Though not strictly permitted as we had not yet cleared in to New Caledonia, we stopped for three nights at the beautiful Isle de Pines. We had a relaxing time with a calm anchorage, white sand beaches, clear water, and a nice bar and restaurant on the beach.

From Isle de Pines it was a longish day sail up to Port Moselle Marina in Noumea, sheltered inside the reef most of the way. In between getting the boat ready for a survey and the actual survey and then haul-out, we managed to get a short trip for 2 nights over to Ilot Maitre, a pretty island just out from Noumea, with Miss Behaving. From their it was all go, as we hauled out at Carenocean for 2 nights so the hull could be surveyed, final agreement with the buyers, and then paperwork to transfer the boat.

It was strange to go to customs and immigration with Richard to help him check “his” boat out of Noumea. So on the 30th of October we left Noumea for Brisbane on our last passage with Por Dos.

Fortunately the weather gods were kind to us. We had a fast and slightly bumpy 195 mile day to get things going, but then the wind and waves settled down and we had a pleasant smooth sail all the rest of the way, first with code 0, then with spinnaker as the winds kept easing. The only stress was when the autopilot started playing up again! We all dealt well with that, though it was the only issue left on the boat that I was leaving unresolved.

We rounded the northern tip of Moreton Island around sunrise on the 5th day of the passage, sailed down the bay, then motored up the Brisbane river to Rivergate Marina.