New Caledonia’s Southern Lagoon
Saturday, October 6th – 0700 – Anchor is up, and we are off to explore the southern lagoon. Winds are down, and conditions are forecast to be settled for the next several days which is exactly what we want. Why? Because this part of the lagoon is well-laced with reefs. Chart details and navigational aids have been excellent so far, but our guidebook warns us that they are not nearly as good for the more remote southern lagoon area. Keep a good lookout for hazards! Sure enough, The Captain soon spots a small reef just 100 yards south of our course that is not on the charts. The First Mate really hates it when that happens.
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The islands dotting the southern lagoon are mostly small, relatively flat and edged with beautiful white sand beaches. Under a blue skies and shining sun, these gems appear to float serenely, encircled by all the shades of blue the ocean can assume, and except for a surprising lack of palm trees swaying in the breeze, these islands are billboards for Pacific Island Paradises. Choosing which islands to visit is like trying to decide which color jelly bean one wants out of the jelly bean jar. They are all perfectly acceptable.
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Ilôt Nda, about 25nm away, is an island in the middle of reefs and is part of a reef itself. With good visibility and benign winds, we sail under jib alone right into the anchorage where we anchor in 90 feet just off the reef and not far from the island. Winds better not turn 180° tonight or we could be in trouble. The Captain sets a tight anchor watch.
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An island paradise, and we have it all to ourselves. We head ashore to hike around the island. We see the usual seabirds but are surprised to see 2 hawks take flight as we approach their nest. Eggs or chicks must be in there.
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We wonder what they eat on this tiny island. Back in Telluride they would thrive on field mice, rabbits and the occasional unwary barn cat, but what do they eat out here?
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Seeing more snakes crawling along the sand than either of us has ever seen or ever wanted to see at one time in one place, we suspect that these timid, poisonous, black-banded serpents could be a prominent part of their diet.
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The First Mate is on a mission out here on these islands. Granddaughter Berlin for her 10th birthday asked to have her bedroom redecorated. Of course, she knows exactly what she wants: an ocean theme. Blues and purples, sand and shells, fishing net and fish — she’s quite the decorator! Nana here offered to keep her eyes open for interesting shells, and that offer was enthusiastically received.
Returning to the boat and a second dinner of confit du canard, The First Mate is irritated to see the winds blowing away at 18 – 20 knots. This is “settled conditions”? It’s not as bad as the 25 knot winds we had at Ile des Pins, but there we were in a large anchorage in 20 feet of water with a good sandy holding. Here, we are anchored in 90 feet of water with a lot of reefs surfacing nearby. It’s going to be another one of those nights, and true to form, the wind blows most of the night giving both of us an uneasy sleep and frequent walk-abouts to check the boat’s position and the anchor alarm.
Sunday, October 7th – Winds are much lighter in the morning, and with only the jib, we slowly sail downwind to Ilôt Ua, our next destination. We have to meander our way through a number of reef patches, and though it should be easier to anchor off this island than it was at Ilôt Nda, there is an underwater ridge line that we have to cross to get there. Supposedly there is plenty of water over most of it, but there are some shallow sections. Feeling like we’re back in the reefs of Fiji, we know this drill. The Captain is on bow lookout and can clearly see the hazards as we approach. He selects a course that looks deep, and we cautiously motor through it
A big cat with 8 – 10 people aboard is already at anchor when we arrive. It looks like a local group that came out from Nouméa for the weekend. As we sit over lunch, we see them securing the boat in preparation to set sail which they do in quick fashion leaving us happily alone in the anchorage. There is only a small fishing boat anchored off the far end of the island.
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We head ashore for a hike. This island is a carbon copy of the previous one. White sand, lava encrusted shore, scrubby vegetation and lots of birds. Ho-hum, another island paradise! We love it!
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The fishing boat belongs to 3 brothers from Scotland who work in one of New Caledonia’s nickel mines. The mineral-rich soil of New Caledonia is one reason France maintains its hold on this island nation. The brothers are out on a quest for firewood for their evening camp fire. Ours is for shells. To The First Mate’s delight, several intact sand dollars are found and one very nice, large nautilus-type shell.
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Today
is definitely warmer. Maybe we’re turning the corner here, and summer
will start showing itself. The First Mate takes her first refreshing
shower off the aft end of the boat. If it stays warm like this, maybe
we will feel like snorkeling along one of these reefs.
