An uneventful and pleasant four day sail from Lautoka saw us thru the reef into New Caledonia via the Havannah Passage on the south east side of the main island on October 4. An overnight stop in the beautiful and deserted Port Boise before continuing on to Noumea the following say. Noumea �- France in the South Pacific, back in the land of baguettes and croissants !! We stayed a few days in the Port Moselle marina to complete entry procedures, look around Noumea, re-provision, look for a Kohler genset tech (alas, no luck), get the spinnaker to a sailmaker for repairs due to a mishap in launching/retrieving it in high winds (the pull down sock bridle on the wrong side of the sail) enroute from Port Boise to Noumea and then off south to Ile Montravel in the Baie de Prony and then on to the fabled Iles des Pins. So lovely to experience such an idyllic group of islands with very little tourist development and no high rise buildings. Anchoring off the resort in the white sand of Kuto Bay alongside a dugong feeding on the sea grass gave us the opportunity of hiking the road to Vao for a little exercise and baguette hunting but then a bit more strenuous hike up the Pic Nga to gather the views of the surrounding waters and reefs. A few days in paradise then a short motoring jaunt inside the reef up the west coast of the Iles des Pins to Menore Island in company with �"Kindred Spirit�", a 62ft Sunreef cat whose owner/skipper Simon thankfully had the GPS coordinates for the numerous reef passages on the way. Such journeys are best taken in full sunlight hours when the colour of the water depths and reefs can easily be seen though GPS coordinates are reassuring also. A short sail to the Baie de Prony again, to the uninhabited Ile Casy this time to meet the resident dog �"Moose�", apparently left there some years ago, and be escorted on a walk around the island by him. Actually the day we were there another dog belonging to local campers did the tour for Moose who preferred to lie on the beach in the shade. Next day back to Noumea to re-provision, re-fuel and clear out with customs, immigration and the port authority, collect the repaired spinnaker and have a great dinner on �"Blue Roger�" with our Dutch friends Frank and Sandra who are headed for Coffs Harbor. A slow start the next day and we are now on a mooring at Ile Maitre, just a couple of miles off Noumea, though still inside the lagoon, waiting for a suitable weather window to sail to Southport, Oz. Our weather guru Capt Bob Cook has advised us to wait another day before setting out so we have delayed our departure to tomorrow, Thursday October 19. We hope to be in Southport, 760 nms away, by next Wednesday, October 25. Interestingly, Barry had brought with him a copy of James Michener�'s �"Tales of the South Pacific�", a somewhat fact-based novel of Michener�'s time with the US forces in this area during World War 2, much of it centered on New Caledonia and Vanuatu, also the Solomons. The flavor of the area and places we cruised allowed one to better relate to the stories in the book. There were no doubt worse places to spend the war years than New Caledonia, or in fact October 1 thru 18, 2017.

Well, back at Vuda Point to collect the genset controller after a great week in the southern Yasawa group of islands �- clear waters, dramatic islands and some challenging anchorages due to the coral shelves coming up abruptly from 100�' or so of water. A couple days anchored off Malolo allowed a day hiking into Musket Cove, lunch and a few coldies at one of the two resorts there but a dry and dusty place being on the west side of the island. Lots of boast still in the anchorage so we hauled anchor and headed north to Monuriki Island, also known as Castaway Island, where the Tom Hanks movie Castaway was filmed. Tom was not around but lots of tourists from the nearby resort islands visited on day trips, as did a large catamaran cruise ship, the Fiji Princess. No invites for dinner on the ship so we relied on the fine culinary expertise of Bazza to satisfy our needs. Next day north to Waya Island, anchoring off the village of Natawa in Yalobi Bay which did not have much to offer apart from a nice anchorage so next day to the village of Nalauwaki a rather neglected place on the north side of Waya in Rurugu Bay. Fortunately no death or torture by ruru while we anchored in the coral there, briefly, until we walked over the hill to the Octopus Resort and found a beautiful sand anchorage and a grotty yotty friendly resort and only one boat in the anchorage. We hauled anchor again and moved around the other side of the island to find 12 boats there. Fortunately cats have shallower draft than most keel boats so we were able to find a suitable spot closer inshore. A couple days snorkeling on the reef there and it was time to head back south to collect the genset controller at Vuda Point. We stopped at Vomo Island on the way south in a rather precarious spot on the edge of the reef, had a few drinks with Frank and Sandra on Blue Roger who arrived late in the afternoon and headed back to Vuda Point the next morning. Ah, the much desired controller was there !! We installed it and voila �- bloody nothing. Not a sound from the starter or the genset so�...�...�...�...�...gloom, the controller was not the problem so back to square one, phone calls to Australia and New Zealand (fortunately phone calls in and out of Fiji are extremely inexpensive) and more head scratching �- all produced nothing so to be able to continue our cruise we purchased a portable Yamaha genset (no T shirt this time) to provide battery charging. After re-fueling at Vuda Point this morning we motored up to Lautoka, cleared out of friendly Fiji and are now on our way to Noumea, New Caledonia. Maybe there is a Kohler genset wizard there ??

