Dingo's log: Koumac to Koumac via the Great North Lagoon

clear water, see the anchor!

We are back in Koumac marina after a great two and half weeks of sailing. The weather has been mixed, quite cloudy, cool enough not to require the deck shade covers and to occasionally wear trousers and beanies.

clear water

From Koumac we headed toward Poum, stopping for one night tucked in behind a mountainous isle Tanle. Poum is a tiny town with two gas pumps and a small store that stocks magnums (cheaper than OZ!). Here we met local character Leon, a Kanak fisherman who sold us 10 pomelos, 3 papayas and 1 soursop. We are still eating the pomelos (they keep well onboard).

one of many islets in the lagoon

Rejane after her encounter with a shark

We took off for our first isle in the lagoon but as the wind was gusting and the sky overcast and the anchorage somewhat tenuous, we bore away and ran down wind to the large deserted island Neba which had a good protection, fine walking beach and a couple of wild papayas. From here we headed direct to the village of Waala on ile Art, the largest island in the Belep group right at the north of the country. The anchorage is good and we tucked in near the marina late afternoon and listened delightedly to the clear laughter of the village kids as they played in the soft twilight around the bay’s beaches.

beauties in Art island

Next day we made Kastum (la Coutume) with the high Chef and he told us some of the group’s history. The island is totally Catholic (solitary fine church up the hill), has a Gendarme, doctor, nurse, weekly fly-in dentist and physio. The village is totally Kanak, very friendly and oozed happiness and contentment though for sure there is the usual noisy discontented youth. Enquiring about buying bananas, we ended up with three full bunches to take back to the boat!

new beanie for the skipper

Rejane up the mast

Next island was ile Pot, further north still, the last of the isles Belep. The narrow entrance to the large reef-choked harbour once had a WW2 American army lookout post. Exploring the ruins was rather eerie in such a tranquil setting. Disappointingly the huge bay was fringed by mangrove and mud beaches with the only walking on the seaward beaches.

Time to head south into the teeth of the trades and we beat to windward to ile Yande. This has a small fishing village and the pilot suggests a rather open roadstead anchorage which was not much shelter as the wind had a lot of south in it. Instead we nosed into a sheltered cliff ringed cove on the North shore beneath the 300m peak. Despite poor holding (hard sand and rock) this turned out to be a gem. There was a big sea cave in a headland to row into and fine walks, one of which took us up to a waterfall via a series of magical rock pools. A couple of fishermen stopped by in a tinnie and asked us not to fish (tabu!) and I have to admit this was not a problem as so far we have not put a hook in the water.

getting into a coconut

the happy divers

We stayed in ile Yande for two nights, then rounded the northern point of the big island. As we left Yande's shelter we found the trades blasting and a big 2m steep chop, this was a fast beam reach and Dingo delivered a steady 7 knots under jib alone. We slipped through a shallow channel onto the east coast and the wind dropped as we beat up to Boat Passage with its very narrow entrance girt with coral and bommies. We couldn’t get ashore easily so next day we left for the huge ile Balabio on a fast beam reach and spent the afternoon snorkeling in a patch of bright sunshine. Once again the reef was OK but not the fantasy one imagines. It seems, like everywhere else we got under water, that it has been damaged by the last warm water bleaching event and/or cyclone winds.

tropical bounty

Next day was a fine beat up a wide reef border channel to the presqu’ile de Pam and its snug little cove. The nearby gravel coast road gave us two long walks on subsequent days, we saw a total of three cars in four hours walking.

We wanted to head south down the east coast but due to strong trades and a narrowing reef channel we could not make it to the next three anchorages, one of which was Captain Cook's only landing when he discovered New Cal for Europeans.

This was disappointing but the wind rules and if you ever sail to New Caledonia, our suggestion for the best route would be:

Entry at Noumea

narrow passage between reefs

Head south to Ile of Pines (optional if ban on sailing to other anchorages other than Bay de Kuto is not lifted)

Leave lagoon through Havana pass, to ile Lifou

Cross to ile Uvea

Back to big island re-entering lagoon to the North of Canala

North up east coast calling at:

- fabled Hienghene

- Captain Cook's anchorage

- Presqu’ile de Pam

- Ile Balabio

- Iles Belep

- Ile Yande

narrow entrance at Koumac

- Poum

Then south to Koumac where you can exit the country by sending someone down to Noumea by bus to check out (Rejane will do this in few days’ time), then you have three days to clear the country. If you are heading east you can depart from Hienghene.

Turning back and heading for Koumac to check out felt like a real turning point and now just one offshore passage separates us from Australia and all that the wide brown land means for both of us.

Oh and by the way we saw only one other yacht in these weeks in the great north lagoon. Jamie

entrance of the Koumac caves

in the Koumac caves

Koulnoue Village resort

Once back in Koumac, we hired a car and set off for a night camping in Hienghene. Beautiful ride to Hienghene through the mountains, especially as the eastern side got really lush and fecund. We bought papayas from roadside stalls and admired the food forests that are people’s gardens. As we drove past a resort (Village Koulnoue), just before Hienghene, we took a look in. Lo and behold, they had a senior’s special discount at 50% including bed, dinner and breakfast, AND it was a party night for Bastille day with dancing and fireworks. How could we resist (I didn’t mind telling them I was over 60!), forget the camping and in to the king size bed we go!! We had a great evening surrounded by lots of French people on holiday, we ate and drank too much, we waved our French flags, danced, watched tv (no tv onboard, so it was a luxury!), had several hot showers, and totally enjoyed our decision as a storm of rain and wind went through the night. Rejane