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Starblazer - 05/11/2014 – Back in Noumea



We returned to Noumea and spent a useful week there. On the ‘boat’ side of
things: we took a lot of laundry ashore (relatively cheap, friendly,
efficient service); John went up the mast to change the anchor light bulb
and do a rig check; I re-waterproofed the bimini and sprayhood; we had a
lift out, block up and scrub in the boatyard (again, very efficient,
friendly and a reasonable price); while ashore we scrubbed out all the
through hull fittings, replaced some anodes and topped up with anti-fouling
where the copper coat was damaged. We also did countless other small jobs
to prepare for the trip to New Zealand.

The damage to the Coppercoat was a bit of a surprise. We applied it in June
2012, were out of the water in March and April 2013 and topped up a couple
of patches. In Spain in September 2013 a mariniero insisted on painting on
some Coppercoat where it hadn’t adhered properly, we said ‘don’t bother, it
has to dry for 4 days not 20 minutes’ but he insisted he knew what he was
doing. Wrong, the patches washed straight off! In St Lucia we spent a
couple of hours in slings, having the hull pressure washed, painting
traditional anti-fouling on where necessary before being splashed. A month
later our hull was deemed to be dirty by the Galapagos inspectors so had
divers scrub off the bottom. Since then John has scrubbed the hull several
times using dive gear and nothing more abrasive than a kitchen scrubbing
sponge and a plastic scraper. Imagine our surprise to find the Coppercoat
and gel coat scraped off in a few places with other marks done by a sharp
pointed instrument. I am not blaming anyone, however in future, no unknown
diver is going to ‘clean’ our hull. The ‘jobs list’ for New Zealand just
got longer.

On the ‘tourist’ front we visited three museums, WWII, The Museum of New
Caledonia and the Maritime Museum, all within walking distance and all very
interesting. We also took a bus ride to an excellent aquarium. All the
entry prices were very reasonable and they didn’t want any proof of age to
give us the discounted ‘seniors’ ticket’. Maybe that isn’t something to
boast about, perhaps we look our age….

The social life has also been quite active. World ARC New Zealand
contingent had a very sociable drinks evening at the bar in the marina, Le
Bout du Monde. All nine boats were there to meet Hugh. The second event
was a group dinner at La Chaumiere on Monday evening. The food there is
excellent, nicely presented and not terribly expensive by New Caledonian
standards! We all returned to the boats before about 10.00 p.m. ready for
the start of the ‘short’ but potentially most daunting leg of our travels so
far.

Joyce

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