QM Sails again....
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Sun 10 Apr 2011 03:39
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Hey,
Quartermoon finally sails again -
WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - We are STOKED!!!
Last Wednesday, George joined us in our virgin sail
around the bay and tuned and tweaked until he was happy with the rig tension. It
was a short sail (about 1 hr back and forth across the bay) but enough
of a shock to the system! Over the last 5+ months we have become
total dockside land-lubbers / gentle motor cruisers, so we needed to
polish our almost forgotten sailing skills and get to know a quite
different boat....
It was a strange feeling to be sailing
QM again after almost 6 months and we suddenly found ourselves having
to jump into action trying to remember how we used to sail her - who
does what, the order in which to do it when there are only 2 of you
onboard. Besides, there were a lot of new things to try, screw up and figure
out.
There was plenty of crashing from down
below as drawers fell out, cupboards emptied, doors flew open and
everything that wasn't tied down launched itself across the boat... It's been a
while since we've been sailing.....
  Thursday & Friday were wiped out - it was
blowing 30-35 knots inside the bay so we thought it might be a bit too
windy for our first proper trial. We finally broke free from the dock on
Saturday and had a great sail out to Dumbea Pass in about 20-25 knots (The pass
we will use if we decide to give up residency here and head to
Oz). Across to Ilot Signal for Lunch and then over to Baie Maa for the
night. New Caledonia's lagoon is an amazing
cruising ground. So may islets, atolls, reefs, snorkeling, fish life, free
moorings.... and a heap within a few hours sail of the mingin'
capital - Shame we didn't have a mast earlier! At least we will leave
with a good impression (of the lagoon at least)! I had a slight panic as we
entered Baie Maa - we had lost all steerage. I couldn't move the
wheel and a bit of a panic ensued. I have never launched myself into the
lazarette so fast. I went to check to see if the steering quadrant was
jammed or what the problem was... only for Mike to figure out
I had put QM on auto pilot shortly before and promptly forgotten
about it, DOH!!! Very embarrassing... taunting ensued and I don't think I
will live that down for a long time....!
Baie Maa made me feel very homesick as it looks
just like a beautiful anchorage in Scotland. I even had to don a
woolly sweater and my "Pure Magic" jacket this morning as it was
bucketing down. The sun shone through eventually so we had a huge rainbow
to enjoy with our coffee and bacon and eggs.
Baie Maa...
 This morning we had a fast sail over to Ilot
Mbo Kouen, reaching with less than full, worn-out sails, we averaged nearly 8 knots in about
20 knots of breeze ;-) It's a stunning
atoll surrounded by a huge sheltered lagoon. It was really beautiful and
although it was blowing 25 knots the water was completely flat and protected. We
saw a few white tip reef sharks and had burgers for lunch - nice!
Ilot Mbo Kouen
Tasman Endeavour ( Tanker that delivered our mast to
NC)
  It was 12 nm back to Noumea and the test really
began for the new rig. Blowing 20-25 knots with short, steep waves we had
to sail directly upwind back to Noumea. She sailed brilliantly, we got a
bit wet, scared ourselves but held our own with bigger boats. We
didn't want to push too hard yet (we have lost our nerve a little and this
is a test sail) although the rig needs more adjustment, all seemed to
go well.....
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