Port Villa to New Caledonia

We had a pleasant stay in Port Villa and all to soon it was time to leave for Noumea New Caledonia which is 340 miles away. This passage is more to windward and we lucked out with the wind and we could make our course with the wind just forward of the beam. It was another great sail and until we got closer to the island and had to motor for about 12 hours and then the wind picked up and we had a good sail through an easy pass and even got there at slack tide and then it was with us. We arrived in Noumea just before 5pm and found a spot to anchor in a crowded anchorage. The next morning called up Port Moselle Marina on the vhf on chan 67 and they got us onto the visitors dock and arranged for customs and immigration to come down to the boat. We were not allowed off the boat until they came about 2 hours later.

Noumea the capital of New Caledonia is a large modern French city, almost like being in France. This is the first modern city we have been in since leaving Mexico. Prices are similar to back home with some things more expensive and some cheaper. We decided to stay in the marina as it was not very expensive.
We will stay here for about a week and then head West to Bundaberg Australia which is about 750 miles away or about a 7 day passage. Internet is a bit expensive here so can't us it too much.

Info:
Will also do Port Villa at bottom of this after Noumea.
Not much to add to above, nothing unusual here. When we first arrived at Nouema we had trouble finding a place to anchor as it was very crowded and you have to stay out of channel. We anchored in 42 ft at 22 16.834 S 166 25.738 E. Port Moselle Marina was $30 a night channel 67.

The only caution is when nearing New Caledonia and nearing Havannah pass (45 miles from Noumea) it is better to go through it around slack tide, low tide better as flood current sets SW and ebb NE at up to 3-5 knots per the' sailing directions' book. Flood is established 1 hour before LW. Getting there at wrong time can have big breaking seas it says. As we neared the pass we were a bit early so slowed down and we saw 4 other boats all arriving about the same time, had not seen any boats until then. We had no problems, easy going all the way. Havannah pass entrance 22 20S and 167 05 E

Port Villa.
It is no problem entering the main harbor of Port Villa. I believe you to goto Q anchorage first and either call Quarantine up on 16 or yachting world on vhf 68 and they arrange Q for you, and they come to your boat. Since we had checked in at Tanna we did not but went straight to a buoy and then later to customs to check in which has moved to S end of bay by cruise ship terminal, a longish dinghy ride. Later we were told we should have done Quarantine first. We called up Yachting world to get a mooring buoy on chan 68. Lots of buoys here reasonable price, cant remember what. You get water, garbage and a so so shower as well if you pay for a buoy and dinghy dock which is near the overhead wires.
Our position on buoy 17 44.799 168 18.708

Onwards to Vanuatu and a Volcano

We cleared out with customs at Lautuka Fiji and they said we had 2 hours to leave. So we left immedialtly for Port Resoulution, named after captain cooks ship, on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It is a 460 mile crossing or about 4 days. We had a great sail almost all the way and just motored for a few hours at the end. Out came the mosquito nets even though we did not see any, just some flies, because these islands are known to have malaria and we did not want to take any drugs for it. We then talked to another cruiser about the check in procedure.

From Port Resolution the next morning we got a ride in the back of a pickup truck to Lenakel on the other side of the island where customs and immigration is but no good anchorage. It is a two hour ride one way and there was eight of us in the back of the truck with mostly locals and a couple more yachties up front. It was a super ride through time seeing the tiny villages living in the past with cell phones. Many of them have no way to charge their phones so bring them out to the yachts to get them charged.

That afternoon just before dark we got a ride up to Mt. Yasur which is an active volcano and the only one in the world you can get close to. This is also the main draw of visitors to this island .
We got up there a half hour before dark and did the 10 minute hike to the crater rim and could see a lot of smoke and steam, and then a loud explosion and chunks of lava would fly into the air.
As it got dark it was like fireworks you could see every few minutes when it exploded a huge fire show and lots of lava rocks flung into the air. It is also a bit dangerous as every couple of days there was a big enough eruption to fling volcanic rocks up above the crater rim and land in the area where people are standing, and some of the rocks are as big as a chair. The guide heaved one of the trail we were walking up and says that must have come down this morning. If this was in Canada you would not be allowed withing 20 miles of this volcano. Will try to load a video clip here of the volcano.
The locals come out to our boat to sell or trade fruit and veggies to us every day. Another day we were invited up to watch a fire walker do his thing. He invited us to try it but we declined.
The people in the villages are very friendly and the children seem very happy and are often singing. The stop here on Tanna island has been one of the best we have had since leaving home.
Soon it was time to leave and next stop being Port Villa on Efate island, still part of Vanuatu. This was an overnight sail with the wind more on the beam making for a nice sail. This is a bigger town and more commercialized here and more tourist activity here. Lots of Austrilians and French people. There is a great fruit and veggy market here to keep Dorothy happy.
We will stay here about another week and then head over to New Caledonia our last stop before Australia.
Info:
We anchored in 18ft at 19 31.454 S 169 29.752 E. It is a bouncy anchorage, I notice nobody stayed more that a few days here, just long enough to see volcano and the local sights. Most of info is in above write up. No facilitys here at all, just bush and a tiny village. You need to get a ride to other side of island for stores. You can get a beer at a very basic so called yacht club, by the anchorage.
Land your dinghy to your left when facing into anchorage, the far left small beach gives access to the village there and the guys who organize your trip to town and customs or the volcano.