RTW Leg 20: New Zealand to New Caledonia

Lucy in her skins, the first use since Norway, with her survival kit; phone and kindle.

There was an increased buzz about the pontoons in Opua. A weather window was approaching. Crews started appearing and getting boats readied. The Captain had been in touch with ‘John the weather man’ and it was looking like a goer. The Captain and crew got busy with the last minutes job list. The winds were going to be hectic for the first day or so but they would calm down. The crew of the good ship Broadsword set off after clearing immigration and left a very, very rainy but beautiful New Zealand…….Sadly, they also had to take the decision not to visit Norfolk island as it would be too dangerous to land. We had hoped to visit an old friend who has lived there for many years, but it just wasn’t to be.

The calm after the gale

It was about 3.30pm when we left and the clouds were looking ominous the rain pelted down and the wind was getting up. The sails were reefed in, lifejackets on, and crew harnessed in. It was time to battened down the hatches! After six months of not being at sea, it was a horrendous shock to the system. The winds grew and grew and built up to 45 knots, the waves increased and the crew felt seasick! Infact, the First Mate was violently sick in a bucket.….because it was just too dangerous to lean over the side! When the First Mate asks the Captain if we are going to be ok, the last thing a crew member likes to hear is …silence, ie: nothing…no answer! Just the concentration of him controlling the yacht and keeping us safe is quite unnerving. Meanwhile the First Mate is silently screaming inside. She has never shaken out of sheer terror before. Silently praying to any god who was listening to keep us safe, so that we could see our children, family and friends again. This continued for what seemed days, but mercifully just twenty four hours. The Captain recovered fairly quickly but the First Mate was rendered useless. Seasick for the rest of the six day passage is not a helpful crewmember. So, he ably took on being skipper, nurse maid, cook and general dog’s body for the rest of the trip and while his crew stayed pretty silent for the rest of the time.

Our first Albatross. We decided after much deliberation it was a Black Browed Albatross.

Any hoo, one good thing is that, in rough seas, the male members of the crew need to wee sitting down! So the loo seat has been down all the way to New Cal…..silver linings…..silver linings!

The First Mate has never been so pleased to see landfall. Still nauseas and dizzy, it was decided that maybe she was not just seasick. A kind chemist in Noumea helped her find a local doctor. She had an ear infection and was given a list of medicines to get. She is going to be quite candid here. She knows that, that was probably not the worst storm they will be experiencing on this adventure and in general the passage from Scotland to this point has been kind in every respect. But at this point, she has really started to wonder if she was up to continuing the journey and coping with the homesickness or should she grab her passport and go home (with her secret running away fund!) It was something she didn’t really want to tell the Captain, but they had a glass of wine and chatted it through. No going home just yet.

Port Moselle, Noumea, New Caledonia where baguettes are a daily indulgence.

After a week of laundry, jobs on board, and many zoom meetings for the Captain. The crew needed some downtime. However, there is one big problem…..sharks! Sadly Noumea, the main town in New Caledonia has had three Bull shark attacks in 2023, alone! There is now an added fear of swimming. Something which the First Mate and Captain love to do. There is no spontaneous leaping off the back of the boat at a moment’s notice. Here it is safer to get local knowledge and take the tender to shore and swim in the shallow waters. They just can’t wait to get to Australia – apparently, they have no dangerous animals there!

Subtle clues that we are still in Polynesia

We had heard that Ile des Pins was stunning. It certainly lives up to it’s name. Off they sailed for an eight hour passage and arrived at a stunning little bay of Kuto. There was a market at Port de Vao on every Saturday and the island is prized for their very yummy land snails which were being sold at every stall, along with fruit and vegetables. The Captain was against the butchering of these sweet little snails, so opted for the chicken option. These islands were used by the Americans during WW2 but there was little here, apart from the remains of the old penal colony. They had decided to move to another more beautiful bay but were swiftly moved on by the locals! Sometimes the pilot guides don’t always get it right and are out of date as soon as they are written. We returned back to Noumea via a lagoon at Ilot Mato which was very beautiful but the First Mate nearly stood on a Sea Krait (venomous sea snake) coming out of the sea and slithering up to cool down in the shade. No more walks in the long grass.

A Sea Krait, Mato Reef, Mato Island and Port Vao

Back to Noumea, but they really felt we had not seen enough. A car was hired for the day and they set off to a deserted mining town of Prony and then to the Blue River National Park. There they found the most beautiful pool in a river. Cozzies were grabbed and they set off down to the river bank, only to be followed by a huge family of very loud Americans. Their lovely little swim had been thwarted and the Paddington stares didn’t work, which was just as well as they were also yachties and were from the same marina!

On our land excursion

Then a dive. The last dive had been a bit of a disaster for the First Mate and she was extremely nervous about going again! The big brave pants were adorned when she realised that it was a wreck dive! They also saw unexploded bomb shells left over from the war just lying on the sea bed! Great instructor, great experience and a fab way to get your confidence back.

Diving the Toho 5 wreck. John in yellow, Lucy in blue.

As the crew left New Caledonia, heading for Vanuatu, they discussed how they felt about the islands. Maybe we’ve been spoilt, but it just wasn’t what they were expecting. It was lovely, but they were there for such a short while, maybe it’s unfair to expect more.

One other thing the First Mate would like to add…..

Not only is the Captain running a ship, fixing the many things that break down, keeping the crew from jumping ship, acting as therapist but he is also still running a company. If he not working on the boat, he is at his computer, or on Zoom meetings. The First Mate thinks he is pretty much super human and is very lucky to have him…..he’s a keeper!

Broadsword going well

Follow our route at: https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/broadsword?sid=5279125994471424&tc=1687071851476

Ed’s Note

If I was reading this from the comfort of my sitting room, I’d be wondering how on earth could they find themselves in a gale on the first day out of port with all the modern weather forecasting available to them. A passage too or from New Zealand is notoriously tricky, taking six or seven days to New Cal, Fiji or Tonga. The trouble is that the low pressure systems pass through every four or five days. We had to leave on the back of one system in order to try and make it to New Cal before the next one hit us ahead of arriving. Around sixteen other boats left the same day, reconciled that the first 24 hours would be tough. Having said that, it was a lot tougher than we thought. Overpowered with staysail and two reefs, we broached in the pitch dark and trying to recover her was truly terrifying.