After a pleasant time at Ouvea, we took advantage of a rare westerly to sail east to the next island in the Loyalty group, Lifou. Lifou is the largest and most populated of the Loyalties, has a wonderful system of roads, two banks, ATM machines, etc. Our first stop was the northern bay of Joking (no kidding), where we are stunned by the beauty of the anchorage, clarity of the water and health of the coral (judged from the dinghy just before sunset). The next day we did a snorkel, then picked up a rental car in late morning and drove to the main town of We (pronounced "way"), also the administrative center of the Loyalties, to get money, have lunch, shop and see the town. Given the treacherous steps and concrete ramp down to the landing at this cliff-bound anchorage, we promised ourselves we'd return before dark. We arrived at the bank 10 minutes before the official closing time and there was a long line. The ATM machine was broken, so everyone had to see one of the two tellers to get cash. When we finally arrived at the counter we were told that they could not give us cash on a debit card--for that you go to an ATM. Fortunately we had some US dollars that they did exchange, and we were able to eat lunch!

Chuck had contacted a fellow veterinarian who is based in We, and services the whole of the Loyalties. Antoine suggested we meet for lunch at a beautiful hotel right on the beach, so we headed there next, where we had a delicious wahoo in a delicate sauce like only the French can do. Antoine had gotten tied up at work, so he joined us for coffe and desert. He surprised us by being an articulate and engaging young Frenchman from Brittany who had moved to New Caledonia with his young family of 4 just 8 months before. His main project is farm development, primarily pigs.

After lunch we had a look at the harbor (way too small for Wetnose to enter), then on the way back north to Joking took a detour to the western Baie de Sandol to scope it out as a possible next stop. We found our friends Steve and Portia anchored there, but their dinghy was tied up at the pier with no sign of them. (It turns out they had also driven to We for money and lunch.) We arrived back in Joking well before sunset!

The next morning Pat, Sandi and Jim went out for another snorkel, leaving Chuck to explore the cliff caves by kayak. When we returned we found Chuck in the kayak drifting next to two heads in the water: Steve and Portia had driven up from their anchorage to check out "our" reef!

When we got back aboard we were visited by 4 guys from an Italian yacht who had a problem: they'd caught a Wahoo that was 6 feet long and they didn't have room for it all. We were there to help them!

Yesterday we weighed anchor at noon and sailed the 3 hours to Baie de Santol (aka Baie de Sandol), where we found some friendly local kids sliding down the boat-launch ramp on plastic milk bottles. We also found a nice grocery store with fresh eggs and tomatoes, and a bakery and patisserie. The latter was closed (it was Sunday afternoon), but Pat and I took the dinhy in this morning for fresh baguettes and croissants for lunch! It was a drizzly gray day with a bit of chop in the anchorage, so after a short snorkel (three big sea turtles encountered!) we moved Wetnose to a more protected part of the bay (1/2 mile away), where we are now anchored in the company of 5 other yachts from the Pacific Circuit Rally.

Tomorrow we plan to rise early and set sail for little Nemou Island, just off the coast of Grand Terre, about half-way down to Isle Des Pins.

Two days ago the watermaker suddenly stopped working with a "System Stalled" message. It turned out that the little copper coupling between the feed pump and its motor had sheared. We had a spare! Upon disassembly the pump was found to be free and smooth, so the coupling must have suffered from old age. We're all back together now and making 38 gal/hour of pure cool water. WHEE! A week ago the engine alternator cable failed again, same place as it did in Fiji 2 years ago. We had a spare lug fitting, and the cable was long enough for me to cut it back to good copper and swage on the new lug using the vise. All's well. This is so much fun!