Author: Scott
Our departure from New Caledonia was made extra sweet after spending one wonderful day and night on Lifou Island, one of the three islands making up the Loyalty islands, a Provence of New Caledonia. After spending a night at sea we arrived at the town of We (way), the capital of the Island Provence, approximately 80 miles northeast from the Havana Pass exit from the barrier reef.
Upon arriving in the bay we learned that there was absolutely no anchoring and the only option was a stay at the small marina or to keep sailing to Vanuatu. We have continued to sail with Listowel Lady, and I am bound to report that after our first day at sea, Listowel Lady is winning the ongoing race, as she reached the bay first. Graeme and Rebecca braved the entrance to the very small marina, and arranged for Lulu the manager of the marina to pilot Starship safely to a berth. The entrance is narrow, curvy and surrounded by hull crunching rocks. As we successfully and independently reached our destination, we welcomed Lulu's assistance parking in this foreboding marina.
Inside the confines of the marina breakwater, we were treated to the bluest water we have seen since the Society Islands. The water was baby blue with a turtle paddling by the stern of our yacht. The fingers were thin and small so Graeme and I attached a stern line to keep our sterns pinned against the fingers of the dock.
Once each boat was settled we decided to nap and have lunch then visit the town to find a bank to get money for our marina bills, and a post office to mail post cards. We rode the local mini bus to town, costing 100 CFP. We found the bank and an automatic teller, but when we finally found the OPT (post office), they were closed for the day. We would just have to send our New Caledonia post cards from Vanuatu, par for the course for the crew of Starship.
We walked back to the boats and were treated to views of traditional huts, a pretty church and graveyard, and best of all a flawless white sandy beach with lovely water of every hue of blue and green. I could not resist the temptation to have a splash in the water that was as warm as most swimming pools. When we finally returned to the boats, Graeme and I had just enough time to dive on our respective boats to give the props and our hulls a good scrub down. We are racing after all and we each wanted to have our boats in prime racing condition. I was down one leg (and a beer) so I was extra keen for a good prop scrubbing.
Our plan for tomorrow is a daylight departure. We will sail all day and night to Tanna Island, Vanuatu, the home of the long awaited Yasur Volcano. Tomorrow we will step out into some of the most remote destinations we will visit on our entire journey. I am so excited that it will be hard to sleep tonight.
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