After an absence of a few years we are back on board Parhelion with the intention of sailing into warmer climates for the winter. We are currently at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Newport waiting to be lifted out tomorrow for our annual antifoul. We should be back in the water mid week, however we have another issue that may delay our departure somewhat. Our fridge is not working and is currently off the boat where people cleverer than me are trying to figure out what's wrong with it. We wont hear a verdict until Monday and therefore, at this stage, don't know how long (or how much) the delay is going to cost us.

There's a high pressure system sweeping over us at the moment, and with that, bringing perfect weather for sailing north with good 15-25kt south westerly winds, however we can't take advantage of it because of the delay. By later in the week, the high pressure system will be on top of us producing light and variable winds at first then swing to the north which are not ideal conditions to head north.

We'll just have to wait and see when we'll get away.

It's been ages since our last blog update so here we go again, picking up from Tadine on the island of Mare in the Loyalty group of islands, which are still part of New Caledonia.

We departed Tadine for Wé on the island of Lifou, and took a berth in this funny little Marina, along with Harry and Denny of Malua. The Marina manager was a treat and offered to give us a tour of the local town.

Along with Harry and Denny we booked a rent a car and went off to explore the northern end of the Island. Regrettably it was Bastille Day so nobody was around and nothing was open except a little Thai restaurant near the marina where the four of us had a late lunch about three in the afternoon.

We still had the car the next day so drove around the southern part of the island. As it was our last night in Wé, we took advantage of the local Thai restaurant, and went back for dinner. Fortunately we had settled up our bill for the marina earlier in the day because the next morning we were planning to leave fairly early to take advantage of the tide to get out of the marina. Louis, the manager, promised he'd be there before eight to let go our lines but as it was the morning after the finals of the world cup with France winning, the entire island was suffering hangovers and he didn't surface to see us off. We sailed around the top of the island and anchored in 7 metres of sand off the village of Doyueoulou. 250 metres away the water was still 500m deep. The depths around here are staggering. In the middle of the bay where we were anchored, the depth was 1,400 metres!

The next morning, on the way to Ouvea, Deb had taken a fall in the cockpit but recovered quickly. Braved it and carried on. Ouvea was a real treat, we anchored outside a beautiful resort in 6 metres of water and you could see the anchor and the chain on the bottom, so clear. We treated ourselves to lunch here at the resort. We needed a few things including baguettes (these are sold everywhere) and we found there was a shop on the island, so hitch hiked to the village of Fayoa, about 12 km away. There was no public transport here, so it was the only way and we were told it was very safe. It's a different world over here.

We couldn't fill our gas bottles in Noumea and we were getting very low so Harry came up with the brilliant idea of buying a local bottle and using Harry's fittings and adapter to decant that gas into our bottles. We managed to fill three 9kg bottles so the skipper is happy now that can have hot showers again.

After spending about 5 days in Ouvea Atoll, we sailed back to the mainland on our way to Noumea to clear out for Vanuatu. We stopped at a few forgettable anchorages down the east coast of Grande Terre. At one anchorage, Greg went ashore to look for baguettes and was driven by one of the supervisors of the mine and was fascinated to hear about the mine. There was a lot of mining along this coast for Nickel.
The worst anchorage on the east coast was Bay de Quinne. The forecast was for 5-10 knots but by 0930 it was coming in from the SE at 15 knots. Very soon it was up to 20 knots so 25-28 kts apparent and we were motoring into it. By the time we got to the anchorage at Quinne it was blowing consistently at around 30 kts with gusts up to 40 kts. Parhelion handled it in her stride although a little wet and weary by the time we got in (we were dry and happy cause we were inside). After a very rolly night with suspect holding we up anchored and left for Yatea, 23 miles to the south east. When we anchored the bow was burying itself in the waves, so needless to say we didn't get the dinghy down and go ashore but moved to the southern side where the water was calmer. It was so nice to have a calm anchorage for the night.

In the morning, we motored (this time we were heading in the right direction - NW, but the wind had completely died) back to Port Moselle, Noumea for the last time to restock and catch up with friends. We had met some lovely people along the way including a family on a catamaran called Three Little Birds as they had 3 children on board, the youngest being 18 months, the eldest being 4 yrs old. Although mum and the kids didn't do the crossing from Australia, we had to admire the family for the calm, cool way they handled life on the boat with three young kids.

