Port Vila to Noumea Day 1 - Away at last with most things wo rking

Caduceus
Martin and Elizabeth Bevan
Sat 5 Sep 2015 21:11

Position           18:17.26 S 168:07.70 E

Date                1200 (UTC+11) Saturday 05 September 2015

Distance run    38.6nm over the ground, 36.9nm through the water

                        (Slipped mooring Port Vila 0615)

 

A glorious dawn with a mirror like sea started the day as we motored out of Port Vila and headed south to leave Lifou in the Loyalty Islands to starboard and then to the entrance to the Havannah Passage at the south east of New Caledonia, the entry passage for Noumea and the next stop on our quest for boat maintenance and repairs.  As we cleared the island of Efate the wind filled in a little and we motored with some sail up into it, well where else would it be coming from?  The total passage distance is about 330nm and as we wish to get to Noumea as soon as possible to sort out the watermaker we will be using light head winds as a suitable weather window (Excuse?) to motor down the rhumb line.