Tintin afloat again

I cleaned the propellor and all the appendages and repainted her waterline, leading and trailing edges with a limited amount of white paint over the top of the Panama blue.  The 2-coloured hull looked rather strange while in the cradle, but now she is back in the water she looks fine; reverting to her original white waterline.

Tintin afloat again

I cleaned the propellor and all the appendages and repainted her waterline, leading and trailing edges with a limited amount of white paint over the top of the Panama blue.  The 2-coloured hull looked rather strange while in the cradle, but now she is back in the water she looks fine; reverting to her original white waterline.

Tintin's haulout at Nouville Plaisance - before images

The growth on Tintin's hull since her last haul-out in Panama was impressive and very colourful! Fortunately I was able to hire a very powerful water-blaster - the last image taken part-way through shows what a good job the machine did on removing the fouling on the centreboard and the port quarter. N

Return to Noumea and Cultural Centre Tjibaou

We played lots of cards in the evenings.  Another NZ boat 'Awakening' shared some photos of Tintin under sail during our journey back to Noumea.  Lynne and I visited the Tjibaou Cultural Centre and marvelled at the stunning architecture reflecting the curves of the tall pine trees in the wind. 

Lynne, Annie and Emma have now headed back home…. leaving me to have Tintin hauled out at Nouville Plaisance this coming week.  Tintin's hull is now very badly fouled and needs to be cleaned in order to meet New Zealand's biosecurity regulations for arriving vessels - hopefully she will then also sail faster.

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Ilot Casy and Baie de la Somme

You get a good view of Goro's hydrometallurgical plant from the top of Ilot Casy, but if you look in the opposite direction you find glorious white sand beaches and tall New Caledonian pine trees.  Glorious sunrise in Baie de la Somme, where we tucked in for 24 hours while a strong NW change went through, home to lots of catamarans which are used for whale watching trips at this time of year. 

A band of torrential rain arrived just as the shore party was heading back to the boat after a walk ashore to Prony villages…..

Anse Majic

Tried to scrub the sticky red mud off our shoes before we got back on board Tintin

Hike back to Anse Majic

Anse de Pilote and walk up to Cap N'Dua

We had a few glorious days in the Baie de Prony with fantastic views from the top of Cap N'Dua, even sighting humpback whales from the lighthouse. 

An Ilot to ourselves - Ilot Redika, Southern Lagoon

….with freshly baked rolls taken ashore for lunch - who needs more than sand with your butter?

An Ilot to ourselves - Ilot Redika, Southern Lagoon

….with freshly baked rolls taken ashore for lunch - who needs more than sand with your butter anyway?

Early morning turtle watching

…. lots to see this morning as the sun rose, with fish leaping around the boat chasing their prey, turtles coming to the surface breathing and a couple of sea-snakes coming to visit Tintin. 

Phare Amedee

We headed to Ile Amedee with its magnificent lighthouse. After an afternoon of snorkelling on the reef and messing around in boats we enjoyed a wonderful sunset (no green flash though) followed by a clear starry night, an almost full moon with the loom of lights of Phare Amedee and several other lighthouses and navigation lights marking the entry to the reef providing a memorable night-time display …..

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