[password] abcisme

[position] 22 11.621S 16 14.236E

[status] Very happily anchored at Ile Ndue and posting our latest blog
[blog] title: Baie De St Vincent and Bon Voyage Vikings
They say that all good things must come to an end. That’s not entirely
true, but most things do end and part of our human existence is managing
the raft of emotions that come in to play when we are forced to say
goodbye. It is usual, I guess, to bring to mind the happiest moments and
store them away for safe keeping whilst simultaneously allowing the
feelings of loss, however great or small, to accompany the goodbye.
Today we say farewell to Baie De St Vincent and to the Homeless Vikings.
Whilst the optimist believes that we will surely see both again, the
realist knows that this is most unlikely. So it is with a happy sad that
we are now sailing South, away from Baie De St Vincent, and away from
the Vikings who are now sailing North on a long journey to Indonesia.
;;
Baie De St Vincent
We came to the Baie to explore the area and find interesting places to
take our guests (parents) when they come to visit next week. It’s closer
to the airport than Noumea and is a large bay with numerous islands
large and small that make up the Baie area.
There is also a small marina that doesn’t appear on any of our charts.
With a little help from our landlubber friend (thanks Dave!) and the
magic of Google, we found it and went ashore to practice our French. OK,
so we actually went ashore to find out if there were markets anywhere,
this is French territory, so French practice was the order of the day!
For the most part the locals are good about our ignorance, and my
conversations usually start with a simple apology. “Desole, je ne pa
parle Francais”. One store owner in Noumea smiled broadly and promptly
replied “Desole, je ne pa parle Englais”. Our exchange at the little
marina called “Port Ouenghi” was similar, but we still managed to talk
for a while and the proprietor looked up the number for a taxi and
explained that we would need to walk for 20mins if we wanted to
hitchhike, and it would take around an hour if we walked all the way to
the village for vegetables… not a word of English was spoken. The owner
was very kind and didn’t seem to mind our inability to speak the language.
Aside from this visit to Port Ouenghi, we also visited many other
islands and bays:
Ile Moro – A Giant rock with a petite beach and fascinating baby rock
formations assembled like ducklings. We visited twice because we had
coverage here and needed to get some Internet to pay bills… yeah, you
know who you are invoice senders! :-P
Ile Nduke – Where we chose to negotiate the narrow channel with hard
coral on either side and we went paddle boarding after big fish in the
mangroves.
Baie Uitoe – Where we did boat maintenance and swapped out our anchor
chain and admired the manicured grounds of the shoreline.
Ile Ronhua – where it was gusting 25 knots and the white sand beach
was overshadowed by our inability to decide where one would anchor in
these conditions.
Ile Tenia – where it was still blowing like a birthday boy and we
navigated big Bommies (or as the French call them, coral potatoes). We
only stayed long enough for lunch and moved on to…
The Lepredour Channel – where we found shelter at last. The cliffs from
the nature reserve island towered above us, red and scarred and glowing
as the sun set. The water was flat and we slept like drunkards.
And finally, the Baie De Mosquitos on Ile Hugon - which seems to be
entirely pest free, unless you count the guy with the bonfire on the
beach, or the dog on the other boat in the anchorage. Hey, as long as
there are no mossies, I’m a happy little larry bird.
Oh, and as we sailed away the next morning, we remarked how the water
was so flat you could ski… Thus we discovered Paddle-Sail-Ski-Boarding!
Michelle mounted her paddle board and was towed along as we sailed. I
sense a new sport in the making.
;;
This morning as we sipped on our sunrise coffee, we received a message
that we had been expecting, but not eagerly.
Our Finnish friends aboard “Homeless” sent a message to say farewell. We
protested, and told them there was no wind to sail, and you can’t very
well start a 3,000 mile trip by motoring! But they had cleared out of
the country and were hoping to find breeze further out from land.
So, we hatched a plan, hoisted the sails, and plotted a course to
intercept the Vikings!
The Vikings were sailing North so we sailed out to the West and found
them. We sailed fast below them and then came up along their windward
side. “Fancy seeing you here” we beamed :-
I had written a farewell poem with my second coffee and we had printed
it out for them to take on their journey. We packed this into a dry bag
along with a native New Caledonian flag and some tinfoil wrapped goodies
(Chocolate!). We agreed that Homeless would maintain course and speed
and we would maneuverer ourselves into position for the exchange. The
bag, attached to a long line, was thrown between the boats and the
contents were emptied. This is a bit like mum trying to pass the
forgotten school lunch through the window of the bus to little Maxy as
it speeds along the highway. So not something to be done without care.
After taking some photos of our little flotilla, we turned around and
sailed South, happy that we had said our goodbyes in true style!
Farewell Homeless Vikings, it really was too brief, and we hope we can
meet again.
Farewell Baie De St Vincent, thanks for the adventures, we will see you
in our memories.
;;
Bon Voyage to the Vikings
;;
It’s a beautiful morning with sun and calm seas
All is quiet, there is barely a breeze.
We sit and ponder what today will hold
Until the sat phone beeps and we are told
“Dear friends we are leaving – it was too brief,
but we are now heading out through reef.”
No, You cant leave! We have not said goodbye!
And look, up above, not a cloud in the sky
There is barely a breeze and there’s too far to go
You have yet three thousand miles to go!
The time is not right we stand and protest
But all is prepared, this is no test.
But good things must end and yachts sail away,
And our Homeless Vikings will leave us today.
So we utter a prayer that you will be well
That the waves will be friendly as you ride the swell
And as the journey grows long, be good to each other.
May the friends that you make be close like a brother
Fair winds to our friends, may the sea be kind.
May the wind always blow from somewhere behind.
So we sailed to sea and cast our eyes
We intercepted their boat and spoke our goodbyes.
I took a pen to the ships log and wrote
Farewell dear Vikings… in the blood red boat![END]