Dingo's log

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

bbq on Art island

Koulnoue church

Next stop OZ.

Hiengene

Hienghene

Art island cemetery

goose winging

bbq on Art island

coral

Church Ouvea

Rainbow on the East Coast

The trades relented and we left Bay des Citrons and reached out eastwards taking a northerly passage till we could make Canal Woodin, separating la Grande Terre from Isle Ouin. There we encountered a strong current and standing waves. Turning into the Baie de Priony we anchored in Magic Bay, part of a new reserve. All day we had been followed (then overtaken!) by Heidi and Steve in their little Brolga, despite using our motor occasionally!

Church in Ouvea

Jesus was a black man, Ouvea

Rejane and I went shore for our first encounter with some tropical rainforest, walked thru it and up into mountain scrub very similar to OZ. Forty five minutes walk took us up to the lighthouse and down to the brand new whale viewing platform with its splendid binoculars (but a month too early for whales).

Next day we slipped round to Port Boisé and in cloudy weather anchored in a river mouth to walk the north shore of the bay. From there we sailed out of the Havana Pass and turned north up the coast, anchoring nightly at:

Yate (a rather open roadstead)

Ouinne (with its private mine village where Dede kindly welcomed us ashore and showed us round)

Port Bouquet (the first anchorage that struck us as special)

Lekine cliffs, Ouvea

Two days later we left at 0300 and negotiated the reef by moonlight to leave the pass into the open sea around 0430, making good time in boisterous trades and sea to the pass into the big lagoon of the atoll Ouvea.

Felix, our guide, Ouvea

Our stay in Ouvea was very nice and, apart from too much dull weather and difficulty accessing coral reef for snorkeling, most enjoyable. We anchored at four different locations over 10 days, making ‘kastom’ with two of the chiefs (actually one of them was the chief’s younger brother, as the high chief was in the fleshpots of Noumea). This entailed presenting a length of cloth, having a polite conversation and asking for permission to anchor, walk, swim etc. This was cordially granted with some ‘tabu’ places being pointed out.

Sunset in Ouvea

Virgin Mary, Ouvea

The farther we went into the lagoon the more pleasant it became, but the further off we had to anchor due to shallows. Dan and Rejane went off on a hitch-hiking tour to a vanilla plantation and coconut oil factory. They also saw the graves of the eight Kanak freedom fighters who, having killed two gendarmes and taken tourists hostage, were themselves killed by French marines (1988). An unresolved colonial situation.

We all took a $20-a-head trip with Felix, which by the brochure promised “a trip in a motorized glass bottomed punt, a guided walk seeing medicinal plants and caves, snorkelling on the reef with masks and fins provided”. All that materialized was the ride in the punt! Sixty bucks lighter but a matchless island experience.

We sailed back to the big island entering the lagoon further north than our exit point and over the next few days beat, then motored (when the trades thankfully dropped out) southwards to the Ile des Pins.

Resort, Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins proved a little unwelcoming. We were short of water and there was none available near the anchorage. The town hall would not switch on the water on the jetty, the gendarmes nearby would not allow us to fill up from their tap, nor the adjacent resort. We were also told that the island administration had banned yachts from visiting any of the bays other than the one we were in (Kuto). If we did visit other bays we faced the possibility of being stoned!

Mass in Ile des Pins

After a walk up the highest hill we sailed back to Noumea so Dan could depart, and to wait for our neighbours Bill and Janelle to turn up. Last night we said au revoir to Dan, and this morning Bill Janelle and Rejane have gone to the Ile des Pins on the ferry for the weekend.

After flirting with the idea of returning directly to OZ from Noumea, we have changed our plans again and are now heading up the west coast to the great lagoon.

Jim

Bill and Janelle at the Baie de Moselle marina

La suite –

Spending few days with good friends Bill and Janelle on board was wonderful. That’s despite the adverse weather, rain, wind, clouds, which prevented us from doing more touristy things. It was with sadness that I saw them take off in their little rental car.

Fashion parade, Place des Cocotiers, Noumea

Noumea Cultural Center

St Joseph cathedral, Noumea

Our new plans suit us perfectly after all the indecision of what to do and where to go. So we set off as soon as the gale (with 50 knot gusts) ended and the seas calmed down. Our plan is to sail to the northern tip of New Caledonia. So far, the west coast has been very rewarding, great sceneries of mountains, good snorkeling (including at beautiful Ile Tenia with crystal clear waters) and the best weather and wind to top up the menu. At Ile Tenia, as we were getting ready to go snorkeling from the dinghy and we were wondering if we would be able to get back into the dinghy, I dived down to come just about face to face with a shark. I was back in the dinghy in two seconds flat, no worries!

Today we got into Koumac where there is a small marina (very welcoming and quiet after Noumea) and a good internet connection. The day after tomorrow it’s the north and the great lagoon for two or three weeks.

Rejane