August
2017 Vuda Marina Fiji to Noumea, New Caledonia
We
spent our final week in Fiji doing the many tasks that need be done to prepare
the boat and crew for an extended time at sea.
After provisioning and final preparations were complete we had one item
left on our Fiji bucket list. We had
heard much about the wonderful folks at Robinson Crusoe Island and their
hospitality. We made our reservations
and enjoyed our last Fiji feast entertained by true native Fijians doing what
they do so well.
Welcome
to Robinson Crusoe Island
...a taste of Fiji.
After
our final visit to Vuda Marina to fuel up, enjoy a wonderful House Special
lunch of fresh caught Waloo fish’n chips (without a doubt some of the best
EVER),
Manager
of Vuda Resort Restaurant…Mr. Keith!
we
checked out with Customs and said our Bula Bula Goodbyes to the staff who have
been so good to us during our 3 yr stay in this beautiful country of Fiji.
Vuda
Marina Staff…some of the friendliest EVER!
As we were ready to drop our mooring lines, the
staff sang a Fiji Blessing to us in their native language with harmony that is
so wonderfully FIJIAN…
a mix of sad and happy emotions of our final Fiji
Farewell.
Vuda Marina Staff Singing
Fiji Farewell!
We
made our way south to Port Denerau for our last overnight stay in this
enchanted land before our 700 mile passage to New Caledonia.
After
patiently waiting for a 6 day weather window we departed early morning Aug 5 with
clear sunny skies and the exotic fragrances of Fiji wafting over the stern. As the late afternoon breeze freshened we
looked back for our final glimpse at our native home for the past three
years.
Farewell
Fiji!
It
was time now to look ahead to New Caledonia, a French outpost with a foreign
language and some of the tastiest pastries on the planet…mmmm :o).
Our
first two days were uneventful with clear skies and almost a full moon and comfortable
sea state. We had one encounter with a
fishing boat that was not transmitting on AIS, and seemed to be making an
effort to intercept us. As we are ever
mindful of unwelcome guests on the high seas, we turned off our AIS, sped up
and left them behind…no worries.
Day
3 brought about our first real challenge of the passage when ‘Otto’ (autopilot)
decided he was taking a break. This
proved unfortunate for us as the wind and seas continued to build and hand
steering for the final 350 miles was not going to be fun. Along with the heavier winds came the rain and
squalls which forced us to shorten sail in less than ideal conditions, but
despite the challenges, Capt and 1st Mate rose to the occasion and
‘got er done’.
Day
4 was more of the same with some of the biggest seas we have experience in our
15 yrs of cruising. When we say ‘house
sized swell’ we do so to provide some visual image of the conditions we were
in. Thankfully, the wind and swell were
somewhat in harmony coming from the stern which allowed us to surf along making
good speed and time. If there was any
good news it was that hand steering in these conditions can be classified as
extremely exciting…albeit challenging and exhausting.
Day
5 we were approx. 4 hrs from the eastern reef entrance to the south lagoon of
New Caledonia and doing our best to make time to coincide with the incoming
flood tide when the wind decided to back around to the nose. This necessitated firing up the ‘iron genny’
(engine) and driving headlong into a very boisterous sea with waves now
cascading over the bow and along the deck.
As the sun was fading over the hills of New Caledonia we made our way
thru the reef into the southern lagoon and a petite bay and safe anchorage and
dropped the hook. It was dark, time to
lick our wounds and get some rest.
Assessing the damage would have to wait till the light of another day.
As
morning broke, and we awoke, as yet our eyes still blinking…we took stock of
the damage. We discovered that our mainsail
had torn out a couple of cars and our headsail was torn and would need some
serious repairs and one of our deck dorades (those wind scoopy things on the
deck) was AWOL, obviously washed away by one of the many large waves that
pummeled our deck during the last few hours at sea. This in itself was remarkable considering it
had been held in place with 7 stout deck screws, a reminder of just how
forceful and savage the sea can be.
But
no worries, we were safe and all of the above could be
repaired or replaced. As we enjoyed our
first morning coffee in this new land we noticed that the name on the chart for
the bay in which we were anchored was Cap de Canibales. Haha…perhaps a good idea not to linger.
We
set sail and made our way towards Noumea feeling stronger and ready for the
final few miles to the capital city of New Caledonia, for our check in and
introduction to this exotic French paradise.
Traditional indigenous Kanak Tribal carvings
One of many French Roman Catholic Cathedrals of Noumea.
We
have read and heard much about this French Colonial outpost and we look
forward to experiencing it first hand.
