Crossed Boulari pass (Passe Nord) at 0730 Sunday morning, berthed at Port Moselle Marina by 1100 hours. All aboard well and sober. Enjoying the ambience of the quarantine dock in full view of passers by. Resistance is futile.

11am AEST on Saturday: 15 knots with the odd squally thing overnight, so reefed down. Heading for Noumea now, 70 miles from Amadee lighthouse. Still doing over 10 knots down waves with double reefed main and triple reefed headsail! We love love this boat! We'll arrive at the reef pass in darkness, and probably heave to until sunrise Sunday. All well on board.

Approaching sunrise marks our first 24 hours which put us about 190 nautical miles offshore, motor sailing in light ESE winds for most of the night. Wind now out of the south again, so we'll be sailing again in an hour or two. All are well and in good spirits. Alas, Deano has a touch of Mal de Mer and currently resting on the chaise lounge in the cockpit area with pillow and blanket.

First day out and the weather is as good as it gets.

Still waiting for a weather window.

Kea Lani is in good shape, crew is ready to go, weather delay is frustrating!

Spent a couple of days in Port Moselle, Noumea resting, reprovisioning and partying with our fellow rally participants. Look forward to exploring the town more when we come back in July. Now we head off for part 2 of the journey: a few days of fun in New Caledonia and Ile des Pins. See the “Updates” tab for documentation of our exploits.