New Caledonia

Anyone for oysters?

We had hoped to visit Erromango and Tenna, two islands of Vanuatu that were close to our route to New Caledonia. Unfortunately, they were both to windward and the strong south easterly wind meant that it would be a long, uncomfortable beat to them. Time was running out on us, so we took the direct route to the Havannah Passage on the south east end of New Caledonia.

We had read about the Havannah Passage in our cruising guides. Strong tidal currents ran through this passage and it was advisable to arrive at slack tide and in the light, not an easy thing to plan on a journey of several days.

NORO PACIFIC in Havannah Passage

We left Port Vila, Vanuatu, after an early lunch on Saturday 27^th July. We had one reef in the mainsail and put a second one in before we left the bay. The wind was easterly and we could sail our course, although the wind was strong and the sea was rough with waves coming over into the cockpit. At the change of watch, 0300 hours, cruise ship Pacific Aria was going to pass us just over a mile away. This sounds like good clearance but at night it looks very close. Jeremy called them on VHF16. Their response was quick and they were aware of our presence. No worries. We passed each other without incident.

Overnight the wind shifted to ESE and by morning it was SE and easing. We shook a reef out of the mainsail and put the full genoa out. The wind continued to decrease and by 2100 we were motorsailing.  We sang Happy Birthday to our daughter, Emily, just after midnight the next day. Cooler nights were more noticeable. I slept inside my sleeping bag and Jeremy had a 15 tog king size duvet. Full wet gear with several layers underneath was needed at night. The days were sunny and warm. At 0800 I saw land ahoy. It was Ile Lifou, one of the Loyalty Islands and part of the New Caledonia group.

Kathy wrapped up warmly

We were able to sail for about two and a half hours before the wind died away and we had to motor again. Just after midnight, I called cruise ship Pacific Aria. She was astern of me on the same course but going much faster. She had been to Port Vila, disgorged her passengers for the day and was now heading for Noumea, New Caledonia, the same destination as us. Once again, her crew were aware of our presence and they overtook us safely.

Inside the Lagoon, New Caledonia

 Jeremy was on watch as we approached the Havannah Passage in the dark.  There was little wind to worry about but we did have 3 knots of tide sweeping us in. Another ship called Noro Pacific followed astern of us but had to wait for a pilot. We saw the pilot boat approaching from ahead. Meanwhile, dawn was breaking and the skies were lightening. Noro Pacific turned off on a different  channel and we entered a nine mile stretch of UNESCO World Heritage lagoon. By 1440 on Tuesday 30^th July we were tied up to a berth in Port Moselle Marina, having called them previously on VHF 67 to arrange this. An officer from Quarantine/Biosecurity came on board while Jeremy was checking in at the marina office. He apologised for taking away all our fruit and vegetables, telling us there was a market on the quayside where we could buy supplies. We were told there was no need to go to Customs. If they had not visited our boat within two hours of our arrival, then they would not come. Oh the delights of still being in the EEC! There was nothing to pay.

A surprisingly long tow

The next day we went to Immigration to clear in. Our passports were stamped and we could stay for as long as we liked – well, until 31^st October anyway. We stocked up at Johnson’s Supermarche and at the produce market. We love French islands.

Port Moselle Marina

After two nights in the marina, we decided to go and anchor in Baie Maa for two nights of rest and relaxation. It was very peaceful walking on the shoreline and the reef at low water, meeting locals collecting shellfish and octopus. Jeremy scrubbed SD’s bottom spending only 10 minutes at a time in the water because it was so cold. I did a 5 minute scub of the waterline. We put a course to Brisbane into our chart plotter and Garmin GPS devices. We enjoyed baguettes and camembert. All we needed was constant SE trade winds for the next week to take us to Australia. We didn’t get them.

Coral reef at Baie Maa

We returned to Port Moselle Marina for two more nights. The office staff was very helpful and spoke good English. We had to go to Immigration first, then Customs and finally the Port Office to clear out. We could do this 24 hours in advance. We provisioned SD for our 7 or 8 day passage to Brisbane and went to see all the officials. The only blip was at Customs because Immigration did not give us the clearance papers for Customs. We had to prove we had been in Vanuatu and the date we left. Fortunately, the correct stamps were in our passports. The papers were emailed from Immigration and we were issued with our Customs clearance. There were no problems at the Port Office and no charges. We were free to leave.

Is she standing on the WEST side?

We left a cooking gas bottle to be filled and we were told to collect it on the morning of our departure. The man could not be located and his office was locked. Jeremy went to look for him and had help from the marina office and fellow cruisers. He was found back in his office mid-morning. The gas was paid for and brought back to SD. Just one more job remained before our departure time of 1100 hours. That was to exchange our French Polynesian money to Australian dollars. Unfortunately, the bank could not do this unless we held an account with them, so that was a waste of time.

At 1100 hours on Tuesday 6^th August, we slipped our lines, called the marina to thank them and motored out into the lagoon. Our destination was Brisbane, Australia and we had a mixed bag of weather to face.