Synopsis

Navara

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Navara

Tue May 22 9:03 2018 NZST
GPS: 18 07.440s 178 25.274e

We are leaving today to sail east to Matuku -enroute to the southern Lau. We would be grateful if you could please cover weather in the southern Lau over the next 6-8 weeks as we slowly pick our way up the island chain to taveuni.


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Mon May 14 7:29 2018 NZST
GPS: 18 07.440s 178 25.274e
Run: 490.1nm (887.1km)
Avg: 6.8knts
24hr: 163.3nm
Weather: 15ENE, gloomy

arriving with Pilgrim for check in this morning in Suva.


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Fri May 11 7:28 2018 NZST
Speed:
6.5
knts
GPS: 25 08S 177 16E
Run: 148.4nm (268.6km)
Avg: 6.2knts
24hr: 148.6nm
Weather: ene15-20, 1021

all going well. GHR report after talking to Carl


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Thu May 10 7:30 2018 NZST
GPS: 27 14S 176 46E
Weather: E12, calm seas

Sounds all good on board and a good radio signal into GHRadio


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SV Stylopora

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SV Stylopora

SV Stylopora - Change of Blog Setup

From now on we intend to include all of our blog entries on the left hand side of the main page where they require a step less to read and will hopefully be easier to find.

Internet access is definitely a challenge and the satellite phone connection expensive, so we'll add photos as and when we can.

Our resident Remora (sucker fish)

SV Stylopora - Exploring the north lagoon

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2403 Jun 2016

Anchored flat glassy conditions at Baie during Carenage. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2202 Jun 2016

Anchored in 10m of beautiful clear water beside the Amedee Lighthouse. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - Back to Noumea

The trip back to Noumea was as good as the one north, although with fewer stops. The highlight for us was Ile Ndukue with its beautiful circular bay, its rocky hill that we climbed and its unexpectedly beautiful snorkeling beside the rocky northern beach. We followed the advice of the guide book which promised walks through the island with lovely views at the top, and while the view was indeed lovely, the walk was a case of trailblazing. The intrepid Steve led the way through the spider webs Read more...

and made enough noise to warn off any snakes that may have been snoozing in the long grass. At the top we found a navigation mark lying on the ground so we were very pleased to have been following our Garmin plotter rather than navigating by sight. Although all of the islands we visited were stunning, we usually had to share them, but we stayed at this one for a couple of days and saw no sign of civilization at all. No lights. No planes. No sound at all except for small waves breaking on the rocky wall as the tide came in; and the thousands of birds that lived there.

We were looking forward to our stay in Anse Kuendu on Nou Island, close to Noumea. The anchorage was as beautiful as we expected but very small with reef and shallow water all around. Coming into anchor was totally nerve wracking and we almost left rather than risk staying. In the end we anchored slightly out from the other boat already there, a steel boat called Ui with a German family of four who were very encouraging as we tried to find enough space and depth to drop our anchor. A resort sits at the end of the bay looking beautiful with bungalows perched on stilts over the water but when we looked closer they were very dilapidated and beginning to collapse. There went our hopes of watching the sunset on their deck with a Margarita each, so Plan B was put into action - Geoff makes a mean Margarita... We attempted another walk and this time eventually found not one but numerous tracks, but somehow found our way to the top of the hill and Fort Tereka with its cannon that have guarded the entrance to Noumea since the 1800's.

Our last stop before returning to Nourmea was Baie des Citrons, another pretty sandy beach, but this one has cafes, restaurants and bars all along so we finally found our bar on the waterfront that made cocktails and then treated ourselves to dinner out.

We've left our poor boat alone at Port Moselle Marina in Noumea and are back on the Sunshine Coast now for first birthday parties for our grandchildren, Amber and Alexander, as well as to welcome Austrian visitors. A holiday from our holiday no less, but we'll be back to explore the lagoon south of Noumea on 14th June.

