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,…

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…

Lay Of the Land

We have spent almost a week in Noumea, getting familiar with the lay of the land you might say. Our biggest stumbling block, surprisingly, hasn’t been the language barrier. I have to admit I am pretty proud of my abilities communicating in French this time around. I have managed not only restaurant orders but telephone…

Noumea

Just a quick update. We arrived in Noumea late yesterday afternoon after spending a quiet weekend in a beautiful anchorage about 30 NM from town, no check in’s on the weekend. The passage took almost exactly 5 days, down to the hour, from reef pass to reef pass. It was one of our wettest trips…

Underway to New Caledonia

We’ve departed on our 700NM passage from Fiji to New Caledonia. The weather looks good so we are crossing our fingers that it will take 5-6 days. However, we all know how accurate the weather man can be, so don’t get worried if it takes up to 10 days. I have activated our SPOT, a…

Galley Notes: I really like your pawpaw, can I shake your tree?

Last month I finally received a new supply of mason jars. The dozen that I carefully carried back from Australia last year quickly got filled in the last round of preserving I did. My enthusiasm for canning was bolstered by my success so another yachtie and I decided to combine our order and split the…

Broken Engines & Breadfruit Gnocchi

Equipment fails and things break but life doesn’t stop. There are still dental appointments and piles of stinky laundry and a sink full of dirty dishes. Amidst the chaos and frustration we still have to eat. The easy way out in times like these would be to have a hot shower and treat ourselves to…