Oh boy! I thought our 6am start was early yesterday but we beat that with a 5am get up to drop and repair a small tear in headsail before the day's breeze begins. The sail comes down onto the deck cleanly and we clean the area around the 10cm tear and set to fixing it with super tape. This is the tape we bought in a DIY store in American Samoa advertised as flexible and strong and perfect for tarpaulins. Unfortunately it only came in sky blue which while it was fine for the colourful head sail ballooner it will be more noticeable on white canvas. The solution was to apply a large patch of white sail repair tape on top of the blue. These larger patches will also add strength and protect the tape underneath from water.
Job was completed by 7.30am and we were able to up anchor to motor the 3 miles into Noumea harbour. It was a quick trip ashore to restock on provisions and spend the last of our Pacific francs.
Jobs done in town with unusual time efficiency and we were back at pretty Ilot Maitre in time for lunch. When we got back we found German catamaran Diatheyl with Henning and Margaret aboard whom we hadn't seen since leaving NZ had come in. A chance meeting with them in the supermarket in Whangarei inspired us to begin brewing our own beer on board.
Mystery Ship was also in the anchorage and Oso Blanco returned from the fuel dock shortly afterwards. What better excuse for a party than al being together? Mystery Ship was host for the night and generous hosts too, liberally sharing their New Zealand wines. I think anyone who wasn't a trained Canadian drinker left that evening feeling a little squiffy* but it was a great night.
* Squiffy feeling of light headedness associated with over imbibing on grape juice
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