BULA !! from the lovely islands of Fiji, the land of friendly people and the $7 bank note (which celebrates their first ever Olympic goal medal, achieved in Rio by their rugby sevens team). We cleared into Fiji in Suva and spent a few enjoyable days in the town, moored at the Royal Suva Yacht Club, possibly a bit more �"royal�" in former days though with a very agreeable waterfront bar. Met with Ryan, of the famous SV �"Cheeky Monkey�" blog and his crew Ted �- a fun-loving pair for sure!! Partial crew change time in Suva with Lesley departing for her friend Lea�'s birthday party in Italy and further family and friends visits in the UK and Europe and then Brownie, Juri and paul headed for Vuda Point marina on the north west side of Viti Levu, a nice overnight sail. Paul departed for a week in Florida, just in time for hurricane Irma, assisting Connie with battening down the house in Port Charlotte and heading for old Shanghai friends�' (Justin and Nicole) condo in Cape Coral to ride out the storm. A bit of a non-event when it turned inland just south of Cape Coral and so not much damage on the west coast apart from a few signs, trees down etc but a lot of power outages. Juri and Brownie looked after EZ GO in Vuda Marina and then both left the boat as planned, Juri to sail eventually to New Zealand on another boat and Brownie returning to Maroochydore so, for the first time in the journey a complete crew change with Paul�'s elder brother Barry and cousin Robert (the Mongrel - RTM), also a cat sailor, joining in Vuda Point. A couple days�' familiarization with the boat and discovering our genset with a faulty electronic controller rendering it unusable and we headed for Malolo Island, about 15 miles west of Vuda Point, the site of the Musket Cove race week event, thankfully just finishing as we arrived yesterday to allow anchorage space. We are anchored off the east coast of Malolo, across the island from Musket Cove where we shall hike to today. Just as we were heading out of Vuda Marina it was great to see our old friends Frank and Sandra on �"Blue Roger�" moored outside clearing into Fiji �- we hope to catch up with them somewhere here before long All good on board, no further equipment problems, just waiting for the genset controller to be shipped from Australia and received in Vuda Point before we go back there to collect it, install it, complete Fiji clearing-out procedures, maybe by end-September and head for New Caledonia, approx. 600 miles south west. The genset is somewhat vital to a comfy cruise as it runs the 120 ltrs/hour (30 galls/hour) watermaker as well as charging the house AGM batteries which are a bit on the weak side after only one year of service so hopefully the controller will arrive in a timely fashion!! The solar panels do a good job charging the batteries during the day but sailing at night with instruments, lights, autopilot etc is a bit demanding on the battery bank �- ah, boats and marine equipment eh??

BULA !!! We are in Fiji (even as planned) after crossing the date line some time last night. A lovely sunrise to welcome EZ GO and crew to Fiji after a very nice two and a half day sail here from Tonga. No dramas, nice winds and swells going our way.Wind may drop later today so a little motor sailing to get into Fiji by mid-day to start the paper work tango of clearing into the country. Planning a few days�' cruising the Yasawa Group of islands here before a total crew change for the next leg to Noumea, New Caledonia. Stand by�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�....