We cleared Customs and Immigration on the 27th July and left Moselle Marina the next morning en route to Baie du Prony where would overnight before clearing Havannah Passage (the southern exit from New Caledonia). The next morning we did an overnight passage to Vanuatu in company with Curried Oats Katfish, Shamila J, Tallisker, and Grey Nurse. Our landfall was Tana in Vanuatu. So another passage under our belts.

We anchored in Port Resolution on Tana and immediately fell in love with Vanuatu. The people were great and it was nice to wander through the village being made to feel so welcome. Vanuatu surely is the happiest place on the planet. The smiles are so genuine and everywhere we go we are greeted with a "allo". We have never seen teeth so white. You wouldn't want to be a dentist over here - you'd go broke.
During our stay on Port Resolution we visited Mt. Yassa - the world's most accessible active volcano. It was quite amazing siting on the edge of the crater at sunset watching this thing belching flames and lava high into the air.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Vanuatu so far. We have had very lovely anchorages where the custom is to ask the Chief permission to look around and take some gifts for him to share with his people. We had fishing lines, hooks, sinkers, clothing, books, pencils, rice, reading glasses. As some of the islands and anchorages are very isolated these small gifts are much appreciated.

A treat was Havannah Harbour on Efaté north of Vila, where we went ashore to the Wahoo Bar & Restaurant right on the water. It was owned by an Australian couple, who had owned it for 3 years. The food was delicious and we had marinated mussels to share followed by Lobster. Yummy.

Heading north away from Efaté We visited the islands of Pele and Nguna. On Nguna in the village of Tikilasoa we met the chief, Sham who proudly showed us around his village. We invited him onboard Parhelion, and felt very privileged for him to come aboard. In conversation, Sham explained he had no rubbers for his spear gun so Greg gave him his old hand spear. Sham was very grateful and offered to take our rubbish ashore. New Caledonia had more opportunities to take it ashore and put in in their bins but Vanuatu does not have the infrastructure to dispose of rubbish in outlying areas (the ni-Vanuatu people have very little rubbish because they grow everything they eat) so we end up storing our rubbish (mainly packaging) aboard the boat.

We up anchored and headed for Epi Island, 45 miles away with a light ESE breeze on the beam. Lovely sailing, as mostly we've had to motor or motor sail, due to differing conditions. Now that's frustrating. We were headed to Nelson Bay on the west side of Epi Island. Nelson Bay was a bad anchorage as there were small patches of sand surrounded by coral. We could hear the anchor dragging over coral through the night.
Again, Greg was constantly amazed at the depth of the water in this part of the world. In some areas where we have sailed, the water is over 2.5 kilometres deep!

After a disturbed night at Nelson Bay, we up anchored at first light the next morning and headed for Lamon Bay on the north west coast of Epi Island. Now this was a real treat as we met Bennington and her husband Kenneth (chief of the village and Pastor). Bennington has a 2 bedroom bungalow she rents out. Very, very basic, but her food is a treat. One guy had been there 7 months and there was a delightful girl and her daughter staying there as well. She was loving it as Bennington prepared vegan meals for them. We ordered Coconut Bread and breakfast for the next morning. We were served in the shade under a big tree. Pancakes and Bennington's home made coconut jam, pawpaws, mangos, grapefruit and a plunger of local coffee, what a treat, all for Vatu1,000 (about AU$12).

It's now September 10 and Debbie's birthday and we are anchored at Malakula Island (20 miles east of Epi). We are in Port Sandwich (don't know why it's called that) but it's also called Shark Bay in the cruise books but the locals say that's rubbish, there's no sharks here. We haven't risked it by going for a swim. Yesterday (Sunday) we were wandering down the road and heard singing. It turned out there was a small church. During our Pacific crossing 10 years ago we often visited island churches on a Sunday. We are not particularly religious but to here Melanesions ore Polynesions singing is something that is hard to forget. We hadn't intended to go into the church and were sitting in the grounds listening to the singing when one of the Pasters came out and insisted on us joining the congregation. We did so and apart from the singing were treated to about an hour of fairly animated gospel in Bislamic (the local language) which of course we couldn't understand. Of course we were made to feel very special and at the end of the service the congregation, one by one came up and shook our hand. The Paster insisted on walking back to the boat with us (they had given us some corn, beans and a pumpkin which he carried) so we invited him out to Parhelion for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

There is a little store here with extremely limited stock but to make up for that, the lovely owner makes her own bread every day. This afternoon we went back in and bought a kilo of fresh beef that was killed this morning. So it's bar-b-que time on Parhelion as the sun sinks slowly in the west and we share a bottle of wine for Deb's birthday.

