Yesterday, our day started with a flurry of activity onboard, including catching up with friends, getting through some landlubber matters and following up with various marinas in Australia. By then it was time for our breakfast ashore of deux grande café au lait and a selection of crepe au chocolat, chaisson pomme, pain au chocolat et croissants at Le Marche de Noumea - Nothing like a caffeine and sugar rush to start the day! Of course, this luxury was repeated again this morning - Hey, in Rome...
Prior to leaving Fiji, we had considered our options for sailing around Vanuatu and New Caledonia. In particular, how we would reduce our beats to windward, given the orientation of the islands to each other. Our chosen route meant a sacrifice of the Loyalty Islands, especially Ouvea, but having seen what else New Caledonia has to offer in terms of sailing destinations within the lagoon, we don't feel like we've sacrificed too much.
Since we'd planned on leaving Baie de la Moselle today for a week or so of exploring further afield, we topped up on our provisions yesterday and enjoyed another meander around the fresh fish and produce markets this morning prior to our departure. An exercise walk, followed by sundowners at Bar Brasserie and another beautiful sunset, with another "green flash", filled in the rest of the day yesterday.
This afternoon we enjoyed a rather brisk 7 Kts sail on headsail alone, with a few knots of current on the stern to help us along. Late this afternoon we anchored in Anse Majic, Baie de Prony for the night, before making our way to Ile des Pins tomorrow, the southernmost island of New Caledonia.There is one aspect of sailing that never ceases to astonish us though.
When we entered Baie de Prony we had at least six anchorages to choose from, all of which would have been convenient for an early morning departure. We could just as easily have turned to port, but we turned to starboard. When we arrived at the first anchorage, we decided it wasn't sheltered enough. The second one was too deep, so we settled for a mooring ball in the third anchorage and, lo-and-behold, on one of the mooring balls, is Time Bandit (Anne and Stuart). They had just arrived from the Loyalty Islands this morning.
There are so many cruising friends who we've tried to meet up with during our travels and never quite managed it. For example, we'd made arrangements with Cattiva (Maria and Maurice) to see them in Tonga, New Zealand and twice in Fiji, but it never materalised. We barely managed to cross paths with Blue Summit (Kate and Steve) in Fiji, but missed them in Vanuatu. We'd even tried to touch base with Time Bandit in Suva, but that fell through as well. Now, in the most unlikely place, here they are and we thought they were sailing around northern Vanuatu. A small world indeed! Unfortunately we probably won't get to spend any time wit h them here as both yachts are in transit, but you never know where we'll see them again.
Tonight, as the sunsets, we're enjoying a delicious dinner of fresh yellowfin tuna, seared bok choi in ginger and garlic, ginger infused carrots and steamed rice, accompanied by a bottle of French chardonnay. Lets hope we can still make that early morning departure tomorrow. If not, we'll get to visit Time Bandit after all.
