0800 position 22-19S 169-01E. Day's run 214 miles.
Yesterday morning at 10AM the wind backed far enough to the south to allow us to sail in the general direction on New Caledonia. We set a double reefed jib along with the single reefed mainsail and shut down the engine. Close hauled we were sailing 20 degrees low of our course to the mark but making eight knots.
The wind continued to back to the south and we were slowly lifted up to our desired course during the day. By 6PM we were aimed for New Caledonia and starting to ease the sheets. We were under full sail by 11PM.
Unfortunately the wind continued to back and started dropping off. At 2AM the engine went on again and we have been powering ever since. It looks like we are stuck in a stationary high pressure area and will likely be under power the rest of the way in to Noumea.
The fishing was pretty good yesterday afternoon. We landed three more small tuna (aku) and decided to keep them for a meal. Fortunately Michael had already started making dinner when we landed them. I say fortunately because Michael spent the afternoon making a fabulous beef stew that we all enjoyed. I will do something with the fish tonight when it is my turn to cook. The pressure to perform is on. All of our dinners have been great and I don't want to be the one to prepare the memorably mediocre meal.
In typical Van Diemen fashion, it was looking like we were going to arrive in Noumea over the weekend when clearing in through customs might be a problem. We scoured the chart to see if there might be a fun little island to stop at along the way and kill some time. Rob found Walpole Island on the chart, not too far out of our way, and we altered course a few degrees to head there. I took a look in a book I had brought along, "South Pacific Anchorages", by Warwick Clay, and I'll be darned if it didn't have a write up about this little spec of land 120 miles east of New Caledonia. An island formerly mined for phosphate, Walpole reportedly has a decent open roadstead anchorage on its west side. After giving it some more thought we decided to give it a pass. We are currently in a confused swell with seas from the southwest, southeast, and east. The southwesterly swell would likely make the Walpole anchorage uncomfortable. Instead, we altered course to head over the top of the "Banc De L'orne", a seamount that rises up from the 4,000 foot deep ocean floor in this area to a depth of 130 feet. We figure the fishing might be pretty good there. As I was typing this we were crossing over the top of the seamount and caught a nice five pound yellowfin tuna (ahi). This is the best eating tuna there is. I think I now have a chance to produce a memorable dinner.
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