Heading “Down Under”
17 October 2018 | Baie des Citrons, Noumea, Grande Terre, New Caledonia
Photo: Part of the main tank at the Noumea Aquarium which is near our anchorage
All being well, early tomorrow morning we will raise the anchor from the Baie des Citrons in Noumea, go the fuel dock at Port Moselle Marina to fill-up with duty-free fuel, and then head west towards Bundaberg, Australia. Today, I completed the paperwork scavenger-hunt to get our clearance documents (Immigration, Customs, and Port Captain) with a very liberal and sensible three-days-to-leave policy and no fees.
I have also cooked various meals for our 6 – 8 day passage (the duration depending upon the winds and currents) and tried to use-up all of the fresh fruit and vegetables other than what we will consume on the trip. We have rolled-up and stored the dinghy, installed the life-raft in the cockpit, and other passage-making preparations. The hull is clean, we fumigated the cabins, we examined our wooden art-work for any signs of insect infestation (none), and we checked for cobwebs in the cockpit and on equipment on the deck-rails. It is not that we had any problems but the biosecurity inspections in Australia can be so strict and extensive (with additional fees charged every 15 minutes) that it is worth taking some extra precautions.
While we are sorry to be leaving New Caledonia without being able to see more of the country or the many islands and reefs of the lagoon, we have thoroughly enjoyed the places that we did manage to visit. However, as they say in the US, the horse is now heading to the barn and our attention is focused on getting to Australia and what we will do there.
Although we are not usually keen on big sailing groups, we have joined the Go West Rally from Noumea to Bundaberg in Queensland. This rally helps with the cost and organization of the entry into Australia, helps with getting a marina slip in Bundy, and provides a week of relevant activities (including seminars on sailing the east-coast of Australia, etc.) in early November. At the introductory meeting on Monday, we were reunited with several crews that we have met throughout the South Pacific and New Zealand so it will be fun to see them once we all finish our passages. There is no effort to sail as a rally group but quite a few boats are leaving today and tomorrow.
The weather will not be perfect as light winds may call for motor-sailing at times and we may have to tolerate some rather unpredictable conditions when we pass through a mild trough early next week. However, the next suitable weather-window may not be for, at least, another week so we are willing to accept these slightly sub-optimal conditions to get going. As always, the trade-off is the longer that one waits for a better weather-window for the passage, the longer one is staying into cyclone season, which officially starts November 1st but there has been one small storm north of here already this season.
So, very soon the next leg of our cruising adventure will begin. By the end of next week, we hope to officially be “Down Under”...but, of course, still afloat!