We departed beautiful Isle de Pins on the 22nd June at 8am only having to navigate through reefs. When we got through Greg put the sails up and we headed for Isle de Casey in the Baie de Prony in the south island of Grande Terre (New Caledonia), in company with ‘Priscalina’.

Isle de Casey is a small island in the middle of Prony with a little jetty that served when there was a resort there. Long before the resort came and went, the island was home to some of the convicts released from the penitentiary on the mainland. We had a lovely walk up the hill and around the island which was challenging for Debbie who was a bit unsteady on her feet as the path was rocky and slippery with puddles of mud. But she made it. We were there with 80 local participants in a Treasure Hunt up the hill. They had been brought over by 8 catamarans. They were having heaps of fun. After the climb and back on board, we had sundowners on ‘Parhelion’ with Jenny and Steve from ‘Priscalina’ and Pat from 'Duette'. Always tall stories are told.

The following day we sailed the 28 miles back to Noumea and anchored out to wait for a berth in the marina and to reprovision. Greg had arranged a mechanic to come down to remove and service the fuel injectors so this was best done whilst in the marina.

Whilst in Noumea we caught a local bus to the end of the line where there was a hotel and had a buffet lunch, for the grand sum of $60 Aussie dollars each. It’s very expensive here but we have to grin and bear it whilst we are here. We were there a bit late and most of the food (which was essentially a breakfast buffet) was gone.

Back to the boat where we had asked ‘Three Little Birds’ (a Perry 43) over for afternoon tea. They said it would be easier for us to come to them, as they have 3 children under 5 on board. Lovely family, the parents are so calm. I don’t know how they do it. The catamaran has miles of space and each child has their own cabin. Clare has a breadmaker, so we were spoiled with home made buns. A lovely afternoon.

We knew a single hander sailor was coming in who we originally met through Batemans Bay Marina. He sails alone because his wife gets very seasick and chooses to fly in and join him when he arrives anywhere. Now that she’s arrived they will sail in company with us whilst we explore the Loyalty Islands off the east coast of New Cal.

Before leaving the Marina we has a delightful morning aboard a beautiful Moody 45 Deck Saloon. They have a proper coffee machine, just like the cafes have but smaller. The yacht is meticulously kept and was a delight to walk through. Gunter and Erica had already met Greg when he was working at Yoti, a small world.

We had arranged with single-hander Harry that we’d meet him at Ilet Maitre, (the island on which we had made our landfall). Harry and Denny were delighted to be there, (their first visit) because it was a yachty friendly island. Many resorts won’t let yachties in. Athough we had found the resorts in Isle de Pin friendly as well, especially the beautiful Meridien Resort, where we enjoyed morning coffee.

Enjoyed coffee, a beer and lunch at Ilet Maitre with Harry and Denny before departing the next day for Baie de Prony, staying two nights in Baie Majic, climbing another mountain to get stunning views across to Isle de Pins.

We dropped out of the anchorage at 1500 on July 9th for the overnight passage to Mare, the first of the three main islands in the Loyalties, arriving at 0500 the next morning to anchor of Tadine, the main administrative centre of the island – a post office, gendarmerie, town hall and small supermarket, that’s it. We will spend another day here tomorrow and head north to Lifue, the next island in the chain where hopefully we can rent a car and explore the island. We tried to rent a car in Mare but the four rental companies (basically one or two cars each owned by the different tribes) had no body who could speak English so we were unable to do so.

It’s been a very long time since we updated the blog, so here goes.

After finally reaching Southport we started all the preparations for the Go East Rally to New Caledonia. A total of 34 yachts were registered for the Rally and a few days before the planned departure we had a welcome cocktail (Masquerade ) party at the Southport Yacht Club. By this time we had moved in to the marina at the Club so all was very convenient.

