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| New fierce hard-top and lots new below... |
We would apologize (again) for not posting monthly, but we've been up to big things. After almost eight months of mostly working on the boat vs. sailing, we've left Australia and are on a four month test drive of our new/old boat.
As our devoted readers will recall, we arrived in Bundaberg, Australia at the end of October 2024 a tired crew on a tired boat. Basically, everything on L'ORIENT was 21 years old. Our LCD instruments were difficult to read (and embarrassingly old). It was like having a flip-phone when everyone else has the I-Phone 16. We required a lot of diesel to maintain our lead acid battery power, our solar panels produced anemic energy, etc. We had unreliable refrigeration. And cooking? A hot mess. We had no true oven, just propane burners that burned with a dirty orange flame and left carbon stains on pots and pans. Try doing dishes with Easy-Off as your only effective cleanser. It gets old fast.
And the bimini. Ugh. With corroded zippers and leaky seams, when it rained or the seas ran big, we got wet. How wet? Like needing Desitin to calm the rash from wearing wet clothes on a long passage. Yes, not just for babies ! That's how wet. I'm 62 years old- this kind of sailing is not for me anymore. Shockingly Kirstin (who weirdly is still 30......same age as when I met her) agreed that we needed to talk about the boat.
All told, not optimal. Too much like camping. So, as L'ORIENTals know, when we reach a BIG DECISION POINT, it's time for Sauvignon Blanc on the bow and a family meeting.
Tom- "OK, Sweetie......how long are we thinking we are going to do this ? If it is one to two years and then we're on a golf course in Hilton Head, then let's live with L'ORIENT's imperfections and then bail. Spend the money on a bonus room, Big Green Egg grill, and that classic 1963 Mercedes 220 SE I want someday. If we're in this until we can't do this (like 5-8 years), we need to change a lot on the boat."
Kirstin- "Sailors sail (our family motto, incidentally). Let's spend some money."
I realize I am the envy of the sailing world being married to Kirstin, in this important respect. Countless sailing couples we've met began sailing together usually, but not always, as the man's dream; only to reach a sudden end to their cruising adventure. A bad passage, a run of bad maintenance luck, age, health, family issues........they quit sailing largely (but not exclusively) because the woman in the couple reached her limit........most of the time justifiably so.
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| A winter passage! |
I know someone would have to pry Kirstin's hands off L'ORIENT with a crowbar. She loves this life too much, probably even a bit more than I do. Perpetual travel and adventure with no packing or unpacking. The beauty of the places we visit. The colors we see in the sea and sky on a daily basis. Yesterday, as we were video chatting with Emily, we were visited by a solitary dolphin........which we were able to broadcast to Emily in real time. This morning it was a sea turtle right next to the boat. I don't ever have to worry about her deciding she's had enough. It will never be enough.
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| A morning visitor |
So that ended up being a very expensive family meeting. We dropped ALOT of kilo-dollars on upgrading our boat (which as you know is technically a yacht - and even more so now). We addressed everything listed above, plus installed a hard top, new protective canvas, additional refrigeration, rebuilt the water maker, propeller, all new instruments in our new cockpit, installed new countertops and a fancy induction cooktop with a working electric oven.....and probably 20 other upgrades that I've forgotten about.
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| 5 major projects going on at once |
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| Just have to show this off again... |
Our credit card companies will soon be issuing us limited edition platinum ruby with sapphire cards based on our preposterous spending.
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| Part of the new hardtop arriving on the boat |
We spent a lot of time waiting for vendors to appear at a given time only to have numerous no shows - Monday became Wednesday became Friday for an installation. January very quickly became June.
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| Our vendors used non-traditional measuring devices at times |
These past six months have also featured some exploration. We rented a car long term.......found a place where old people (like us) can go dancing in Brisbane (our new favorite city in the world), etc.
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| So, I just found out Koreans eat with scissors as a utensil |
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| "Brizzy's" waterfront |
Kirstin and her father took an epic two week long cruise around Japan. Since then she has not stopped talking about Japan so an airplane based adventure there is in the cards. I have to say that each of the (easily) 1000 pictures were amazing and they had a wonderful time together.
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| Kirstin on her vacation from boat work |
I flew to the US to attend my mother's early 90th birthday party - it was a great time together and nice to see everyone in one place.
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| A gaggle of family at mom's 90th |
We normally always find ways to get into trouble, but this time has been mostly about working on the boat. And spending money.
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| Looking for a pot of gold to pay for this |
And finally going to the gym again six days a week - we needed that! We had hoped to leave Australia in May to take full advantage of the sailing season, but a very key vendor and two important missing windows in our new hardtop caused a maddening delay. We bought a space heater for the boat as the temperatures reached the mid 40s at night and counted down the days until we could get out.
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| The hard top takes shape |
The results? Amazing. Our first passage from Scarborough, Australia to Noumea, New Caledonia at the end of June was in big conditions; 30 knot wind and seas of 3-4 meters kicked up by a passing low. We were intimidated by this passage, because we knew we had gotten "soft". No blue water passages since November? A recipe for getting beaten up by Neptune. We were used to fine dining, a nice gym, and sleeping 8-10 hours nightly. We knew this passage would be a wake-up call. Because we had missed the May time normal window to do this passage (thanks delinquent window guy), we also realized that getting east would involve riding a big winter low from Australia across the Pacific to New Caledonia.
We did what is normally a 7 day passage in 5 1/2 days. It went really well. Everything was just easier. We could actually read the cockpit instruments without squinting.