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Ile Ndukue - quiet, protected anchorage
Ile Lepradour - a deer sanctuary but we couldn't find the deer
Ile Ndukue - the hunter gatherers collecting oysters
Ile Ndukue - more good snorkelling
Ile Ndukue - good snorkelling
Ile Ndukue - colourful coral
Ile Ndukue - coral reflections
Ile Ndukue - relaxing after all that snorkelling
Anse Kuendu - protected but very small anchorage
Anse Kuendu - room for about two boats
Anse Kuendu - resort
Fort Tereka
Fort Tereka
Fort Tereka
Noumea - from Fort Tereka

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2502 May 2016

Back to civilization. Lots of night life on the esplanade beside our anchorage. Restaurants, bars, even a casino.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2501 May 2016

Very pretty anchorage well sheltered from SE winds but open to the west. Great lookout but hotel is well past its prime and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Heading back to Noumea today to Bae de Citrons Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - Exploring the north lagoon

Wow! We've been incredibly lucky to have had such perfect weather. The winds have been light and the sun has been shining except for some stunning clouds providing the most amazing sunsets; and we've been anchored beside beautiful sandy islands surrounded by spectacular coral reefs. We left Noumea a week ago to visit the islands to the north, many of which are surrounded by coral, and whilst the coral makes for more challenging anchoring techniques, we've sat down to dinner in the cockpit each Read more...

night surrounded by the most incredible views and very few people. Tonight we are the only boat anchored at Ile Ndukue and there are no lights or other evidence of civilisation in sight. The only thing we can hear is the distant sound of surf breaking on the outer reef about two miles away. Remember the advertisement that went something like: 'Tahiti please James!? That explains a little of how we are feeling. Every evening we discuss the day's anchorage and activities, examine the guide book and charts; and then decide whether to stay for another day or carry on to another piece of paradise. Yesterday we chatted with a young French woman who was kite surfing across the lagoon at Ilot Tenia, a small island on the inside of the outer reef at Passe de St Vincente. She told us she was born in France but was living in Noumea because it was Paradise. Well said. We'd been snorkelling in the lagoon when we met her and have been impressed by the variety of fish and coral there and at most of the places we've stopped.

Have there been any challenges? Well, internet in any meaningful form is pretty much non-existent, I'm learning to wash our clothes in buckets on the back of the boat, and Geoff and Steve are learning the hunter and gathering skills of harvesting oysters. We won't mention the lack of suicidal fish jumping onto our fishing lines... We're at the end of our fruit and veges now and the tinned food is starting to look good so we're making our way back to Noumea via some more islands in paradise.

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Snorkelling at Ile Mbe Kouen
Sundowners at Ilot Maitre
Ilot Signal - an early navigational mark
Ilot Signal - more beautiful weather
Anchored at Ile Mbe Kouen
Ilot Mbe Kouen - are we feeling relaxed yet?
Ilot Mbe Kouen - beautiful clear water. No need to snorkel.
Ilot Mbe Kouen - coconuts from the beach
Ilot Moro - more clear water
Ilot Moro - rocky outcrops
Ilot Moro - Steve exploring by kayak
Ilot Tenia - part of the outer reef and a very interesting anchorage surrounded by coral
Ilot Tenia - elusive squid
Ilot Tenia - sea snake track
Ilot Tenia - Well, he seems friendly...
Ilot Tenia - amazing cloud formations
Ilot Tenia - snorkelling
Ilot Tenia - big scary eel
Ilot Tenia - more fish

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2202 May 2016

Very pretty anchorage well sheltered from SE winds. Looking forward to snorkeling the nearby reefs Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2202 May 2016

heading slowly back towards Noumea. Looking for other interesting anchorages along the way.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 2002 May 2016

Another perfect anchorage. Oysters, crabs and sea snakes. A very different island. Thousands of fish to snorkel amongst . Nothing table size Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

SV Stylopora - Arrival in Noumea

We cast off our lines at the Manly marina and were on our way to New Caledonia. Our previous trips have been restricted by time and we ended up fighting strong winds and large seas to the point where we joked that we never sailed with the wind - always against. This time we were waiting for the right weather window and after only a week’s delay set off in light south easterly winds. First though, we organised for Australian Border Patrol to come to the boat, go through our paperwork, stamp Read more...

our passports and clear us out of Australia. After their visit we were allowed 24 hours to depart the country.

Geoff, our friend Steve Lock and I were finally on our way and the trip to Noumea was fabulous. After the first two days of perfect light weather sailing we awoke to glassy seas and no wind, motoring for a solid four and a half days until we arrived in Noumea. Before the trip Steve and I had made enough frozen meals for ten days in case of bad weather, but with the light wind, cooking was easy and we managed bacon and eggs on the barbeque one morning, roast chicken one night, sundowners with champagne one evening and sundowners with a lovely red wine (thanks Min) on another. On two days the water was so glassy we stopped the motor, took down the token sail and jumped into beautiful clear water two miles deep. Fearing the nightmare of the boat sailing off without us, we kept one person on the boat but there was no sign of it sailing off anyway.