TONGA !!! What happened to Rarotonga ?? Well, we were about to head south from Bora Bora at last writing and sailed against adverse conditions for a day or two with wind and swell out of the south east producing lots of water over the deck and slamming over the swells so decided to scrap plans to visit the Cook Islands, took a 90* right turn and headed for Vavau, Tonga, about a thousand miles west. We were blessed with mostly good sailing weather though ran into squalls west of Niue and onwards to Tonga that included rain, 40kts plus winds and 3 to 4 metre swells, not entirely attractive conditions so spent quite a bit of time motoring downwind without sails to avoid the worst of the weather. Our weather guru, Bob Cook had warned us of these squalls and advised a northern route however swell conditions prevented us from following his advice closely, thus we got hit a little. Conditions improved as we neared Tonga to allow some great spinnaker days. We arrived in Neiafu, Vavau, Tonga late afternoon Friday, August 18 so took a mooring off the township amongst approx. 30 other boats, including a collection of Oyster Yachts in the middle of their world rally �- lovely sailboats in the 50 to 65ft range mostly with paid crew so rich boys�' toys. After spending most of Saturday clearing into Tonga and (again) completing endless forms, crew lists etc we set out to explore Neiafu, a very cruiser friendly place with waterfront restaurants and bars and very friendly local folks, including the local authorities. Tonga is famous for humpback whales, one of the few places allowing swimming with the whales, well in a reasonably close proximity to them but the tours are booked out many months in advance. Juri was fortunate to be able to join a group and enjoyed being in the water with a mother and calf, perhaps the highlight of his Tonga time or perhaps not considering the number of young female crew friends he manages to attract!! We cruised amongst some beautiful islands in the Vavau group and enjoyed a village �"feast�" on Matamaka, a benefit dinner for the local school along with about 30 other cruisers. Roast pig and other delights as well as traditional dancing by a lovely young girl from the village but then a rain storm as we returned to the boats anchored in the bay. Our great, young Argentine crew member Gaston who was on a timeline to return to Tahiti and New Zealand on his way back home via Chile left us in Tonga however Dave Brown from Maroochydore has joined the crew to Fiji as previously noted to add a little age, experience and wisdom. After a really enjoyable time we have departed Tonga today and are bound for Suva, Fiji approx. 400 miles west of our current position enjoying some nice downwind and down swell, wing and wing sailing (mainsail out one side, genoa out the other) across the deep blue South Pacific.

A lovely spinnaker sail for the last half of the trip to Bora Bora, avoiding the Huahine reef where the 46 ft Leopard cat �"Tanda Malaika�" had gone aground the week before (and still remains), saw us safely thru the wide pass into the fabled harbor of Bora Bora with its imposing peaks and beautiful water colors in the surrounding reefs. A mooring buoy at the BB Yacht Club proved an easier destination than anchoring in the relatively deep waters in the lagoon waterways here, also a shorter dinghy ride to wifi and cold Hinanos.

Another �"hike�" (bloody hell, who �"hikes�" up near-vertical rock faces using static ropes??) 600 metres up one of the peaks in Bora Bora for Gaston, Juri and Paul with another Dutch friend Martin (who has a fear of heights!!) filled in most of the Friday �- Saturday and Sunday allowed for thigh recovery though Juri did the same hike again Saturday. The views from the top of the peak were fantastic. Sunday, we moved the boat around to Toopua Island, on the west side of the lagoon which allowed for lunch at the ritzy Conrad resort and snorkeling on the shallow reef areas though the first squalls of the approaching cold front caused a return to the safety of the yacht club mooring field on Monday morning.

The check out of French Polynesia at the very friendly Bora Bora Gendarmerie proved a bit more tedious than previously indicated by the folks in Papeete, with the usual redundant forms to be completed and a wait �'til next day for final clearance from Papeete (and of course no action at all on the weekend) but finally we are cleared out and will leave for Rarotonga tomorrow, Tuesday after a wait for the cold front to pass thru and take its rain with it. We have been very fortunate with weather but the full day of rain here is enough for a while.