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| New dashboard; pretty "flash" as the Aussies say |
The cockpit clear vinyl and canvas surrounding panels and sturdy hard-top allowed us to sleep each night, even while we were pounded by waves and wind. We were perfectly isolated from the conditions. And it was good that we were, because our hardtop was tested periodically by what's known in sailing circles as "boarding waves". When you look up and see green water (the underside of a wave), that's generally not good. But, we were protected. It was strange; we both would still flinch a bit as a wave would explode against us during the first few days.........then we got used to the fact that we weren't going to get soaked.
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| View looking back; trying to put a solar panel on every square inch of deck |
After arriving, we've been living off the grid in New Caledonia......anchoring out. Our use of diesel fuel has dropped by 75 percent as our lithium batteries and improved solar panels get us closer to our goal of being fuel independent. I marvel at pushing the water maker switch on our 220 volt panel and having it work - no generator noise just our lithium battery bank (the generator still serves as a back up). Our new all-electric galley and improved refrigeration has resulted in us eating better and not needing to re-supply so often.
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| Noumea downtown |
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| The tourists haven't returned yet; funny what rioting does to business |
New Caledonia was a destination we were very interested in but feared we might not get to visit. May 2024 featured a lot of unrest here - to perhaps oversimplify, the French authorities announced some changes to voting here that would have given the white French population more standing and some members of the indigenous Kanak community were less than pleased. Things have calmed since then but walking around the downtown of Noumea it was pretty clear that this is an island without a lot of foreign visitors - few land based tourists and a definite lack of non-French sailors.
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| Noumea- the emptiness reminds us of Hawaii during the height of COVID |
Being back in a French Island has a lot of advantages. French wine - check, baguettes of all varieties - check and possibly best of all - unlimited amounts of perfect sushi grade tuna. Despite living on the sea we don't generally eat a lot of fish - partially due to our ineptness with fishing, partially due to scary fish diseases like ciguaterra when you are around reefs and partially due to the fact that it is not sold widely in stores. French Polynesia and now New Caledonia are the big exceptions - incredible amounts of beautiful, fresh tuna everywhere you shop.
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| A tuna bonanza- glad we have 2 freezers now |
Just outside Noumea we visited the impressive Tjibaou Cultural Center named after a famous Kanak leader who was assassinated in 1989. It is housed in an impressive structure that nods to the traditional building style of New Caledonia while also being incredibly modern. Again - we were one of five visitors there on a Saturday.
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| Some massive French spending on Kanak cultural works |
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| Traditional Kanak buildings |
After a few days in a Noumea marina it was time to explore what this place is known for - its lagoon and islands.
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| Nice cruising ground |
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| More perfect islands to anchor near |
Fun fact - the New Caledonia Barrier Reef surrounds the largest lagoon in the world. This is paradise for sailors and with only 12 weeks to be here we want to explore as much as we can.
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| Before sailing the South Pacific we would never have attempted this landing |
First stop was Mato Island - and what a great one it was. Being here at anchor here made up for every minute of waiting for a vendor and every dollar we spent absolutely worth it. Our idea of fun is not living on a boat in a marina - this is our world.
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| L'ORIENT anchored- don't worry, the coral is actually 50 meters away |
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| Another beach to ourselves |
Next stop - Ile de Pines is one of those places that has been on our bucket list for a long time. Other sailors have raved about it. We see alot of beauty in this life and sometimes you can take it a bit for granted, but this place is truly stunning. And right now we are the only boat in the bay. A different gorgeous (and deserted) beach for every day of the week if you wish.
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| No tourists to welcome except us |
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| One of our favorite beaches |
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| Fun place to read and watch the day slip by |
This place also has an interesting, if troubling, history as a French Penal Colony. Largely political prisoners were sent to Ile des Pines between 1870 to 1913. We would have spent more time exploring the ruins, but in walking the path we heard a loud snort and a heavy tremble only to look up and see a bull with very large horns walking towards us. We headed into a different entrance only to find that the bull clearly lived inside the ruins and would probably frown on our visit. Tour over.
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| French prison, disused since 1913 |
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| Cemetery of those who never made it back |
We rented a car for a tour around the island and came across the Wednesday village market in Vao. As the only visitors we left with a massive bag of fruit, several cakes and baguette sandwiches. After we bought the fruit each lady insisted on giving us even more so that we now are having passion fruit and bananas with just about every meal.
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| We arrived at the market at the perfect time......and bought virtually everything |
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| Kirstin free-spending ways (with dessert treats) made her a rock star among the Kanaks |
The island had so many beautiful things to see - a natural swimming pool, churches, monuments and we even stumbled across the school's track meet.
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| Possibly the most consistently beautiful island we've ever seen |
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| And finally, more of our favorite color water |
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| View from our beach encampment |
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| Church on some pretty valuable beachfront land |
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| School kids racing; good way to get them tired out |
Several monuments to New Caledonians who had fought in World Wars caught our attention. A traditionally French monument with a Kanak carving touch.
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| Not sure how happy the Kanaks were when they were sent to the Somme in 1916 |
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| Some wild Kanak statues |
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| Not sure what to make of these; but they get your attention |
We have Starlink as well, meaning that even from the most remote corner of the South Pacific, we regularly communicate with video calls to family, can watch movies, and have 5-G internet service. And if it breaks, we have a spare.
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| My beach rocks ! |
So, in short, we're all in. Are things still breaking at an alarming rate ? Yes........duh, it's a boat. But we've made some important improvements that are so far allowing us to enjoy our cruising life more, even as we are still far from understanding the capabilities of our "new" boat.
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| Panoramic view of life on Ile de Pins |
We owe a lot to our Australian vendors in terms of the quality of the work they did (we did actually pay them!). Because tradesmen have a six-month backlog of work due to a shortage of qualified vendors, these folks can pick and choose their projects. They weren't the best communicators or planners, but we're quite happy with the results. And we are thrilled to be in New Caledonia.
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| Another perfect sunset; and time for Sauvignon Blanc |
