Before we departed Noumea I hit the grocery store and stocked up on a few things; not exactly essentials but items that make the occasional afternoon a little less ordinary. I found excellent prices on olives, sun-dried tomatoes, smoked mussels and pate- yes, I know pate, but at $1.00 a tin even we can afford…
Halo! from Port Vila
We had a quick but bumpy passage from New Caledonia, pushing headwinds the whole way, despite weather forecasts assuring us differently. Although Port Vila harbour has leads and lights that would have made navigating in after dark we did not know what would be the state of the harbour after Pam; would there wreckage and…
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Au revoir
After two days of beating against 20-25 kt winds we are finally tucked into Port Boise just inside the Havannah Pass, almost exactly where we started from a month ago. Tomorrow morning on the out going tide we are planning to slip through the pass and point NE to Vanuatu. Winds look like they will…
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Galley Notes: Cardamom Scented Applesauce and the Good Life
We had a heck of a sail back to Noumea the other day, stronger than expected winds, low cloud, and constant rain cut visibility down to half a mile and made for a pretty bumpy ride. When we hit the grocery store late that afternoon there was a cart full of must-go’s in the produce…
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Lost in Translation
We’ve been sitting out a little bit of weather for the past four days. A big high down south and one heck of a low around Tasmania have given us re-enforced trade winds, a steady 20-25kts with local gusts upwards of 35kts, so says Meteo Nouvelle Caledonie. They’ve brought with them low clouds and lots…
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Row, Row, Row Your Boat…
We’ve been doing a fair bit of rowing over the past few days. Not because we’ve been trying to be super quiet so not to disturb the animals as we meander down that gentle stream. Or because we’ve been so close to shore it only takes three strokes to get there. It is not because…
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Happy little surprises
Every once in a while you find something unusual when exploring the anchorage du jour, as the French would say. An old boat run aground, a tree strung with washed up left flip flops, a colony of wild pigs snuffling in the sand, an abandon prison. Seldom do you find a well-built and maintained jetty,…
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Show me the way
I grew up not far away from a very iconic lighthouse, it’s located in Peggy’s Cove. In fact if you’ve ever seen a photo of Nova Scotia it probably featured in it. It has stood guard for over a hundred years and continues not only to be a source of pride for the people in…
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Secluded Perfection in New Caledonia
We left Noumea last week and sailed south back toward the reef pass we sailed through on our way from Fiji. Along the coast there are several deep bays and protected anchorages so we took a couple days to make the passage. The prevailing winds are E-SE this time of year so it was windward…
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May BWS Article: Food for Thought
There is still time to hit the news stands and pick up the May 2015 Issue of Blue Water Sailing magazine where you can read my article “Food for Thought” all my tips and tricks to make provisioning quicker and food last longer!