Tonight’s
dinner is quail. She saw these little birds in the meat section of the
Casino grocery store. They are not something she sees in the US meat
section, and she decides to try them. The Captain is game. Before
leaving Nouméa, she had searched the internet and found a recipe for
Quail with Mushroom Stuffing. That’s simple enough, but the best part
is the rich broth that is used to baste the birds. What a great little
dinner!
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Monday, October 8th – Ilôt Mato, our next destination, is a higher mounded island with little in the way of white sandy beach. The charts show a preferred anchoring area inside a large reef off the southeastern side of the island. We are disappointed to find a number of boats already anchored there as we approach. We hesitate. From the present wind angle, it really does not look like an ideal anchorage. We continue around to the west side of the island, hoping to find more protection from the southeast winds. That turned out not to be the case, but at least we are alone on our side of the island.
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Tuesday, October 9th – Before setting off for our next island, we decide to launch the dinghy to investigate this preferred anchorage and maybe the island, too. It’s a long way around the island to get inside the reef, and when we do, we see nothing special about it. To The First Mate’s dismay, there is no easy way to get to the island itself. A long expanse of exposed lava rock shelf makes it impossible to land. She had been wishing for a hike to the top of the island, but that was not to be.
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We return to Avante, haul up the dinghy and sail off to Ilôt Amadee, an outer reef island with a lighthouse that Napolean III had built. We enjoy an easy 20nm downwind sail to the island under jib only. It’s an overcast day, but from the distance we can see the lighthouse. The entrance through the reef here is used heavily by shipping, and the surrounding area is well marked.
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By the time we anchor, the sky has begun to clear with patches of blue showing. We launch the dinghy and motor into shore. To our amazement, we are the only ones on the island. We see picnic tables, beach chairs and umbrellas along the stretch of beach, but not a soul is in sight. We see a dive shop that is closed. A grill room that is closed. A gift shop that is closed.
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There’s a sign that mentions the hours of the guided lighthouse tour, but nobody is there to conduct a tour. It feels eerily like we have arrived at a hastily abandoned stage set or just missed an alien abduction. Everything appears to be left as it was. Nothing has been put away. Chairs, tables, umbrellas — it looks like someone was just sitting there and suddenly disappeared. We know that this is a popular day destination for the small tourist boats that line the Nouméa harbor area, but obviously no tours are here today. Unlike our poor timing with the P&O cruise ships at Ile des Pins, we are lucky here. We have arrived on Tuesday, and the tour ships come from Wednesday through Sunday. We have the place to ourselves.
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The lighthouse is the highlight of the island. Again, thinks The First Mate, French design has made this look more like a confection.
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It looks too fragile to have withstood the onslaught of the Pacific storms it must have faced over the years.
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Delicate it may look, but it continues to do its job with a flashing beacon of light at night. It is obvious from the number of lighted buoys we see around us in the dark that this is a major passage into Nouméa.
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The
afternoon patches of blue were soon covered by ominous clouds that by
dinner give way to rain. On into the night, rain dismally pummels the
cabin roof.
Wednesday, October 10th – We awake to a still, overcast, gloomy morning. The high humidity makes everything feel sticky. Our cruise of the southern lagoon is at its end, and we are returning to Ilôt Maître today. It’s been a while since we’ve had internet access to check our email, and we can do so at the resort. It’s only about 2 hours to the island, but in the still air, we are forced to motor. The cloud layer eventually burns off, and we are left with a hot, still day. Not to despair: this just might be swimsuit weather!
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The resort does not charge yachties for the use of their internet connection, but we decide to buy a lunch there in exchange. We had been told that their food was mediocre, and that’s what we found. Mediocre and way over-priced, but we did get on the internet!
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We enjoyed our tour of the south lagoon. The islands we found there were some of the most picture-perfect, pristine Pacific Islands we have seen anywhere. How we wish the warm tropical temperatures we are now being treated to had been there for us in the south lagoon! Not willing to let the present tropical warmth pass unnoticed and even though the water temperature is still quite cool, both of us jump in for a quick dip followed by a warm shower on the aft deck. The First Mate remains ever hopeful that summer has finally come to New Caledonia.