Bonjour!
24 May 2008 | Port Moselle, Noumea
John and Shauna
After a very, quick passage from Coffs Harbour (six days sailing) we negotiated Passe Dumbea into the New Caledonia lagoon at 14:00 today (24 May 2008) and then carefully threaded our way through the maze of reefs that lie between the Passe and Noumea itself. The channels here are very well marked with modern and superbly-maintained lights and buoys, the French Government having decided to pour a lot of Euros into providing good infrastructure investment as the price for keeping the Kanak population happy and not too independence-minded. As indicated during the week, the passage from Coffs Harbour to Noumea was what can only be described as character-building. We accepted strong winds and lumpy seas as the price to get here quickly and without bashing into contrary breezes. It was a safe but uncomfortable passage. However, our dear Destiny did the job with amused contempt - she handled it all with an aplomb that reinforced our judgement that this is a design Joe Adams should be proud of - a safe and reassuring ocean-going hull (paranthetically, Pete Walduck and Judy Cole should be proud of the reno they did to make her a great ocean boat). The main problem with rough passages when short-handed is that it is almost impossible to get adequate rest when off-watch. Our sea-berths are in the main saloon, so that the on-watch can call for help for sail changes and the like without delay, and they are reasonably comfortable as such things go, but you are only ever 4 hours from the next watch, meaning you tend not to get the good bit of the sleep cycle ( REM? ROM? RAM?). We had Sail-mailed the port captain at Port Moselle (promising name!) and they knew we were coming - just as well as the joint is packed to the gunwhales with Australian, French, British, Spanish, German and whatever you could imagine boats. Great cosmopolitan atmosphere. Our friends David and Helen ("Obelia") got here before us and very helpfully directed us to the wrong dock. We had radioed ahead from the Passe to Frank the dock-master, who turns out to be a Frenchman who had his schooling in Australia and New Zealand and who worked a prawn trawler from Coffs Harbour. He was really friendly and helpful, coming down to the dock to help us come in and tie up. Then we had to go to the office where we filled out the arrivals paperwork. Then he blotted his copybook by telling us that he would fax our forms to Customs, but they probably wouldn't come to inspect the boat - "nice normal people IN YOUR AGE GROUP" don't usually raise much concern. Young 35 year-old pup!!! Then we had Laurent from Immigration, who was a big Islander man who barely fitted down the companionway, who took about 28 seconds to stamp anything he could get his big hands on with three or four correspondingly large, very official-looking stamps which validated our presence here. The Quarantine officer will be here in the morning then we will officially determined to be rat- and pestilence- free and we will be able to check out the town - of which more tomorrow, when we'll send some photos if we can find an internet cafe. But for now, sleep beckons!