Land Ahoy

Woke this morning to see the light from 3 Kings Island off the northern tip of NZ and we were abeam of North Cape by early morning being welcomed by a pod of 10 dolphins.

Our Iridium Go satellite system has been great for emails. As well as being able to do text updates to our blog, we have been getting daily AIS Satellite tracking screen shots of MarineTraffic.com from Ann's brother Matthew showing a picture of the boats within a couple of hundred miles of us. Not that we are racing but it is good to know what other vessels are around us. Another thing happened where the satellite system was a great help. I broke a tooth 3 days out from NZ. The side wall of a mollar broke off. I wasn't suffering from hot or cold sensitivity but was concerned what might develop from that. We were able to email a photo of the broken tooth to our dentist, Ros Shaw, with a description of the situation and an hour later we had a reply from Ros. She had checked her records of the work she's done on that tooth over the years and the latest x-rays taken just before we left and was able to advise that it should be stable to leave until we see her in March. So on Ros's advice I used some 400 grit wet & dry sandpaper to smooth the rough edges and all is good. A dental consultation in the middle of the Tasman Sea via satellite - how good is that? Technology has come a long way in the 9 years we have been cruising.

We have had a good trip considering the reputation of this passage heading into the southern waters of NZ. The last 2 days we have had very favourable winds. Great angle for our boat and strong enough to keep us moving along at a good pace. Our expected arrival at Opua is this evening and at present John is busy trimming the sails to get the most out of the boat so we have a chance of getting to the Quarantine Dock before dark. It's not that we are afraid of the dark, the channel is well lit and our electronic charts every detailed, but like most sailors we would prefer to arrive in a port for the first time while there was some daylight or twilight. Especially after a 6 and a half day passage.

No matter what time we arrive, once we are tied up at the Q dock it will be time for a celebratory drink. We run a dry ship on passage i.e. no alcohol until the anchor is down or we are safely at dock. This trip has been quite an achievement for us and it's a milestone in our cruising adventures that calls for a celebration, plus it's Friday night. Need we say anything more than "Bubbles night"...!

Heading For New Zealand

We are on our way to New Zealand. A bit earlier than we thought we would go but everything came together for a departure on Saturday 29 Oct. A sailing friend, John Newton arrived Thursday night from Yeppoon to crew with us. We cleared Customs and Immigration Friday morning with a view of departing early the following week (Customs had extended the number of days you had to leave by due to public holidays Monday & Tuesday) but a weather window looked good for a Saturday departure so we took it.

The earlier than planned departure meant there were some planned things that didn't happen. Ann didn't get a chance to cook some meals for the passage in case conditions made it difficult while underway and we didn't do an update of this blog with spectacular photos of our last few weeks in New Caledonia. The photo update will happen once we establish full internet access in NZ but there is no Plan B for the prepared meals other than cooking underway as needed. Unfortunately conditions were quite lively on Sunday evening but Ann still managed to put together a great hot meal.

Our time in New Caledonia has been brief but very enjoyable. A taster for when we come back next year at the end of the Pacific circuit from New Zealand.

While we have been in Noumea, friends from SA off the yacht Calista, Colin & Cookie, returned to Noumea from Vanuatu. We knew they would be coming but weren't sure if our timelines would overlap. Fortunately it did so we had the opportunity spend time with them over the last 2 weeks and for them to share tales of their Vanuatu adventures with us over meals and many sundowner drinks.

At the same time Neale & Robyn joined us for 10 days. It was great to explore Noumea and the surrounding islets, reef and bays with them. We had mixed weather but that didn't impact on having a great time and presented opportunities for different experiences, having a good supply of French wines helped.

Today we hit the half way point of the trip and were back in Australian waters briefly when we sailed 12Nm to the south of Norfolk Is. It was a treat to see the twin peaks of Norfolk and Phillip Island appear on the horizon this morning. If we had passed them at night it would have been a totally different experience.

Iridium Go, the new satellite communications system we installed just before we left Brisbane, paired with the PredictWind Offshore weather forecasting system has been great. We get updated weather models every 12 hrs so we can continually modify our course on passage to make the best of the developing weather patterns and try and avoid the worst of it. The Iridium Go also gives us phone call capability and email acces, mainly text only due to the limited data download speeds. The satellite download speed is the same speed I had in the 1980's on my dial up modem. At that time I thought it was great being able to log on to the university computer from home to do assessments rather than having to go on campus and queue for a computer terminal. In today's broadband internet world these speeds seem very slow but when you are hundeds of kilometers offshore on a stormy night, getting access to the latest comprehensive weather models is fantastic and being able to email and talk to family and friends from anywhere allows you to stay in touch and for them to be part of your journey. Plus the live tracking map that comes with the package is a great bonus.

The passage, Noumea and boat jobs

Sorry about the delay in updating the blog but boat jobs took priority over the blog.

Cape Moreton.  Last Australian landfall for 14 months

Well the three amigos made it!   We had a good passage over to New Caledonia. Sailed most of the way but had to motor sail the last couple of days when the wind dropped.  867 nautical miles (1605 kms) in 7 days.  We shared round the clock watches of 3 hours on 6 hours off.  It was lively for the first few days and light the last few but generally we experienced fair winds.  We were fortunate to have a full moon mid passage so we had the moon each night, visibility was great and the stars were fantastic.  At times they were so bright coming over the horizon, I thought there were fishing boats ahead!

Breakfast on watch

What the boys get up to on passage

You realise what a big ocean it is when for the 3 days in the middle of the passage the only sign of life we saw was the occasional sea bird.

Cran did put out the trolling line while on passage however no luck fishing. The Albatros were diving on the lure which caused a bit of concern.

