Ilot Maitre, New Caledonia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 13 Oct 2008 19:44
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22:19.979S 166:24.320E
On Tuesday, 10/7, we left the marina in Noumea and
motored the three or so miles out to Ilot Maitre, a tiny island just big
enough to hold one small resort and provide protection for fifteen or
so sailboats to anchor behind. We ended up staying there five nights and
used the time to get ready for our upcoming sail to New
Zealand. We haven't done a major ocean voyage since the wild ride from
Fiji to Vanuatu back in July, and even that was only two nights (it felt
endless at the time though). So we used the five days at the
lovely Ilot Maitre to do things like check the rigging, clean the
bottom, stock the freezer with pre-cooked meals and free our cold
weather clothes from their vacuum bag prisons (except for Don's giant wool
socks, of course, which had already been freed).
Job one - up the mast:
Big surprise, it was Don that went up both masts to
check the rigging and ensure nothing untoward was going on up there
(picture 1). Once the rigging inspection was over, Don moved on
to more important tasks and took a few pictures from his tall perch. There
was no wind that morning (highly unusual) and as a result, the water was
completely still. We were anchored in twelve feet of water and we
could clearly see every blade of sea grass, piece of coral, link of our anchor
chain and the anchor itself sitting on the bottom - an ocean version of a
swimming pool. The fish swimming below us didn't seem to notice that their
normal rippled sea surface camouflage was missing and went about their business
as if nothing was amiss. We could see a stingray gliding along the bottom
and two giant turtles lolling around just below the surface. Really
amazing - no need to snorkel, we could see it all right from the
deck. Picture 2 is one of the pictures Don took from above. The day
was so cloudless you can see Don's shadow on the boat's deck. Picture 3 is
the view from above of Ilot Maitre, and some of the resort's over-the-water
bungalows. If it hasn't been mentioned before, this sort of over-the-water
bungalow resort structure seems to be the popular thing since most of
the beach resorts we've seen since the Society Islands are built this
way. We figure why bother with the bungalow? If you want to be
over the water while you sleep, hop aboard a boat!
Job two - clean the bottom:
Big surprise, it was Don that cleaned the bottom,
keel and all. He has acquired a new toy from Storyteller - an air
compressor built to run on twelve volts, linked to an air hose and respirator
that can be used to scuba dive off the boat - thus eliminating the need to strap
huge air tanks to his back when diving near the boat. Don used this
system to clean the entire bottom, which, he reported, had a garden
growing everywhere with green strands up to six inches long in some
places. Can't have that if we expect to break all sea speed records on the
way to New Zealand. It's no wonder the garden was growing so
well though, the bottom paint is now over eighteen months old and obviously
getting weary. Speaking of getting weary...the first day Don worked on the
bottom was nice and calm as described above. The next two days came with
an upsurge in the prevailing southeast trade winds (15-25 knots). Don did
not necessarily enjoy swimming hard while chasing the boat around under
water attempting to scrub the garden off the bottom - new toy or
no. If you are wondering what exactly I did while Don was toiling
underwater, I did trot up on deck every so often, peer overboard to be sure
I could still see bubbles emerging from under the boat and then generally
scuttled back down into the cabin where it was nice and toasty warm and
dry. Big help I was.
Job three - fill the freezer:
Big surprise, it was I that filled our freezer with
all things microwavable for our sail to New Zealand. We are not taking any
chances this time - every meal is pre-cooked and ready for heating. Very
little meal preparation effort will be required while underway with one
exception: if we are heeled hard to starboard, some gymnastic moves
might be necessary to keep the microwavable pre-cooked meals from sliding
out of the port side microwave as we bump along. Other than that, we
should be golden.
Job four - free the cold weather garb from its
vacuum bag prisons:
Hmmmm....haven't done that yet, must be a mental
block. We've lived in perpetual summer for so long that I'm not sure our
systems are ready for the shock of temperatures consistently below 70.
This task might have to wait until it is absolutely necessary to don more
than two layers of clothing (t-shirts count as one layer).
Our stay at the Ilot Maitre was not all about work
of course. There was still plenty of time to continue our ongoing game of
Rummykub with John and Sue (the girls combined scores are way ahead of those of
the guys, by the way) and Sue continued to feed us as she continued to
empty out what seems to be hundreds of food and booze hiding places on
board Storyteller. We've estimated that Sue has fed us at least one meal
per day for the past month. As a result, I think we've created a new
category of boating life - a form of parasitic cruising, not
necessarily a bad way to live.
We did also take time out to admire the kite
surfers populating the southeastern (windward) side of the small island.
Ilot Maitre is a kite surfers paradise because the surrounding reef results in a
very shallow expanse of flat water, but with a brisk trade wind breeze
overhead. Perfect for those that like to take their life in their hands
and sail along in a 25 knot wind on a tiny sailboard and harnessed to a high
tech parachute-like kite. Fun to watch and maybe fun to try one day - but
not in a 25 knot wind.
Anne
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