crew, Jim and Greg, are flying in to Santo on the 8th October. We always planned on approximately 30 days in Vanuatu and our 30 days are up on the 11th October.  Neville has extended his 30-day visa; in… Read More: Vila to Santo »

We spent our first five days in Santo on a mooring in the ‘front yard’ of the Aore Resort on Aore Island, opposite Santo’s main town, Luganville. Bliss, no anchor to worry about. The Segond Channel that separates Aore Island and Luganville (our clearance port of departure) is extremely deep and with the current running… Read More: Espiritu Santo! »

We are back in Australia! It certainly isn’t feeling like the tropics with constant heavy rain and strong winds here in Bundaberg. After I flew home home to visit family and catch up with friends, Neville and his crew sailed The Bossa from Santo, in Vanuatu, to Bundaberg, Australia.  Sailing 1,000 miles, five days and… Read More: The R(h)um(b) Line to Bundy! »

The Rumline to Bundy … yes I think a few rums were consumed by the guys on their return to Oz. Our “tribe” have all arrived now … Aqualibrium, Supa Trooper, Zofia, Easy Tiger, Sans Souci, Skellum and finally Cruising Kitty.  All with stories to tell! I returned to The Bossa after my 10-day sojourn… Read More: Goldendick??!! »

Welcome to … such a lovely place … We are back ‘home’ … at The Boatworks.  It all started here way back in April and it’s finishing here too. Time for our 6 months’ adventure on land now. 3,500 nautical miles on the clock and 145 days away. 2017 will be remembered for the Go… Read More: Back to where it started … »