Deb Keely (Deb 2), our crew arrived on the 12 May, so all the final preparations started, final shop, so if we’ve forgotten anything bad luck.

Because we had entered the Rally, Border Security came down to the SYC on the day before departure and all crew and yachts were formally cleared out of Australia. The weather window we were looking for opened up on the 15th May. We had the use of a professional weather router based in New Zealand together with our onboard sat phone that enabled us to get 6 hourly weather downloads and recommended routing, so gone were the days of sticking our finger up to the wind to decide whether or not to go sailing.

We set off on the morning of the 15th, clearing the Southport Seaway at 0900 with blue skies and a south easterly breeze of 15kts. The wind was coming from a perfect angle for the passage, however it was accompanied with a 3-4 metre sea which made things a bit bumpy for the first three days.
Poor Deb2 was sea sick for the first 3 days. She never complained, and she still did her watches through the night with a few interruptions for a gentle disposal of stomach contents over the side. Being the great sport she is, she started to come good and by day 4 was finally on top of things. One yacht turned back with auto pilot problems and another failed to start due to a sickness on board so that left 32 yachts in the fleet.

We were on a starboard tack (the wind was coming from the right hand side of the boat) for the entire trip. This meant for most of the passage we were heeled over about 10-15 degrees. For us, a starboard tack is more comfortable because we don’t need lee clothes to stop us falling out of bed, however the downside is that the shower drain won’t drain and we also found that the starboard fuel tank was leaking into the bilge through an inspection port on its top side.

We entered Dunbar Passage, New Caledonia on 21st May, after six days at sea. Again, the rally organisers had arranged for us to be cleared in at a small island resort a few miles from Noumea. This was a huge advantage because it meant we didn’t need to come into the main marina or anchor out in what is a very crowded anchorage outside the marina. Ilet Maitre is a pretty little island with a small resort built out over the water and, as part of the rally we had full use of all their facilities for the time we were there.

We had a welcome party at the resort with great food, great music and the comraderie of a lot of new friends we had only talked to on the radio during the crossing.

The Rally officially ended on our arrival at Ilet Maitre, so after re-provisioning in Noumea we headed north along the west coast of New Caledonia and spent a week or so in the company of a few other boats from the rally before returning to Noumea we are now in Port Moselle marina spending a little time eating baguettes and cheese and discovering the delights (?) of Noumea.

The Sydney to Noumea race boats are due to arrive tomorrow and Friday so we will need to depart the marina and will move around to a bay that is the main tourist attraction of this part of the world, before heading to the south of the island and across to Isle de Pin (Isle of Pines).

All is well and we are loving the baguettes.

If you are interested in seeing where we are at any time you can go to http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/parhelion

The forecast said 15 to 20 kts from the SE so we left Gladstone thinking it would be a mild motor to our destination, just 30
NM to our SE. Uh huh. We got out of the harbour to find ourselves bashing into 30kts and big seas. We’d had enough of being marina bound so we inkers down and carried on. The weather Judy kept getting worse but Parhelion took it all in her stride. 10NM from our destination the wind was topping 45kts with a few gusts registering 57kts - not too pleasant. Anyway we made it in and have no idea how long we will be stuck here before we can get out and head for Bundaberg.

Currently in Gladstone Marina after another bash to windward from Great Keppel Island. We arrived last Wednesday and tomorrow marks the 7th day we have been stuck here with strong SE winds and now we have Tropical Cyclone Iris hanging over us trying to make up her mind if she's going to head south and make our life more miserable.

Shouldn't complain because Gladstone Marina was a very pleasant surprise. For a very run down industrial city, Gladstone has a beautiful marina - it's well priced, very well run with staff that can't do enough for you, a free shuttle bus to town every day, great bathrooms, showers and laundrette. Over Easter we had the finish of the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race (Blackjack and Ichi Ban blitzing the race record with a 35kt tail wind all the way from Brisbane).

As we can only do so many oil changes, we hope to get away on Thursday for the short run down to Pancake Creek where we'll overnight then on to Bundaberg and, who knows, we may even be in the Gold Coast by the end of next week.

We now have our satphone up and running and it sends out an automatic position report every 60 minutes and technically, these should appear here in future blog updates if I can figure out how to make that happen. Failing this anyone who is interested can log onto https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Parhelion at any time and see where we are.

Until next time......