NEW CALEDONIA - LOYALTY ISLANDS - OUVEA
IN SEARCH OF THE RIGHT CHIEF (Happened to be a woman!)
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| The anchorage at Mouly: sand, sand, and more sand |
Weather is uncertain, an alternance of highs and lows, of calm and storm. After a week of lovely weather in Lifou, Weather caught up with us in Ouvea. A 2-day storm had us locked into Ouvea’s anchorage
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| Ouvea, The Pleiades, and Beautemps-Beaupre |
But it was a good time to start on our mission: get authorization to cruise the famed Ile Beautemps-Beaupre, north of Ouvea.
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| Mouly & Fayaoue |
As usual, we had to find the right chief, but things are a bit more complex in Ouvea. If the island itself consists of a crescent-shaped spit of brush, the north and south-west of the lagoon are fringed with a constellation of small islands called The Pleiades. Each group is the property of (and controlled by) a specific clan. Beautemps-Beaupre (BTBP) belongs yet to another clan. We had 2 decisions to make: which islands did we really want to visit; and how many “Coutumes” did we want to present.
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| Beautemps-Beaupre |
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| Mouly's beach: talcum powder |
Try #1 - MOULY - 20*43.18S - 166*25.30E - I love dropping anchor in 8 meters of water over miles of sand… so much easier that between coral heads, especially when it’s blowing 25 knots! Off to shore promptly, looking for the chief.
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| La Cheferie de Mouly Controls Mouly and the Western Pleiades |
We found the “Cheferie,” harkened by its massive tree trunk palisade, but no chief: absent until the ferry comes… who knows when. Next!….
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| Fayaoue - We only found the small Clan Chief |
Try #2 - FAYAOUE - 20*39.117S - 166*31.80E - More lovely sand, anchored in front of the Gendarmerie. Off to shore again, looking for the Chief. We met one, who gladly took our presents and declared that we were now welcome to anchor where we were and authorized to walk to town. Good time to provision at the local store, of course, but when we asked if we could go to Beautemps-Beaupre, we learned that we were only authorized to drop anchor at the Western Pleiades, as this chief was not the Big Chief… Off to the next chief…
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| Storm is passed... time to go! |
Try #3 - St. Joseph - 20*27.323S - 166*35.323E - Now that the storm has passed, we’d love to hurry up to BTBP, so we race to the Cheferie on the south end of St. Joseph whose palisade we spotted with our binoculars. Off to shore to present our Coutume. Yes, we’re welcome to now cruise the Northern Pleiades, but Ile Haute only. What about BTBP? Nope! The chief controlling these parts has recently died, but perhaps his widow would give us authorization…
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| St. Joseph... pass the church and you'll find the Cheferie |
And off we were, on Try #4, found the Widow at her home behind the grocery store by the church and yes, she was glad to give us her blessing for BTBP: do not go to shore, do not scare the birds, do not light fires, do not throw garbage, do not fish inside the lagoon, do not spearfish inside the lagoon… OK, we promised!
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| Yes, it's a tangled web! |
At last, by 9:30 on October 18th, we were underway, threading between the glittering necklace of the Northern Pleiades, almost tempted to stop at Ile Haute, and 2 hours later we were anchored at BTBP.
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| Exiting through the Northern Pleiades - Ile Haute |
Some charts indicate an anchorage on the western end of the island, but this was way too shallow an reefy for us. We preferred to play it safe and anchor north of the small island.
This is a place for snorkeling. There is no easy access to shore. Millions of birds rook on this little island and it is best not to bother them.
Underwater, though, it’s a different story. We had our first peek at red soft coral and the never-ending varieties of Fern Stars. The water was so clear that I could see JP diving some 20’ below.
So many new varieties of fish and —a highlight of New Cal— a plethora of Butterflyfish and Anemonefish.
As lovely as the anchorage was, the snorkeling was limited and since there was no hunting allowed and the anchorage was quite rolly, we decided to move the next day.
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| Shen's Anthias |
We could have stayed a few more days, but the roll got on our nerves: there are so many more anchorages to explore!
Where to? The East Coast of New Cal.
Till next time
dominomarie