Lifou

There are 3 islands to the north east of New Caledonia ‘s large “grand terre” which are less developed, more remote and sounded interesting: called Ouvéa, Lifou and Maré. Checking the weather forecast at Ile de pins, we could see some nasty wet windy weather coming up, and wanted somewhere to hunker down while it blew over. Lifou has a marina, and while we’re not out here to hop from marina to marina we figured we could tie it in with checking out of New Caledonia; captains fly back to Nouméa to do customs and paperwork while the families and boats stay in Lifou.

A brisk 6-knot overnight sail brought us to the port of Wé in the middle of the eastern coast of the island, where we threaded the boat through a narrow entrance between coral heads and into the marina. It’s a tiny little place, just a few boats, and only just enough space for the two of us. Crystal clear water, one other tourist boat, and a few french live-aboard locals.

Snorkeling just outside the marina was amazing for coral, but not many fish. Tilly getting confident in the water and loving looking at everything!

Hitch hiked to the airport to get a flight back to main island to do checkout paperwork… Flight cancelled due to strikes, but managed to rent a car which meant we could explore the island. Squeezed all seven of us into a tiny hatchback (kids in the boot and on laps!) and found caves, cliffs and jungle walks.

No flights, ferries all full. As well as the airline strike, it’s wedding season on the island. 38 weddings this week! So, getting back to Nouméa is looking pretty much impossible for the next week. We’re going to sail up to Ouvea to have a look at a new island (and where there is also an airport). The sailing angle from Ouvea to Tanna in Vanuatu is not as good (more into the prevailing South Easterly wind) so it’s not an ideal spot to leave from but at the end of the day it’s not a significant difference.

Filled the boat tanks with water, bought a few fresh veg from the local supermarket and headed off at dusk on the 17th for Ouvea, an overnight passage of about 70 miles.

We sail overnight so that the 12/14 hour trip ends at dawn rather that dusk… If we are delayed then we still arrive in daylight, so that we can see the reefs and rocks and coral around the island and anchorage. For a single night passage, it’s not too demanding on sleep, with Rose taking the watch for a few hours either at the beginning of the night or (in this case) a few hours at midnight for me to then take over again for landfall. Tilly woke at 3am ish poking her head up into the cockpit… “Time for my watch” she proclaims! We have a good look around, check the chart, watch some phosphorescence in the waves, talk about the sails and the weather, and eat our “night watch snacks” (the highlight of the watch for her!) After a few minutes she decides she’s tired and heads below again to sleep the rest of the night.

Dawn brings us to the pass into the atoll of Ouvea, dolphin welcoming us to the island, diving and surfing around the bow.