We sailed past the Amadee lighthouse and into Noumea at 5pm on Thursday, leaving us time to check into Noumea on Friday before an unexpected three day long weekend. Checking into Noumea involved individual dinghy rides to complete the paperwork for Customs, Quarantine, Immigration and Port Control after which we celebrated with lunch at the Bout du Monde café at Port Moselle marina before going back to our anchorage for a night of uninterrupted sleep without the usual 2 hourly night watch system.

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Jumping into the deep blue...
Hoping the boat doesn't sail off without us.
Where is that wind?
Beautiful conditions
Watching the sunset
A lovely evening
Calm weather and lovely meals
Bacon and egg breakie
Land ahoy!
Amadee Lighthouse on the way into Noumea
Quarantine and French flag flying in Noumea

SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 1101 May 2016

Third blog- In praise of diesel 650 miles from Brisbane surrounded by a totally flat sea, which of course is much better than a stormy sea. Seems like we asked for a calm passage and certainly got one. Thankfully we carry 500 litres of diesel. As we are approaching Noumea and seas are calm we are feasting and trying to consume our food stocks so we dont hand too much to quarantine on arrival. Its tough but some one has to do it. We stopped briefly yesterday in a particularly flat sea and Read more...

all got off (one at a time) and swam in the 1 mile deep sea. Amazing experience. Totally clear water, warm and eerily quiet. Other than flying fish and the odd seabird we have not sighted a living thing in the last 3 days. Steve likened it to a watery desert. Weather is quite stable so we expect calm conditions again today with the prospect of a bit more breeze tomorrow.
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SV Stylopora - SV Stylopora - 902 May 2016

Nearly half way 365 miles from Brisbane and nearly half way to Noumea. We will cross the half way point today and celebrate accordingly. Great sailing conditions so far but lighter winds are expected today and tomorrow so motor sailing at present. Had an unexpected visit from Dolly the booby (it's a seabird) who perched on the bow of our boat from dusk to dawn and enjoyed a free ride part way to Noumea. Crossed paths and made contact with Tony and Vicki on L'attitude this morning. They departed Read more...

Southport in their catamaran same day as us. All enjoying the voyage. Only incident so far is our radar is not cooperating. We suspect a flying fish who landed heavily on the dodger may be the culprit but he refused to make a statement. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

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SV Stylopora - Leaving Manly.

Yeh! We have been cleared out of Australia by the helpful and patient men from Australian Border Force; cast off our lines and are heading off into the sunrise. Well, that sounds good but it is actually a bit later than sunrise because the tides have given us a very civilised 9am start. Are we excited? You bet! The boat is loaded up and the waterline is way down, but we are moving; and the weather forecasters are predicting very light winds, some of which will actually take us the way we want Read more...

to go. In most of the trips we have done, we been short of time and ended up beating into strong winds so we will be very impressed if we do get good conditions and; although of course, we will need some wind. We expect to arrive in Noumea in about a week.
Whilst we are away we can be contacted by: Email svstylopora@gmail.com Text via sat phone - +88 424 211981 and Blog www.yit.co.nz/yacht/svstylopora

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Geoff, Di & Steve - Noumea, here we come!
Leaving Manly
Good bye Manly

SV Stylopora - Still in the marina - crossing jobs of our list.

We've ticked a lot more off our list and still hope to be ready to leave in the first week of May if the weather's good. Geoff's been inspecting the mast and its fittings, installing AIS, installing our Iridium Go satellite WIFI hub, building additional shelves in cupboards and repairing safety lines while I've been buying up enough food to stock a nuclear shelter, trying to stock the food without putting all the weight on one side of the boat, walking 5 minutes to put on a load of washing, making Read more...

a new sun/rain awning and banking time with our grandchildren in an attempt to make up for the time I'll miss when we're away.

Are we enjoying it? So far - absolutely, although we're both looking forward to putting our feet up a bit more and heading out of the marina.

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All good on the mast
Where's Wa - Geoff?
My teeny-tiny sewing machine
Where will all this fit?
The new awning

SV Stylopora - RQYS Marina, Manly, Qld

Geoff and Di moved out of their house and onto their boat on 12th December 2015.

The house has now been sold and we're busy working on 'our home on the water' to make it comfortable for the gypsy life, for the next few years. Eventually we plan to live in our apartment at the Mirage at Alexandra Headland, Sunshine Coast, but in the meantime hope to leave Queensland at the end of April 2016 en route for New Caledonia, Vanuatu and perhaps other Pacific islands. The return date is sometime Read more...

before the next cyclone season in late 2016.

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Learning to cook great food in our small galley.
Learning to cook great food in our small galley.
Practising for our new lifestyle.
Practising for our new lifestyle.
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