Day 155, Year 2: Sailing Women on the Loose . . . and There’s a Full Moon
Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Weather: Yet Another Picture Perfect Day
Location: Baie de Hienghene, Grande Terre, New Caledonia
It is sunset here and the full moon is in all of it’s glory rising above La Poule Couveuse (the chicken) and the other Linderalique rock formations within our view. It was another absolutely stunning day weather-wise and the rising of the full moon is a wonderful closure to that day. But if we go back to the early part of the day, we have another tale to tell.
So what happens when the captains of five sailboats leave their mates aboard? Mark, Paul, Simon, Bruce, and Gerry left at 0400 this morning in Ranger’s dinghy to go into port and get in the little rental car that would hopefully take them to Noumea. We haven’t heard from them since by Ham radio or email, so we assume all is well and that they will get home tonight . . . sometime. I got up at 7 AM and launched into a chore I have been meaning to do this whole season. I am an earring person. I
have lots and lots of earrings and most all that I own are here on Windbird with me. But some of them are not faring so well in the sea air, so I sorted through the collection, putting those that should go home in tiny snack-sized ZipLoc baggies. Not a big job, but one that I have wanted to do for some time. Once that was done, I was ready to head to town. The guys took Ranger’s dinghy in early this morning. It is the dinghy that only starts in reverse, and then with some effort. That left
Scot Free II’s dinghy that starts but doesn’t always run so well, Galaxie’s dinghy that runs beautifully, but slowly, and is very small, Incognita’s dinghy that is just the right size and runs well, and Windbird’s dinghy that hit a rock a couple of days ago and is limping along with a propeller that could go at any moment. There was a call on the radio, and all women decided to go to town. I said I would take Maree on Galaxie and Marie on Ranger with me, and Janine on Incognita said she would
take Donna on Scot Free II. Incognita left first and zoomed into town. Windbird picked up Marie on Ranger and then Maree on Galaxie, and by this time the motor was straining. I decided to go ahead, but as we motored across the expanse toward the path that would lead us to town, we went slower and slower. And because we were going so slowly, we were being set by the current closer and closer to land and more shallow waters. We got to a point where the breakers were coming over the back of the
dinghy and we were in very shallow water. We were barely moving forward, so I turned off the engine and Marie and Maree jumped into the water to pull us forward. I stayed in the dinghy trying to raise the dinghy motor, but inexperience cast its spell and there was no way I was going to get that dinghy motor up. So here we were with waves crashing over our stern and two women trying to pull us forward to deeper water. We finally got there and I started the engine. Oh, no! It started, but it
would not go forward or backward. The damaged prop that Mark had tried to temporarily fix was not not responding. We were dead in the water and now the current was pushing us closer and closer to land and still yet into shallower water. Marie and and Maree once again got in the water and pulled us back the way we had come. We decided to try and row Windbird’s dinghy back to the anchorage and then take Galaxie’s dinghy to town. Essentially a twenty-minute dinghy ride turned into a two-hour nightmare.
We left the first time at 10:15 and finally at 12:20 we pulled into the marina in Hienghene in Galaxie’s dinghy. What an ordeal!
We met up with Janine of Incognita and Donna of Scot Free II and went to the bakery to see if there were any goodies left. There was not much there, so Marie on Ranger and I ended up getting a dark chocolate and coconut Magnum bar, basically a frozen Mounds bar for lunch. It was delicious, but not much of a lunch. We won’t tell the guys about this. Then we all walked across the bridge to the other side of the river to the little grocery store. Marie and I stayed and shopped, while the others
went to the Cultural Center. Maree of Galaxie wanted to use their free internet service to check for messages from home, and Janine and Donna were just going to visit the center and hang out. When Marie and I finished shopping, she walked back to town because she didn’t want to go on with the load she was now carrying. I went on to the Cultural Center to find the other women and do a little more exploring. It took Maree on Galaxie a little longer than she had planned to check her email and respond
to messages, so Janine, Donna, and I sat on the lawn of the Cultural Center and just enjoyed the afternoon. We got back to the boats sometime between three and four in the afternoon, and I’m sure all of us launched back into chores we had left behind in the morning. And I’m sure we all cooked dinner anticipating the arrival of our captains.
It is now 7:30 PM and the captains have not returned. My best estimate of arrival is 8PM, but it could be even later. We had set a radio check-in at 6 PM if they were not going to be able to get home tonight, but there was no contact. So we assume they will get home sometime this evening.
The admirals did fine today with the captains, but I must say that life is MUCH easier when Windbird’s Captain is around. He’s a pretty handy fellow and I think I have more to learn that I thought!
