Day 6

Idyllic tradewind sailing continued today with a steady 15 knot breeze from the East. About 170nm to Bundaberg! The sun is shining and all is well on board Toketie.

Day 5

Beautiful sunshine with large swells from NE and SE making for lumpy confused seas. Light steady breeze directly off stern. Not going as fast as we like but making decent time.

Tradewind sailing!

Quite a relief after the first couple of days where we saw some of the biggest seas we have experienced. Veritable mountains of water following us(fortunately) with tops curling over like a herd of wild horses as they rushed past us. In the night, the motion of slewing down the face or taking one over the side, along with the phosphorescence, told you what you were in! But last night and today, the wind has calmed down to 15 knots or so and the seas are much smoother. This is the fourth day of the passage and we hope to make landfall in Bundaberg by Tuesday, only 380 nautical miles away!

Lest We Forget

It is not hard to find a moment of silence on the sea. The sound of the water rushing by the hull. The wind in the rigging. It is 2AM, a day ahead downunder, and it is pitch black on my watch with a few lonely stars peering around the clouds. No, there are many moments of silence at sea. And much time to remember!

rocking n rollin!

Toketie shot out Dumbea Pass through the main reef from New Caledonia doing 7.8 knots! Not that we wanted to but the wind was blowing and we could not shorten sail at the time. Since then, its been a sleigh ride! Our windomometer quit on us but maybe just as well...huge mountains of water cascading down behind us and slewing Toketie as we surf down their faces. We made good 150 nm the first 24 hours meaning we averaged over 6 knots. Not bad under trysail and half a jib! It has been a tiring day and night though and we are still being tossed around in big seas but the big gusts have lost their punch and we have settled down to a more comfortable 5+ knots. Lots of clouds around and a few drops of rain but nothing too serious yet. About 600 miles to go to Bundagerg!

on to Australia?

Looking good for a weather window this week! Hopefully Tuesday we
will lift the hook and head West to the land of kangaroos! Still
strong winds in the forecast but they are all behind us and looks like
the troughs and fronts might settle down for a week to let us
pass...never enjoy the squalls, lightning and heavy rains! It is
about 800nm from where we are (Noumea) to where we are going
(Bundaberg) so we hope to do it in a week. I will try to update along
the way if I can!

Toketie on the move....almost!

The Toketie crew have 'officially' cleared out of New Caledonia but are sitting in the anchorage watching the weather patterns form over Australia and out into the Tasman Sea! They are a lively bunch, I must say! Highs and Lows, fronts and conversion zones....almost makes you want to pull a 'kiwi' and just go and take yr lickin! But tonight a half dozen or more OCC boats are gathering on 'Szel', a Deerfoot anchored next to us so we must put in a presence! And last night we had the crew of 'Bold Spirit' on board for the dinner they gave us in Fiji.....its so easy to come up with excuses! We have topped up the diesel, the water, the provisions so are running out of excuses...but for that darned weather! To top off the pre-departure anxiety, we are in a strong La Nina year....which is a cold current cycling below the ocean West of S America.....the pundits have declared it will enhance cyclone activity in the S Western Pacific...and guess where we are?
So we hope to cast off soon....its only about 800nm to Bundaberg on the East Australian coast and that is our destination. We think we will park there and travel a bit! Now all we have to do is get there!!! For those out there who pray (Julie:), we'll think of you too!!!

another dive!

five months in the tropics and I can't seem to find a barber....no
worries....Sukanuk to the rescue and Anthea gives me a trim....just
before suiting up with the dive gear again to clean Toketie's bottom
for the very particular Australian quarantine authorities...then over
to Sukanuk to do the same....only to be chased (literally) out of the
water by a shark who was just too interested in me for
comfort.....amazing what adrenaline will do for you.....

a dive

the trip to the top of the mast resulted in the wind transducer
jumping out of my hand (or it could have been an albatross flying by
and clipping it with its wing)....anyway it did not bounce off the
deck but splashed into the chuck at the dock....only 20 ft...no
problem...borrow Derek's dive gear and down I go....got it! Bloody
thing still doesn't work.....

concertina!

a Colin Dipper concertina arrives in the anchorage......

The 'kids' arrive!

all too short....but most enjoyable....

hunting for sharks....and hiking....

leave only footprints....

Isle Signal, New Caledonia

bugs on a branch!

while walking on the beach...what strange sights we see....

Wednesday night race!

Everywhere we go, the racing scene is out in force on Wednesday nights in the summer!  Noumea is no different and we were treated to a spectacle in the anchorage as dozens of boats flew spinnakers on the downwind leg.  The wind then shifted 180 degrees and they flew them home as the sun set.  The French do love their sailing!

There goes the neighborhood!

View of Noumea Harbor!

Busy place!  Freighters, cruise ships, navy vessels, yachties!!

Parc Forestier!

We had a very long hike  yesterday, about an hour and a half, much of it uphill!  But the views were spectacular along the way!  We were looking for a park with some rare birds in it.  Turned out to be a zoo but they are breeding pairs of these endagered Kagu birds so we'll forgive them!  The Kagu only live in New Caledonia and are on the WWF endangered species list. Known as the 'ghost of the forest', they are flightless and normally live in very remote locations.

marine reserves

Lots of these big turtles swimming around in the amazingly clear water!  They are very curious and swim around the boats but dive as soon as you look at them.  The small islands near Noumea are mostly marine reserves so all sealife and birdlife are protected.  It makes for a lot of stuff in the water!  We saw a Dugong, a kind of whale also known as a 'sea cow'.  It feeds on grassy weed and is very friendly.  Lots of fish of course and a few sharks to spice things up!  Weather has been cool (20-25) since we arrived but is warming up now as we move into summer here.  All in all a very comfortable climate and friendly people that speak a weird language that I recognize from my childhood!!

Toketie crew in New Caledonia!

The Toketie crew have been exploring some of New Caledonia for a few weeks now!  Unfortunately the internet service seems very poor here so we don't have very good access.  Culture is interesting, very European flavor, with a mixture of the local indigenous Kanak population.  Noumea is a small city with most of the country's people crammed into and has homeless people down by the waterfront.  We did get out to some of the S anchorages though and on a hike managed to take this picture of Toketie from the top of a hill!