20 43South 166 25 East September 2008

Dear friends,

A fairly routine day on board Harmonica, in the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia - get up at dawn, check & start the engine, raise the anchor, get some sails up, and eat breakfast in the cockpit all during the next hour; sail 45 miles to Ouvea; then drop anchor just before 3.00pm off a white sand beach by the village of Mouli and eat a very late lunch. Two days earlier, for example, had been less routine. The forecast was for fresh southerly winds so we moved anchorage from Chepenhe (which was a lee shore exposed to the south) 4 miles across the bay to where the cliffs would give good shelter. You could see the anchor lifting out of the sand nicely between the coral heads 30 feet below the surface. The engine was running, the autopilot went on and all was normal until I touched the wheel and it span freely. It was still shallow enough to re-anchor & stop the boat to investigate, but the autopilot was in control, so we let out some sail, turned off the engine and dug through the boat to see what had happened to our steering. Well we had checked the steering cables at the beginning of the year, but always relied on locking nuts to secure the turnbuckle (bottle-screw) that tensions them, and that had decided to come undone. An hour later the steering was fixed, the lazarette was repacked, and the engine was running again to take us inside the reef and re-anchor. Even clearer water!

There were no buildings & no roads on that side of the bay and not even a path to get up the cliffs, so we swam the next day but did not stay longer. The land is mostly eroded limestone covered in dense trees, but each Island has its own character.

When we arrive in a bay close to a village, we try to meet one or two of the older people, and introduce ourselves, and ask whether we may walk or cycle around the area. There is a traditional system called "faire la coutume" whereby introductions are performed and gifts may be exchanged, but our meetings have always been pleasant and informal. We have been cycling quite a lot recently on our folding bicycles. The roads around The Loyalty Islands are rural & quiet, but nearly all paved. Most drivers are unhurried, courteous Melanesians (the very few others are tourists or French).

The island of Mare is visited little by tourists, and there are no facilities for boats of our size. When we asked if we could use the ferry pier for shelter if the winds turned west, we were introduced to the mayor who invited us to use it whenever we wanted. The only west wind that week was very light, but we did use his pier once so that we could be in town early and get to the weekly vegetable market by 7.00am. The cultivated patches cut out of the miles of bush are sufficient to give Mare a reputation as the market garden for Noumea. They use no fertilizers or pesticides here, and the market was the best we had found. We spent a week in a little bay at Pede which is passed by the road but has no houses for 2 or 3 miles. We spent one long day cycling a lap around the island, and found a wedding at the northern village of La Roche. There is one smart new hotel overlooking a bay on the windward side where whales sometimes come to raise their young. We treated ourselves to an excellent lunch there one day, but saw few guests.

We have shared anchorages with a French boat for nearly a month over 3 islands. They, Benjamin & Sophie, are a young couple with a 13 month old daughter. They plan to take 2 years away from their jobs in New Caledonia to live simply and cheaply on their boat while their daughter is young. We have enjoyed several afternoons with them talking in each others boats or on the shore. They flatter us unjustly by saying that our French is better than their English, so we use French, which is good exercise for us.

We sailed the same day to Cape Roussin on the north coast of Mare, where there is a wide-open bay to the lee of a peninsular and extensive reefs offer protection from any swell. There are lovely corals and many reef fish and turtles swimming. No roads come close, so we were surprised one morning to see a Kanak (local Melanesian) woman. Most of the Melanesians are quieter, more retiring than peoples of Polynesia, Fiji or Tonga, and we never managed to exchange more than "Bon Jour" with her during the week end. However, Benjamin & Sophie talked to her and established that she had come for the week end with her daughter to catch coconut crabs for an upcoming festival. They came from the Tribu (Tribal area) back up on the hill 3 or 4 miles away along a footpath that we later found up the cliff & through the trees.

On Lifou, we enjoyed the showers and facilities in Marina We, and the company of Lulu, the Kanak marina manager. We cycled across Lifou, then took Harmonica to the big sheltered bay on the west coast. Then, as described at the start, sailed for Ouvea. Here, we introduced ourselves in the village and cycled half way up the arc of this ancient tilted atoll which is a long, narrow crescent with 35km of white sand beach and palm trees along the inner shore.

It felt quiet without our French friends. Until our 3rd day here, when first 2 boats sailed round the point, then more and by the next morning over 50 boats were anchored off this "quiet beach". Some were old friends we have not seen for a year or so. We soon learned that the ICA rally (35 boats) had arranged to fly French Customs and Immigration here and all these boats were arriving from Vanuatu or Fiji to check into New Caledonia on the beach. A French rally (15 boats) from Noumea had arrived at the same time. Jan & Dave joined in the social gathering on shore, renewing old acquaintances & making new. We took the dinghy back to Harmonica as the sun was setting. And next morning, there were Benjamin and Sophie anchored right behind us. The cruising community is a small but close group. We have never been in a "rally". It has been fun to see one, but feel no more inclined to join in.

Jan, Dave & Harmonica

in New Caledonia