Pines & Palms

A masterpiece created by Caleigh, depicting Soophrosyne's wonderous crew.

New Caledonia is okay I guess -- If you like eating two baguettes a day and swimming on white sand beaches...
The majestic Sophrosyne Yacht has made it's way to Isle of Pines, 70 miles out of New Cal's capital city. Surrounded by palm trees, huge turtles, and a beautiful full moon, Sophrosyne's crew are starting to wonder why anyone would ever want to leave this magical spot.

Yesterday's outing to the Isle of Pines highest point gave us a view of the whole island. We tramped up the rocky, mars-like path to the summit, and looked out at the turquoise ocean in awe.

Some of Isle of Pines beautiful pines (and palms)

How lucky we are to get to spend one more whole week here!

A plus tard!
(Now that my first post is done, it is official that I won't be kicked out of UUD)

-Caleigh

Lights! C'est magnifique

Courses at UUD (University of Uncle Doug) continue apace. Here Caleigh is stitching on our new wheel cover. We initially thought of this as a luxury item but with our recent passage 'sans Autohelm' we have used and appreciated it immensely.

The sun rises behind us as we approach Noumea. What the camera cannot catch (or at least the photographers could not catch) are the array of flashing strobes off our bow which guide into town with exquisite assurance. You probably "have to be there" to appreciate what a friend a flashing white light really can be!

Snug as bugs in Port Moselle, New Caledonia we are enjoying the warm fresh delights of our new home. Yesterday evening we had warm fresh baguettes with some lovely french cheese and our last bottle of wine from Fiji. Today we will hunt out some of the promised French wine which was on the shelf yesterday but behind the red & white tape saying FERME.

We had a great crossing from Port Vila (or at least that was my opinion). There is great power in being the recorder of history. Our sail included wind that was close on the bow -- perhaps 50 deg. AWA. The boat performed perfectly -- though for the first time the Autohelm did not.

The initial setback of no self-steering was daunting. We could stop at the Loyalty Islands but even then they were 120 miles away for an anchorage.

On Sophrosyne, we were not overwhelmed with capable human helmsmen, and some of the best potential candidates were, at the moment, laying on the cabin settee with a bucket close at hand.

In the end though we sailed far enough from Efate for the confused seas to settle, and found the correct sail combination (triple reef main and about 1/2 of our small jib) to power the boat through the water at +/- 7 knots in perfect balance with 2 finger steering -- lovely -- and the stars that come out on a clear night with a new moon! All is well.

New Caledonia appears to be a treasure trove of discoveries. Our first impression though comes before we even touched land. The approach to Noumea includes a long stretch of islands, reefs and close channel passages. Looking at the chart in Port Vila, it seems daunting and no way to make the full passage in daylight. Nervous tummy.

As Robert de Niro famously says in the movie Ronin "the map never equals the territory."

In New Caledonia this turns out to be a lovely positive surprise. After so much time sailing in Fiji where navigational aids to serious hazards laying 6 inches below the surface may (or may not) be in the form of a 'stick' we were delighted to find the range of white, red, green flashers all working and exactly where the chart said they would be. Together with the iPad it was a piece of pie to move through these waters and a treat to arrive in Noumea with the rising sun behind us! Perfect.

We will spend a couple of days in Noumea enjoying the European lifestyle and sorting out that itinerant autohelm. After that we will make a make our way to some of the outer islands before we come back in to Port Moselle to prepare for the next leg of our journey to Australia.

It's all good!

Sights and Sounds of Vanuatu

Our first sight of Vanuatu. Efate in the early morning. A welcome sight after a coupla days sailing.

I look at this picture and I think, if I am Caleigh, "my god, my life is in these people's hands..."

CG "in the Rafters" Someone let the loose end of the lazy jacks fly and Caleigh had to run up and grab it.* We say 'someone' when it is Doug who makes the mistakes. We try to record all others with a greater degree of accuracy.

Finally, I am in the zone.
If only they had just let me organize things from the beginning. Sailing -- really, it's a piece of piss!

Queen Maureen is escorted ashore by her expert guides Eti, and Max. All had a wonderful day together exploring the the beaches of Ambrym and the worlds of it's exotic visitors. A smile is the great shared currency!

CG -- And off!

It's a fun day aboard Sophrosyne! We are joined by our newest crew member. Caleigh will travel with us for the next couple of months as we make our way from Fiji, to Vanuatu, to New Caledonia, and finally on to Australia.

This morning was a very fun morning for us. We were up early to meet the plane!

We hear it fly over every morning but usually we just roll over and sleep for another hour. Today though we were excited to get to the airport to meet our newest crew member and second favorite niece : ). Caleigh Grace will sail and explore with us over the next several months as part of her 'walkabout.' We feel privileged to spend the time with her!

This morning after breakfast the three of us put both jibs onto the roller furlers and tucked away as much as possible of Caleigh's belongings. To be fair -- and in true Sophrosyne tradition -- her bag was half full of our stuff so packing away wasn't too tough.

We are off for a swim now and then we will let Caleigh rest before we head to the Boatshed for 2 for 1 pizza night. Tomorrow we are up early again to head into Lautoka and stock up at the market. If that all goes well, we will come back and untie for the afternoon to head out for a wee boatride so that we can run the engine and watermaker and send Caleigh over the side to scrub the bottom before we head out to sea on Thursday.

For those interested to watch our progress you can visit:

http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Sophrosyne

to see our position as we move toward Vanuatu starting on Thursday (Wednesday in Canada).

Next post will come from CG!

Stand by for her wisdom, humor and grace!

Job 5

In the tropics it's "Shade or Die"
We love our new dodger, bimini and boombag.

