Season 2013 is over

We decided Zenitude will stay in the dry in Gold Coast City Marina until we are ready to go sailing again, sometime in April 2014. In the meantime, there is a lot of work ahead to keep her in good shape. The biggest tasks are the upgrade of the Navigation system and new sails. But for now we are taking a break in Sydney and looking forward to the holiday season with family, just around the corner.

Here are the videos from our time in New Caledonia:

1. Sailing with Dolphins
2. Sunday at the Marina Cafe - Amateur Fanfare
3. Turtles Panic
4. How to Catch a Fish

The blog will rest for a little while as well.
G.

The Gold Coast

After a week in Brisbane, having completed official duties (no problems there, they even allowed to keep our favorite French cheese Reblochon), having rested and later received friends Tortuguita and Crisaloha, Oscar is today on the move again, solo sailor, but behind Tortuguita towards the Gold Coast. The idea is to stay in the Gold Coast marina that host the Gold Coast boat show next week. I'm planning to fly there for the weekend, and together we'll decide if Zenitude stays there for the Summer or if we sail back to Sydney. A busy 'boat show' weekend ahead.

G.  

Back in Australia

It was a good window after all and with forecast and route advice from Roger Badham all went well. Zenitude arrived in Brisbane quarantine docks at about 1:00 AM on Friday ahead of a southerly change forecast for Friday noon. Moreton Bay was the most stressful part of the trip with 30 kn winds inside the bay and many big ships to avoid along the way. It didn't help to do that part of the trip at night. George was a fantastic crew to have on board, with always working to have the best possible set for our sails and flying in light winds. A lot to learn from him. The bad news is our sails are finally too worn out and need replacing, but we already suspected that.

A lot of work lays ahead to prepare for next season, but for now it is just rest time for the tired crew.
G.

Underway - Noumea to Sydney

After hectic preparations and wondering if this is indeed a good window, as per usual before a passage, Oscar and Georges left Noumea yesterday afternoon and are underway to Brisbane, with light winds and perfect weather yesterday and motor sailing in light winds again today. If all goes as planned ETA is Friday morning. All is well on board.

Coming back home

G.

And the season is almost over .....

It's been a while since our last post. Things have happened fast and suddenly I found myself on a plane coming back to Sydney. Oscar in Noumea getting ready to sail back to Australia as soon as the weather clears and Georges, his crew for the trip, is free from his very busy working schedule. It all seems good for next Saturday. In the meantime, Tortuguita with our dear friends Dave and Booker have arrived to Noumea from their Pacific crossing trip and are ready for the last leg coming to Australia as well. It appears that Crisaloha has also arrived today to the marina, planning to come to Sydney this season and I'm missing all the fun.

But all is well here and there. Will send more news when Zenitude starts her trip back.
G.

Ile des Pins

Early this morning we left Ile des Pins after spending a wonderful week there. It's no wonder this is such a popular place. We were lucky that the weather was magnificent. The island is beautiful with the green vegetation, lots of pines, very white smooth sand beaches and turquoise clear waters. We stayed in Kuto and did 2 day trips to Ilot Brosse as the weather was very settled.

Fabulous Ilot Brosse 

Looking for the track to Nga

We did the track to Nga which is easy in an interesting forest but managed to loose the track before getting to the apparently breathtaking views. Anyway, it was a good walking exercise. Also we spent some time in Kanumera beach, another amazing bay with the famous rock that is 'forbidden to climb'. The rock seems to be falling in pieces that stay at the bottom in the clear waters of the bay, the trees manage to grow on the rock while their roots corrode the rock creating a beautiful effect.

Kanumera beach

Our last day was a bit of a disappointment as the big P&O cruise ship deposited thousands of tourists in this tiny place and our plan to rent a car and go around the island was crashed. There was no possible transport if you didn't have a P&O cruiser card and no cars left for renting. Oh well, something to do next time.

There were several cruising boats in Kuto and we met again with Retour. They mentioned that
with settled weather you can go with your boat to Vao, where there is the main village and a nice market for fresh produce that opens Saturday and Wednesday. Another activity left for next time.

Just after lunch we arrived at Kouare where we are at the moment.
G.

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At anchor in Ilot Uere

We left Port Moselle marina at lunch time and decided to come to Ilot Uere, which is just 6 1/2 miles from Noumea. It was a short but quite uncomfortable trip, by the time we arrived we had head winds blowing over 20 kn. The lagoon is shallow and gets very choppy with winds over 15 kn. The anchorage is protected from the swell however the wind gets thru and there is little protection despite what we read in our cruising guide. Fortunately the holding seems excellent and we are expecting the wind to abate later tonight.

The weather is not really inviting for any dinghy trip to the beach ashore so we are just relaxing on board. On top of it the beach does not seem very inviting either as there are plenty of stones where you expect to find sand, in other words, we are not quite impressed with this anchorage.

When we arrived we found Retour already at anchor here, we might catch up with them later if we decide to put the dinghy down in the water.

 Zenitude and Retour at anchor

Next day we had a chat with Retour and came to shore for a walk. We changed our minds about this place, finding it quite nice. Ashore we did a long walk and found mangroves along the way, a beautiful and peaceful scenery, amazing considering this is very close to Noumea. Our friends in Retour tell us that they've been in this anchorage in several occasions in strong winds and they never had a problem, with the holding being excellent.

Pebbles on shore but quite beautiful nevertheless

A quiet moment

The second night something happened. By sunset French Marines started arriving. Quite interesting, all of the sudden hundreds of marines had invaded this peaceful place. We had to assume it was for training purposes, no threats hiding in the mangroves it seems. As we left next day at sunrise, we didn't hang out to find out.

Marines start arriving

Beautiful Mangroves

G.

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