Hadn’t expected much for wind, but ended up having a truly “dreamy sail” from Ile des Pins to Ilot Ua, steady light winds with minimal seas and clear skies.
We had planned on doing lots of wing-foiling in New Caledonia, but instead have been given flat calm seas, lagoons of pure calm turquoise waters, wonderful nights of sleep, and spectacular sunsets.
Though Calder might prefer wing sports, he adapted to tow-foiling and wakeboarding behind a dinghy with friends in Ilot Kouare. And the calm feels like a gift, mellow days where it’s too hot and sunny to do much except short beach strolls and dips into the ocean to cool off.
On the horizon is our New Zealand passage, oftentimes challenging, but for the moment, we have Ilot exploring.
In New Caledonia, an îlot is a small uninhabited islet — usually a tiny patch of white sand, coral rubble, or low vegetation surrounded by turquoise waters. They’re scattered across the massive UNESCO-listed barrier reef and some take only 30 minutes to walk around, often bird sanctuaries with the echo of birds calling from the middle brush of the islet.
We had a beachfire with driftwood both nights here, the calls of the young birds eerie like ghosts from the shrubbery, sea kraits slithering their way to and from the ocean. Sea kraits are highly venomous marine snakes with distinctive bands, but are non-aggressive toward humans.
They follow a predictable daily rhythm: they typically hunt in the ocean at night when their prey (mostly eels and small fish) are more active, and then return to land during the day to rest, digest, and warm up. The patterns they make as they move along shore are swirling artwork in the sand.
A likely weather window to New Zealand prompted us back to the city of Noumea to get ready to leave. Chris and I took a day to explore downtown Noumea, areas of rebuilding after last year’s riots, quieter tourist areas such as the Peace Gardens.
Chris went up the mast to check the rigging and discovered that the dyneema line that attaches the upper bearing of the genoa furler to the halyard was chafed (this is what holds the sail up!) and needed to be replaced.
Our buddy boat had the right diameter of line and Calder made two end loops using a Brummel splice to make a new strop.
We stowed and secured items, filled the boat with baguettes and fresh produce, checked out of the country (the easiest process ever!), and filled the fuel tanks with duty-free fuel (Chris only 6 L off his estimate of our need to fill both tanks and all our jugs).
We sailed from Noumea to Ilot Amedee, finding our boat gecko clinging perilously to our swim step, splashed with saltwater and not doing well.
We decided he needed to be let free, as he had boarded the boat in Fiji and New Zealand might be a bit chilly for him. He also wasn’t looking great with the lack of food, lack of a mate (he had stopped chirping), and his saltwater spray. To shore, the kids found a tree home for him with vegetation and he started to move about more.
Tonight, massive turtles swam around our boat and the Amedee lighthouse, celebrating its 160th anniversary, was lit up in a lightshow of beautiful colors at nightfall.
Tomorrow morning we head out for our 7 day passage to New Zealand. The weather continues to evolve and this passage is not looking straight forward; I will try to post daily. Tonight, we say goodnight, as the Amedee lighthouse glows in magical colors in front of our boat.
SV Terikah Adventures 