Baie de Chasseloup a Koumac

From being initially unimpressed with Chasseloup with its rather featureless landscape we ended with a vastly different impression due to having met a lovely family who live just above the beach in a very pleasant house with about 5 hectares and a swimming pool. We decided the day after we arrived to walk/hitch hike into the local village of Voh. As it's about 5 kms it really wasn't too much of an option to walk and we were picked up by a very pleasant guy in a double cab ute. He turned out to be Gael Bresil who is part of the family referred to. He took us into the village and then said that he was returning in about an hour and could bring us back. We accepted with alacrity and managed to buy some provisions as well as have some lunch at a roadside restaurant. Jean had crudites which is a salad with many raw vegetables and Jim had marinated raw Tuna - both were delicious and went down well with a few glasses of wine! Gael joined us for coffee afterwards and then he drove us back to the bay which is a lovely tranquil anchorage. There is a sailing school which operates from a shed on the beach and there was a school in progress when we arrived. They sail Optimists and appear to cater for 7-9 yr olds. Great to see and the kids really were enjoying themselves sailing out into the bay and around us at anchor. We later met the instructor who spoke excellent English and told us that he had a yacht and intended to sail to NZ next year and would be going to Napier. When asked why Napier in particular, he replied that his son was studying at Lindisfarne College in Hastings - such a small world!! To come across someone like that in a remote part of New Caledonia it's just amazing. We had invited Gael on board for a drink in the evening. He had been a tugboat skipper towing barges full of nickel ore to ships anchored in the lagoon from where it was loaded using the ship's gear with mechanical grabs. Nowadays there are nickel ports everywhere but the old system of anchoring off is still used where it may not be possible to get ships in close. We actually sailed past 2 vessels (one waiting and one loading nickel ore from barges) on the way up to Koumac off Baie de Gomen where there is another nickel port servicing barges.
On Wednesday "Giselle of Argylle" came into the anchorage and it was good to be together with David and Mary again. Gael has invited us ashore for drinks with his family at his home in the evening and he also lent us a crab pot complete with dead fish for bait (!) which we used without success throughout the day. However, not to worry as they gave us several frozen crabs which we will consume soon! They made some vinaigrette sauce to go with the crabs and they also gave us some Aubergines from their garden. Such kindness. They also gave us the crab pot but it is awkward to stow on a 38' yacht although it is collapsible. Maybe we will catch some crabs eventually!! We had a walk ashore during which Jim managed to ring Charlotte in Christchurch from a phone box on the beach which felt so bizarre from a remote location like that. We had a catch up with David and Mary and then went ashore again to Gael's house where we had a very pleasant time eating hors d'oeuvres and drinking wine. We gave them our last bottle of 2003 French Farm Pinot Noir to enjoy later. Gina conversed in English with Gael's wife Brigitte who is a primary school "Directrice" with responsibility for 3 schools. Brigitte's English was quite good. Jim meantime conversed in broken French with Gael and managed to understand about 60%!! Gael was telling him about anchorages and showing him his collection of paper charts of the island. He had some spares and insisted that we take two in spite of our protests. Their younger daughter was still at school and spoke English as well so, although she was shy about speaking English to us, she did a good job of translating when necessary.
All in all it was a lovely evening spent with such warm and friendly people and we will not forget them or their kindness to us. We are hoping to see them in Koumac this weekend or maybe later in Noumea.
Anyway, this morning we sadly took our leave of Baie de Chasseloup and followed "Giselle" out of the bay on a heading to hopefully take us clear of the coral reefs. We are a little distrustful of our electronic charts but they are only a little "out" at times!! Certainly navigating among coral reefs in lagoons is nothing like navigating around NZ where one spies headlands and islands and steers around them. In lagoon navigation there is generally very little of that nature and if there is there is usually an extensive shallow coral reef around the extremities. So, one is limited to man made markers and eyeballs. Fortunately in New Caledonia there are plenty of channel markers and isolated danger marks although they are not everywhere. So, diligent observation and the correct use of charts (whether electronic or paper) is paramount. When you haven't been to these places before it can become confusing and not a little stressful!!
We wended our way through the lagoon northwards keeping a sharp lookout for channel markers. The wind started out very light but gradually built during the day to 20 + knots. A typical SE wind pattern for this time of year. Fortunately it was more or less behind us and we motorsailed with little problem. "Giselle" set a large lightweight downwind sail and drew away from us. We were reluctant to put up anything too big in case we had made a mistake with our navigation and had to take evasive action in a hurry so sailed more slowly and conservatively We eventually arrived at our last waypoint and turned in towards Koumac. The Barrier Reef during our passage north today is on average 3-4 miles from the land so gives plenty of scope for lagoon sailing except that you have to be constantly aware of one's position vis-a-vis the smaller reefs in the lagoon. Most of them are marked and if the sun is shining and reasonably overhead they can be seen but if it's overcast it's a different story!! Very tricky and sometimes nervewracking navigation!! As we approached Koumac the wind did not lessen and we radioed the marina to see whether they had a space for us. They did but advised us to anchor until the morning because the high winds would make berthing difficult. So we dropped the anchor in what meagre shelter was available but had to re-anchor 3 times before we were satisfied with our position with other moored boats around. Each time we picked up again in strong winds we had to wash the chain and anchor as the bottom must be thick gloopy mud! Anyway, finally we were reasonably satisfied beside "Giselle" after all that although the wind was still blowing hard across the anchorage and the boat was moving around quite a bit. We cooked a stirfry for dinner and fell into bed secure in the knowledge that our trusty Rocna anchor was doing the job. The GPS confirmed that.
Cheers again from us
Jim and Gina

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