[radioactiv]

[position] 20 53.515s 167 00.010e

[status] SKY POND REUNION! I repeat! SKY POND REUNION! Tuesday was one of those days when you realise you are not only in the exact right place, but you are surrounded with all the right people. We had such a great day on Tuesday, with countless belly aching laughs, and as so often happens, the whole day was a series of impromptu, serendipitous happenings, that concluded with one of the best, most entertaining, dinner parties we have had all season.
It all started, early Monday morning as we made our way into Gaatsha Bay, Lifou we saw a familiar boat pop up on our AIS, it was SKY POND, and we were super excited to see them again, after our thoroughly enjoyable (hilarious) adventures together trekking across Naveti Island, (Yasawa, Fiji) from our anchorage at Somosomo Bay to find the elusive world war II plane wreck. Unbeknownst to us, Roxy on SKY POND had tried several times to hail us on VHF that morning, but we must have been out of range as we did not hear the calls. The SKY POND team had figured we were ignoring them, and they then pondered what they had done to cause offence.
After one of the most super efficient customs and bio security clearances we have ever experienced (the whole fleet was cleared by 9:30am Tuesday morning – Nice work ICA and New Caledonia Immigration Officers, you guys are a well oiled machine!) Roxy attempted to hail us again, we heard it this time, and finally chatted about the possibility of catching up and finally having that wine Roxy and Sasha had chatted about as we watched the sunset at Nanuya Island, Blue Lagoon many weeks ago.
Once cleared Mike and Sasha headed to shore to meet some of the other people from the ICA fleet, as everyone had gone ashore to the ‘petit marche’ that the local village had put together for our arrival. John off Windflower (ICA’s head honcho) said over the radio, it was a VERY petit market… (very petit, as in not much of anything) but the locals were planning on getting there to add to the local fruits and vegetables later in the day, to make it less petite. We met Bec’s and her family from QUICKSTAR, a very fit, young family from Sydney, also having the adventure of a lifetime. Sasha and Bec’s traded a few yoghurt making tips.
Then a little later Mike and Sasha got the SUP’s out and headed straight into the wind, to the north east end of the bay to get a closer look at the rocks and coral on the waters edge. As we made our way back along the shore, Mike noted that a women walking along the pure white-powdered beach might be Roxy, as we paddled closer we confirmed it, and the days reunion started. Carl trundled down from the petit marche, and we mentioned that today would be an opportune time for them to finally come and have a look aboard MOONFISH as they had expressed interest way back at the Blue Lagoon. At the same time Carl and Roxy introduced us to Jo and Lex, a couple from the monohull INTRINSIC, which had been moored at Musket Cove while were we there too. Turns out that Jo is the mother of Michael, the builder who did all of the renovations on Sasha’s house in Auckland, we concluded over VHF (after Jo had made the connection) that it’s such a small world, and Sasha 100% agreed. Sasha invited Jo and Lex to have a look aboard Moonfish that afternoon with Team SKY POND, and eventually everyone was aboard, having a tour and a cold drink.
Sasha had just popped a date and maple cake in the oven (one of the only cake recipes in the Edmonds cook book she found that didn’t require eggs), so the sweet smell of baking was wafting through the cabins as she took the guests on the tour. That fragrant sweet air was quite possible the catalyst that got us an invite to dinner on SKY POND that night.. (that cake and of course our witty, intelligent conversational skills). We finished our drinks and all headed over to SKY POND for a tour, as Mike and Sasha had not yet been aboard. What an amazing Seawind catamaran, it literally looks like its interior was designed by IKEA, you’d swear you were walking around a Scandinavian apartment, everything is beautifully finished, and there is a place for everything. Sasha loved the glass door (massive) shower best, as well as the BBQ area in the cockpit, which was centrally placed on the stern with plenty of bench space around it.
Carl and Roxy were excellent hosts. Lex and Roxy got to work in the galley, Roxy made a very tasty salad, and Lex taught Roxy how to make his famous puttanesca pasta sauce. Sasha and Mike had donated the big piece of Waloo (Thanks for the fish SV ROAM!) , so that got added to the pasta sauce too. We all sat down to a delicious dinner, and chatted and chuckled effortlessly. There were some hilarious moments as Roxy attempted to translate our Kiwi-English into American English. Who knew America don’t have ‘teaspoons’? Or that ‘napkins’ are ‘serviettes’. Then we demolished the Date and Maple Cake which was a rip roaring success, it reminded Sasha of Sticky Date Pudding, but a cake version. Roxy again was perplexed, “What’s ‘Sticky Date Pudding?’ to which Sasha replied, ‘Something you definitely need to try when you get to New Zealand!’
This morning we are making our way north from Lifou to Ouvea, apparently its an absolutely stunning atoll. We are hopeful we will see our friends Erica and Dave and their little, twin, blonde munchkins from SV SEACOMBER up there. We’re coming guys! All well on board.

[speed] 5.5

[heading] 260M

[weather] We are sailing in (approx)10-12 knots of Sou’East wind. Not a cloud in the sky, John from ICA has told us there is a fantastic (albeit windless – no good for kitesurfing) window of weather for us over the next 5-7 days or so, so exploring around the Loyalties will be excellent. BARO 1022. Ps - it’s definitely colder here in New Cal, we’ve got the duvet inner back in the duvet cover!

[END]