Leaving Ouvea at dawn the 50 mile sail across the channel to the “mainland” of Terra Grande was pretty uneventful. We started out motorsailing in 5-10 kts of wind and calm seas, but after a couple of hrs the wind picked up (10-15 kts) and we had a great sail close reaching across to Nakety Pass where we entered the reef and motorsailed another 20 miles down the coast to our first anchorage near Baie de Bouquet.

The next 100 miles down the east side of Terra Grande can be difficult as the course lies SE directly into the prevailing trade winds which are often accelerated here by the land mass. Lucky for us the next 3 days were forecast to blow soft northerlies, so we had great conditions to motorsail down the coast inside the reefs. We made the trip in 3 easy days of harbor hopping, stopping in Baie de Kouakoue and Ile Nou on our way to Baie de Prony on the southern end of Terra Grande.

There are many secure anchorages along this coast, most are protected by land mass and or the outer reefs, but there are few settlements and because of the shoreline reef structure, we found it difficult to get ashore. As a result, we enjoyed most of the local scenery from the boat. Each anchorage along the way had it’s unique charms and challenges. Baie de Kouakoue was well protected with a good mud bottom, but very deep. We ended up anchored in 70 ft of water, but the Rocna set well and held like a demon. At Ile Nou we had to follow a serpentine passage over a mile through the reefs and between islands to a very protected lagoon where we spent a peaceful night (see pic). From there, the final leg through Havanna Pass had to be planned for a rising tide as the currents can reach 5 kts and boats have been swept onto the nearby reefs, but with the current in our favor, we shot through at 8 kts and had a swift trip up to Baie de Prony.