One of the benefits of the dawn watch

 The boat went well, and our new sails were fantastic. One of the salt water hoses to the water maker sprang a leak and we detected a coolant leak from the Genset!!  We started a new To Do list for the boat even before getting into port, it keeps us busy as always.

The high mountains were a welcome site on Monday morning after sunrise.  By 10:40 am we were tied up in Port Moselle Marina and began the necessary paper work for clearing in through Customs and Quarantine.  

Readying new flags prior to arrival

The Marina staff organise for Quarantine to come to the boat.  They came after lunch which gave us time to cook some of our fresh food so we wouldn’t lose it all.  Not knowing how long the passage would take I had fresh food for 10 days so arriving in 7 days meant that we had food that would be disposed of by Quarantine.  The Quarantine process went well and we were able to keep more food items than we initially thought.  It was mainly the fresh fruit and vegetables that they were interested in.  As part of the Downunder Rally we had Herve from Noumea Yacht Services to organise our Customs clearing but as Customs are only open in the morning that meant a job for tomorrow.  At least once Quarantine had cleared us we could take down our Q flag and leave the boat.  That’s when we discovered the bar/bistro at the end of the pier.

The French are doing it tough here in Nouvelle Caledonie - beautiful reef fish, mud crabs, lobster, fresh baguette every day, tropical fruit, wonderful cheeses, pate etc and of course the French wine selection is going to be fun to explore.  

It's cruise ship territory with a new boat arriving every other day. Keeps the local economy ticking over.

The marina is often fall but they will always try to squeeze another one in

We spent 3 days in Port Moselle Marina after we arrived. It was fun to explore the fresh fruit & vege market and start using our very basic tourist French.  The local bar/bistro was easier, beer is universally understood and we can recommend one of the local drops - HavannaH.  Pat and I explored downtown Noumea while Cran spent most of his time on the computer sorting out technology and some Body Corporate issues apart from a visit to the Supermarket to purchase beer and wine.

While there the super maxi yacht Beau Geste arrived for “Le Cercle Nautique New Caledonien”.  A family friend Ben Costello was crew for the race and gave us a tour of this amazing craft.

Patrick living the dream at the helm of Beau Geste - or is he just dreaming?

Beau Geste getting ready to race

Before Pat departed we spent a couple of days not far from Noumea visiting some  islands.  Our first island was Ilot Uere where spent the night the on to Ile M'Bo and Ile Ndue. It was great to have his company and support for the trip and we have enjoyed a few laughs with him along the way.

The last week has been spent fixing and repairing leaking hoses to the water maker and  on the Genset - one of Cran’s favourite jobs, on his knees in a hot cupboard for hours at a time.  

 No that sheet over the GenSet isn't "last rites", it's to lay on when working at the far end..!

It's often the part you don't see that is the problem

We had to stay in Noumea while Cran carried out repairs so we could access parts and materials.  Shopping for boat bits is always interesting but it is much more challenging when the suppliers don’t speak English and we don’t speak French.  The suppliers were very helpful and we got what we needed in the end.  The GenSet makes 240V power which is used for recharging the batteries and running the water maker.  We can charge the batteries from our main engines but have no other way of running the water maker so it was essential to get it working so we can have extended periods out of port.

300L of water at 60L per dinghy trip

An advantage of being anchored off Noumea, great fresh breakfast choices delivered by dinghy 

We are now anchored just inside the reef in a lovely lagoon where we continue to work on the Genset - its working but still has issues.  We came up here on the outside of the lagoon trolling for fish but had no luck.  Fortunately  Cran caught fish this morning that we will cook for dinner tonight, our first fish and we are looking forward to them.

  

We plan to spend the next few weeks exploring the west coast and the lagoon before our friends Neale & Robyn arrive mid October. Then it will be time to plan for the trip to NZ.

We obtained a Wifi dongle from Herve for the remainder of our stay here in New Caledonia. It has taken Cran several days to get it to work with all our devices, he loves a challenge!  It can be flacky at times but generally works. So you can email us on our normal email address. Will keep in touch and post a few more photos on our blog.

Letting go on Lettin'Go

Getting away was hectic even after leaving port.

David & Julie, Border Force Officers arrived at our boat just after 8:30am to process the paperwork for our departure. A friendly and efficient pair, passports, ships documentation and TRS all done before 9:30am. What a great service where they come to you in your marina berth to clear you out. We were very impressed.

We finally slipped our lines a couple of hours later but the essential jobs weren't completed. Ann and I still had plenty of things to complete online so Patrick had the helm motoring us along at a much slower pace than normal so that we had internet coverage for longer. We got to the Northern tip of Moreton Island and it was time to focus on the passage ahead of us, we had no choice, normal phone and internet coverage was gone so up with the sails and set a heading to pass between Cape Moreton and Finders Reef.

I had joked about the first day of the passage being about getting across Moreton Bay and passed Cape Moreton before sunset then crossing the shipping lane and dodging migrating whales in the dark. We were fortunate to see whales fairly close coming across the end of Moreton Island. Whale encounters are always special and it was a great way to start the trip. There probably more whales we didn't see but it was dodging shipping and fishing boats that kept us busy for the next few hours.

Final prep

Two days until departure for New Caledonia and the typical frantic activity working through job lists for the boat and job lists for our lives.

Heading away for 15 months with much of the time without full internet access requires another level of planning to ensure bills are paid when they fall due, insurances renewed and credit cards are replaced before they expire.

Lettin'Go is in great shape for the trip with new sails, new rigging, new port engine, new prop shaft seals, new secondary chart plotter and new satellite communications system all in the last 18 months. One last minute job, Patrick, Ann's brother and our crew member for the trip, is fitting new trampolines.