Fabulous Beach & Snorkel! Monday, October 22, 2018
22 October 2018 | Ille Des Pins, New Caledonia
Helen/Mark
Watched a couple more episodes of Game of Thrones and retired after 10. We were both exhausted. The wind was blowing hard at times and we got a few sprinkles in the evening and over night. Up around 7. After breakfast, Mark decided to add a second anchor. He assembled one of our Danforth anchors with a short length of chain and a short length of rode. We hauled the main anchor and attached the rode from the Danforth to it and then lowered both anchors. So we now have out two anchors in series. Then Mark put on his swim gear and went out to check. He manually set the current anchor to be straight. When I back down they both set. We feel much better about that. There is a hard layer under a bit of softer sand 20+ feet down under us. We took the dinghy to shore. There was no dock to tie to, so we took it to the beach and pulled it up some as there is a 3 foot tide here. The Carnival ship was in early and they were taking passengers to shore with their lifeboat tenders. There was a dock set up for them. Lots of people on the beach. There was one resort that offered lunch. Also, several locals set up tents and sold food. We stopped at one and had lunch on the beach. Nearby is the next bay and we could see snorkelers in the water around a big rock, which was sort of a small mountain. The water was so beautiful. We headed back to the boat after trying to rent a car. It's a school holiday and all the cars are booked. We changed into our swim gear and took our snorkels to the beach. We swam around the entire rocky mountain. Lots of fish. Many we had not seen before. That was a treat. It was so incredible. The rock had carve outs but no caves. We walked the beach back to our dinghy. Loved the soft sand on my feet!! It was like powder. Back to the boat, we snorkeled and cleaned more of the hull. It looks pretty good! Then showered and I was freezing cold. It will be hot soup for dinner tonight. Our wifi is expiring shortly. Hope we get this posted in time to use our wifi. To get more wifi we have to pay for more time at the post office. It's a 3-4 mile walk, so that will happen tomorrow. Sun is just deciding to set. We have a clear view from our boat. Thanks for all the messages and emails. We cannot seem to get the phone calls to work at all as the wifi is too poor. Enjoy your day!!