 So way back last summer when we returned to BC we had a list of 5 big projects that we wanted to work through to have the boat ready to go. There were of course 3 or 4 thousand smaller projects that we have also worked through over the course of the last 12 months. All in all, we are thinking that we are in pretty good shape (touch wood). We often marvel at how patient some of our visitors have been over the past year putting up with various deficiencies and gaps in our understanding of boat systems. Everyone is invited back to see the progress we have made. Patrick, we have come a long way since you and Bev were here a year ago. Gord and Jane, we now have 'sailing under a bimini' figured out so that we can have good access to view the sails without dying in the tropical sun. Ian and Caroline, we now have the watermaker working so that the ritual of cleaning dishes off the stern of the boat is a thing of the past. Brent -- we love our new outboard cowling. That Merc just works now and we no longer live in fear of a moderate sized boat wake. Chris and Anna, you would love that the last of cardboard boxes are gone and there is space to put things away. It's all good!

This past week we have finally gotten to 'Job 5' which is a new furler for our 100% jib. The previous owner of Sophrosyne had removed this inner headstay in favour of a headstay rigged to mid bow which was never really anything more than a handhold getting on and off the boat. We have found that in the tropics -- where the wind blows (just ask any of those people mentioned above) -- we have sailed too much with our 130% genoa and a triple reefed main. In this configuration the boat is unbalanced and the autohelm works extra hard to keep us on track. The boat was designed with a self-tacking 100% jib and we are moving back to that setup hoping that it will allow us to sail with a bit more main showing and a better helm balance.

While we are at it. We have new saloon cushions which make it seem like home. (those are Christopher's clothes on the floor in the forward stateroom just to give it that 'lived in' feeling.

So, in review the Big 5 are:

1.) New dodger/bimini/boom bag (and saloon cushions -- you know, while we are at it) DONE. The old dodger had clears that were so brittle and cracked that even duct tape couldn't keep them alive.

2.) New radar/sonar DONE.

3.) New Max-prop. DONE.

4.) New Lithium Ion battery and modified solar charging DONE. I'm Lovin It. It has been over a month now with no shore charge and we have been squandering energy trying to find the end of our capacity -- watermaker, inverted shop-vac, power tools.

Energy from the sun is just -- magic. It seems silly but I really can't quite get over it.

5.) Back to that furler. We are slow on this one because the furler foil and jibtrack were lost in transit and spent most of a season in New Zealand. Eventually they were delivered (all in good shape) and we are able to get on with that project. We did get some help from Westside Rigging as we needed to have a longer headstay to reach back to the bow again. Happy to report that the new headstay and foil are in place with just the jibtrack left to install. Happy days.

Finishing touches on the new headstay and foil. Thanks to the boys at Westside Rigging for their help through this process.

So, with all this done now we have been making our plans to depart Fiji. We have been saying goodbye to some of our favorite spots as we will leave from Vuda to head west in a couple of weeks. We have 1 small detour (Saltspring Island, BC) for a family wedding but once we return we will be off into the ocean.

That's all for now folks -- more to come in the coming days.

PS.

I was thinking that my note yesterday afternoon was a bit lame and that I should really try a bit more to give a sense of our life here? I was trying to see what it was like to post from the iPad which is our normal link to the Internet. It is not quite so easy to use and I am back sat down in front of the laptop now. Our experience is that we really don't use the laptop too much anymore as most of our day to day activity is more easily handled on the iPad. Navigation, banking, record keeping, research, news, and keeping in touch -- all iPad...

We are enjoying a Sunday afternoon here puttering on the boat and staying ahead of boat tasks, etc. That sound you hear is the watermaker which has been running for a couple of hours now replenishing our tanks. Once the new battery has been installed we have been able to make lots of water. The watermaker uses about 20 amps and we can generate about 15 amps from our solar panels and anywhere from 5 to 15 amps from the windvane. So -- we have water!

And groceries! We are into our second week of cruising with 4 aboard so we are down to the last of the fruit and vegetables. (Still lots of wine, beer, and rum so no real worries). As fortune would have it we were visited by the grocery truck yesterday afternoon and were able to restock. We even had lettuce for supper last night. I will let the photos tell the story of the grocery delivery and say only -- we feel very lucky indeed!

Grocery truck arrives

Getting tied up so that we can have a look at what is on offer

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, papaya, limes. Everything one needs for a splendid dinner at anchor.

A nice smile from the checkout clerk

Thanks for the wonderful delivery. Can't help noticing the ballcap -- J24 Australian Championships -- Vinaka

Ok, ok, ok...

So folks have mentioned to me that it has been awhile since we posted onto this blog page. And, since I see that more than a year has passed since the last post here I guess they are right. It's not like I can say that we have been too busy -- but we really have been. Just ask any of our guests over the last two or three months! Right now for example I have the considerable time pressure of getting in to the Blue Lagoon Yacht Club's Happy Hour!

Wait you say, Blue Lagoon Yacht Club?

Yes, we have watched facilities here get pieced together over the last three or four visits such that when we arrived here with Chris and Anna we were actually the very first yachties to have a shower! I will share more about that part in my upcoming coffee table book -- Showers of the Pacific

Not for the first time this year we have found Blue Lagoon a wonderful way to sit out 30-35 knot winds. Although we still get the wind, the surrounding reefs do a grand job of reducing the swell. We had been by ourselves for a few days and feeling a bit lonely but after breakfast we had three new boats all arrive within an hour. As the longstanding resident yachties we felt it was our job to dinghy around and let everyone know about happy hour at 5:00!

It's almost that time now so I will sign off -- but check back frequently cuz you know how good we are at keeping up to date!

It's all good!

Lo's granddaughter, at Lo's Teahouse where we go to get tea and cake.