Pine Perfection, Noumea, New Caledonia

This is the Southernmost Island in New Caledonia and it is absolutely stunning. We visited last year and were keen to go back, despite it being a hard upwind 9 hour slog in 25kts of breeze for about 50 nautical miles. It was touch and go that we would be able to get there before sunset, but we were keen to give it a go. 

We un-furled the staysail, cranked up the engine and motor-sailed our way through the reefs. Navigating around New Caledonia is relatively easy, with good charts and marks identifying the hazards and the preferred route is clearly defined on the chart and easy to follow.

It was windy and rough, but Esther Louise charged on, taking the odd wave over the bow. We were nice and protected in her centre cockpit, and still managing to make about 5-6kts. We had to arrive before 5.30 which was when we would lose the sun completely. Navionics calculated our arrival at any time between 3pm and 8pm depending on whether we were going up or down a wave at the time of the reading. The final few miles would be a beam reach, so we were confident we could pick up some speed and time on that leg. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).