Today was a very strange day for us. We had originally decided to stay onboard to give Elaine's legs and feet a rest and to get some boat projects out of the way. In particular, repairing the water leak in our port hotwater heater. We then decided that, with the wind picking up and the anchorage getting quite lumpy, we would take the advise of Alchemy I (Geraldine and George) and head for a beautiful protected anchorage in Anse Kuendu on Ile Nou, spend a night or two, then head for Ilot Maitre later in the week.
Not realising how small the anchorage of Anse Kuendu was, when we arrived to discover two other yachts there, including Alchemy I, we decided there was no point in trying to shoehorn in, especially given the very shallow reefs on either side. With that we decided to just motor over to Ilot Maitre instead.
Knowing Ilot Maitre is a marine / nature reserve, we knew we would have to pick up a mooring ball, since anchoring is prohibited. What we hadn't realised was that many of the ICA rally yachts that were in Noumea had decided to move to Ilot Maitre today and, as we arrived, we saw one of them pick up what looked like the last ball. After motoring up and down in search of a vacant ball and making a general call to all the yachts on the mooring balls to please advise us if there were indeed any moorings open, we received feedback that there was one, but in very shallow water.
With that we decided to hang out for a little while just to make sure a yacht wasn't leaving, although we had assumed they would have advised us of their intentions when we made the general VHF radio call. Well, you can all guess what's coming, right?
The next thing we see is another rally yacht arriving and, after making a radio call, they are advised by a rally yacht on one of the mooring balls that they were leaving and that the new arrival could have their ball, even though both yachts had seen us waiting for a vacancy. One accepts the fact that mooring balls can be in demand, but such balant hostility definitely shows a rather ugly side of sailing, one we haven't experienced since arriving in Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas some eighteen months ago, when a number of World ARC rally yachts ignored our radio calls for help.
This is a rare occurrence, as most cruisers will rush to the aid of others and we have certainly rendered our fair share of assistance in the past. It's just a little more disturbing though when these are yachts we've come to know since seeing them in New Zealand and in most of the destinations we've visited this season. Let's hope it's a good while before we encounter anything like this again!
Anyway, it turned out we wouldn't have been any more protected at Ilot Maitre than we are back here in Baie de la Moselle and we had the pleasure of a very brisk sail at 8.5 Kts on headsail alone right back to our exact anchoring spot. All things considered it's a good job we did return, as Elaine's tooth has really started to play up. Fortunately she was able to get a dentist appointment for early tomorrow morning.
