Coral Sea - Lightening,squalls and water pumps
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Mon 25 Apr 2011 07:47
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So here we are motoring along on the 3rd official
day of our trip to Bundaberg. We finally left the lovely picturesque town of
Noumea last Thursday. We had to leave port on a Thursday as it is an old
sailing superstition not to leave port on a Friday and we don't fancy any
more bad luck.
Leaving Noumea
Leaving Port Moselle
New Caledonia to Oz
   We had planned to stop at the Island of Largnere
to give the hull a final clean before Oz so it looks good for the
Ozzie Quarantine inspection cameras!. It was so beautiful that we decided to
spend one last night out at the islands. Jez cooked a mean chilli and with a
bottle of red our first night passage wasn't so bad!
New Caledonia at Sunrise
1st night of passage - anchorage at
Largnere
Its all just too much.....
   It had been a pretty stressful week getting the boat ready and our Inverter
and solar panel decided to give up on us too...bloody boats..always something!
Solar panel fixed, Inverter still not working :-( . You would think after 6 months we would have had
plenty of time to get ourselves ready but unfortunately a lot of things can't be
done until the last minute e.g.. checking out, re-fuelling with duty free fuel
and provisioning. We also had to track down
George (who managed to lose his phone again!) to come with us for a final tune
and finish off the last bits and pieces.
Qm ready to leave Noumea
On passage - Wingin it
  We had a perfect day for our final test sail and
George seemed very happy with the rig and so are we. QM is definitely sailing
far better than she ever did before and is so much easier with all the new
systems onboard. With new sails she will be a mean machine!
It was very sad for us both to say goodbye to
our good friends in New Caledonia. Al and Asa ( who fixed the deck) have become
great friends and have helped us in so many ways with various boat projects and
we have enjoyed their company so much.
JY has also showed us so much of the interior
of New Caledonia that we would never have seen without him and we have
really enjoyed having him onboard QM.Hopefully we will go back one-day to visit
and maybe hire a charter yacht so we can explore more of the gorgeous
lagoon.
So back to the moment.....it is Easter Sunday
(15:00) and we are motoring along through the SPCZ ( South Pacific Convergence
Zone) in zero wind from the North or maybe East/West or south..who
knows!!
Last night was eventful, first we watched a
stunning sunset followed a few hours later by a fantastic lightning display
to the East. Around 11pm ( luckily Mikes watch) we were hit with a nasty
squall which only lasted 5 mins but brought torrential rain, 30
knots and then no wind.
The rest of the night was fairly peaceful just
motoring away.....
Amazing skies and crazt lightening
storms..
   This morning was beautiful, Mike cooked up a great
breakfast of omelette and baked beans and as the water was so calm we
decided to body drag behind the boat for our daily shower. Unfortunately a
while later our engine water impellor decided to jam and suddenly we had no
water coming out of the exhaust.
Jez and Mike spent an hour pulling it out and
fixing it whilst we bobbed around on the ocean...Who says cruising is
boring!?!
 
 We are expecting the winds to fill in from the SE
early tomorrow am and then freshen. Looking at the Gribs( weather files) and our
weather report from Bob McDavit we could be in for a fiesty, fast sail into
Bundaberg. Lets hope the seas aren't too big.
I think this is going to be a trip of
extremes.....We will keep you all posted.
Have a great Easter everyone from all the crew on
QM
XX
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