20 degrees 57.956' S 164 degrees 39.512' E

Hi
Well, we arrived at the above position in Baie de Chasseloup at Noon today (19/09). We had sailed all day yesterday and last night outside the reef until we arrived at 1000 at the waypoint off the reef pass (Passe du Ducos). We'd had a slightly frustrating passage because the wind was directly behind us (SE) which is a difficult point of sailing so we sailed downwind vectors, at one point being about 30 miles out in the Coral Sea. We left in a flat calm through the Passe de Ouari and had a conversation with our Aussie acquaintances as they passed us on their way out to surf the reef. On our way through the pass we could see about a dozen boats anchored just inside with their occupants riding the giant waves just past the end of the reef into the pass itself. That's all OK but if you get it wrong............!! Having said that, the Ouari surfing is reputed to be the best in New Caledonia and produces a great example of the much sought after left hand break.
All day the wind increased and we were having a great sail (260T), even if it was towards Australia!! We gybed over at 1830 just as it was getting dark onto 010T. At that point we were heading back to the coast so we were a little on edge although we were well offshore. As we headed back inshore on an oblique course to the coast we could see some very bright amber lights seemingly suspended in the air. We speculated that it might have been a UFO come to pick us up!! Gina in particular was very disappointed when it became apparent as we came closer that they were in fact part of a nickel loading port as she had been looking forward to making the acquaintance of some extraterrestrial beings! As the night progressed the wind increased until we had at times up to 25 knots. When it became dark we had rolled away the genoa and were sailing with just a reefed main but were still making over 5 knots. This old girl's hard to slow down!! Very rolly with the waves on our starboard quarter which made it quite uncomfortable. In the early hours we gybed away again from the coast but then the wind became quite fickle changing direction every so often and dropping down to 12 knots then back up again to around 20. This caused our self steering (Mrs. Fleming) to throw the odd wobbly which, because we had the wind close aft, threatened an accidental gybe at times but that didn't happen.
We'd had some delicious homemade soup for dinner made with ingredients from the Noumea market and homemade oatmeal cookies with local cheese during the day. Then for breakfast this morning oatmeal porridge with molasses and yoghurt - great way to start the day and not too bad for Jim's Diabetes!
In the early hours of the morning we decided we'd had enough of the sleeplessnes and constant motion and decided we'd head directly for Ducos ASAP. So, we started the iron sail and motorsailed until we arrived off the pass. As we came in the dawn came up over the mountains of New Caledonia on a cloudless morning and it makes you realise that life isn't all bad! It's a wonderful experience to see the dawn come up at sea, especially on a day like this and after the few cold hours before the dawn. On that note, this place is far from being tropical at this time of year. We were as cold as being in NZ in the spring or autumn and had jerseys and wet weather gear on all night just to keep warm.
When we arrived and were starting to enter the pass and our depthsounder was starting to come to life again, albeit showing over 200' at the entrance, we then found that our chartplotter wasn't altogether accurate when it came to close navigation through the reef pass and in fact would have had us on the reef itself, so we navigated in visually which was quite easy because the pass is actually quite wide and deep and we could see where the waves were breaking. However, once in it became very confusing as it seems there has been a recent nickel loading port developed here and there were additional channel markers which were not mentioned in our cruising guide. Eventually however we sorted ourselves out and recognised a buoy marking the end of an inner reef which we came around and then into the anchorage. It's a wide bay typical of this coast - but looks interesting for a walk ashore tomorrow though.
After the stress of finding our way in we were very glad to be dropping the anchor in about 11' of water. After the sleepless night and the aforementioned stress we were feeling very tired. Gina had in an inspired moment found a hitherto forgotten bottle of Highland Park malt whisky in a clothes locker. This predated our departure from NZ and was a very welcome and unexpected find. So, we gave the bottle a bit of a hammering and then fell asleep for an hour or two!! We have now had a great dinner of Singapore curried chicken and some red wine, a cup of tea and some more Highland Park!
So, cruising is characterised by contrasts. On the one hand we had last night out in the open sea and tonight very civilised by comparison. But don't anyone run away with the idea that it is all cruisy because, as our experience on the trip up from NZ and the last 24 hours shows, it certainly is anything but. However, it is all worth it, if only for the challenges successfully met. And of course there are all sorts of other benefits with seeing places otherwise inaccessible and last but by no means least, the wonderful people we meet along the way.
We had left Mary and David on "Giselle" at Chambeyron but they left there today and are coast hopping via Baie de Bourail and Pouembout. We thought that maybe we should also have done that but, as they all involve sailing outside the reef anyway, and as we had already seen Bourail and its beach when we travelled up this way by car, we decided to cover the ground (about 90 miles) in one passage. We are thinking though that when we leave here in a day or two we might go up to Koumac outside the reef again as the countryside around here until one gets north of Koumac is fairly uninspiring and lagoon navigation isn't the easiest. More later as usual!!
Cheers from us..............
P.S. Don't forget our website www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com for ALL the fascinating details of our nautical doings!!

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