Grand Terre – The Adventure Begins

After 4 days sitting in the Port Moselle marina, we are ready to leave. We enjoyed meeting other cruisers along the dock and were amazed at the number of really young families around us. Their number, now out full time cruising, seems to be increasing. Across from us is a delightful German couple with 3 little ones ranging in age from 7 on down to a toddler in diapers. Two days after arrival, another couple with a crew of youngsters arrived adding 2 more little ones racing up and down the dock in life jackets with their scooters and trikes. There was hardly ever a tear. The air was filled with their laughter and banter. Cruiser kids are resilient, but then so must their parents be!

S/v Wayfinder with cruising friend Hugh Howie tied up on the end of our dock having just arrived from Australia. We and he and cruising friends Chuck and Annie on s/v Exit Strategy waited out some nasty winds in a bay off the Astrolabe Reef in Fiji last season. What fun we had over sundowners and dinners! We re-connect and spend another few evenings together. Hugh is a Science Fiction author whose novels and short stories are mostly apocalyptic. We enjoyed our conversations across a wide range of topics. Hugh proffered an interesting opinion that we are now in the Golden Age of Cruising, for with the oceans warming and rising, islands sinking and increasing world discord, our type of cruising will either be extremely limited or gone. Though The First Mate would not exactly call it the “Golden Age”, his thoughts mirror hers. She does worry that the places one can safely cruise as we have been doing will continue to decrease in number. Such negative thinking does no one good in these troubled times!

Another comment he made on our last evening together before he took off for Fiji brought her up short with its honest simplicity. He said that he “viewed all strangers with love”. He leaves it up to them to knock themselves off that perch, and if they do, rung by rung, that love diminishes. First, though, is to view the ‘”other” as friend, not as enemy, alien or foe. The First Mate would dare to say that that is not the approach of most of this world or even of herself. What a game-changer that mindset would be! She vows that she is going to push herself to change her mental perception of a stranger. Approach a stranger as potential friend not as a possible threat, someone deserving to be known not as alien, someone who could enrich one’s life rather than take from it — do that until that person proves himself otherwise. Stop with all this prejudging based mostly on stereotypes rather than facts. Watching Hugh making friends so easily and how people readily gravitate towards him, it’s that philosophy of his that is the key.

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The French colonized New Caledonia and still maintain a controlling presence, though there has been and continues to be strong feelings toward independence by the native population, the Kanaky. In a microcosm, the French treatment mirrors that of the good ole USA and its treatment of the native Indians. Treaties made. Treaties broken. Forcible removal from home territories with land given and then taken. The sad story goes on, but the difference here is that the Kanaky have held onto their customs. They want their land. They want equality, money and resources, and they have been willing to fight for it. An election for independence was held last year. Independence lost, but the opposition continues. The French have worked to appease the agitating Kanaks. Over the years, actions have been taken to improve living standards with better schools, health care, participation in government and greater acknowledgement of their rights, but there is a long way to go. As The First Mate reads the history of this place, she feels that despite a very strong French military presence, the conflict here is far from finished.

Growing out of their push for independence, the Kanak people created their own flag. In 2010, in a compromise over French rule, the Kanaky flag was adopted as the second flag of New Caledonia and is now flown with the French flag.

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The central design in the yellow circle begs to be explained, for it is not the usual figure or symbol one sees on international flags. The structure itself is called a flèche faîtière. In French, that means “carved roof top spear”. (Just an aside: The First Mate finds it interesting that this architectural structure of Kanak origin has been given a French name. No where in her guidebooks or on the internet can she find the Kanak name for it. Why? The next time she sees one and if there is a Kanak near by she is determined to ask its real name. Further update intended.)

Tuesday, May 29th  – Leaving the marina, we stop at the fuel dock to fill all tanks and our auxiliary containers as well. We know there is fuel available at a few spots along the way, but they will all require us to haul it back to Avante in our heavy containers. The only fuel dock in New Caledonia that we can pull up to with Avante is in Nouméa. Knowing that we will need a lot of fuel on this trip, we fully top up everything.

The tradewinds in New Caledonia blow from the southeast. Because the orientation of the island is on a northwest-southeast axis, that means we will have the wind behind us going up one side of the island and on our nose for the return. After asking advice from several sources, we conclude that it is best to go clockwise around the island. The west coast has fewer interesting anchorages and they are further apart, so it would be best to be able to sail on that coast.

For the first two days as we head north, winds are benign and from behind as expected. In light winds, we sail slowly up the coast enjoying the tranquility and the balmy weather. It is moving into winter here. Days are pleasantly warm, and nights are cool enough to need a comforter. As neither of us are into such water activities as surfing, kite surfing and scuba diving, the cool water temperatures do not bother us. We are fine sitting on the boat looking out over the blue expanse or hopping into the dinghy to explore, and anywhere there is a hike, we take the opportunity to do so.

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The Baie de Bourail where we plan to spend tonight is huge. Our sailing guide recommends a spot to anchor, but neither The Captain nor The First Mate is comfortable with it. The path into this anchorage passes too many unmarked shallow areas with coral uprisings, and the light is not good for spotting reefs. The Captain choses a more accessible location where there is some protection from the wind and where the swell coming in from the sea is not too bad. We are anchored securely and the wind is light, but The First Mate states that in heavy winds she would rather be out to sea than anchored here. She can see waves breaking on reefs in almost every direction. It’s a beautiful setting, but it just doesn’t feel very secure.

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Friday, May 31st – With 40nm to go to our next anchorage, we are on the way at 0830. We head back out into the ocean, then turn and parallel the coast staying about a mile off the reef. It’s a slow sailing day under a cloudy sky. Our next anchorage is in one of the many mining areas that dot this coast. New Caledonia is rich in several minerals, though nickel is the prime one, and its many mines have been a bonanza for the French over the years. We are not enthusiastic about stopping at this anchorage, but there are no others within miles. We envision bright lights, ore freighters, noise from cranes, dust and smoke, but to our surprise, all is quiet.

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