MIDDAY (LOCAL NC) POSITION - 29/10/2016. That booby that visited us left an aweful mess on the deck. It looked at us with those beautiful eyes - Why do we never learn!

6H00 POSITION DAY 3. Clearing up booby poo! What do these guys eat! cheers from Impi.

MIDNIGHT POSITION DAY 2. All great on this end - Nice to be slowing the boat down a little (reefed 1) to avoid weekend entry. The booby is still with us and fast asleep - I guess he will spread those wings and fly off in the morning :) cheers from Impi.

18H00 POSITION DAY 2. All good on the mother ship - We just had a booby fly in to visit us and what a lovely fella - cheers from Impi.

NOON POSITION DAY 2. All good on the mother ship - Impi.

All good on Impi. Tried calling in on the net but heard.

Midnight position - all is good on board Impi

Departed for Bundaberg

Waiting to leave for Bundaberg

Dropping in to say 'Hi' to all our family and friends - we are anchored off the reef in New Caledonia Southern Lagoon - an amazing part of our globe and well worth the visit to those yachts passing through here. Cheers guys - off to do some diving :)

Hienghene anchorage here in New Caledonia looking beautiful

All well on board Impi. Wind double the forecast - Sea state is uncomfortable with breaking waves (also not forecast). We have packed away the main sail and reefed 2 on genoa. Want slower speed to negotiate the reef in the morning with some light.

Depart Loyalty Islands for overnight sail to HIENGHENE on east coast mainland New Caledonia. The Loyalty Islands are beautiful in clam weather ... I mean CALM weather and once the wind came through it was not long before we felt we had had enough. At this current time the politics with the local cheifs is also not great - they come across as being 'agro' on Ouvea ... and really .. we can do without that no matter being in a beautiful place.

Loyalty Islands, Ouvea, Baie De Mouly. Beautiful long white sandy beaches, turquoise blue water with coral heads looking menacing but mostly because the water is that clear. So happy to be in the Loyalty Islands! Hoping the sun comes out to dazzle and amaze us as it casts a spotlight onto these beautiful colours that surround us everywhere ... cheers for now

Weather is overcast but breeze fine with the asymmetric sail flying steadily. We have left Lifu here in the Loyalty Islands for Ovea. The place is magical - hope everyone out there is having a great time ... Brent and Ana

Pretty little village called Doueoulou - Loyalty Islands proving to be awesome.

Little to no wind today and the entire bay is 'glass'

Pressure is 1016

Overcast after a number of sunny days

Impi is happy, happy and happy :)

Quick passage to Lifu here in The Loyalty Islands. Very light winds were predicted but we had up to 20 knots last night out of the east so well reefed in and still arrived way too early.

The first thing that struck us is the clarity of the water even at sunrise ... it reminds us of the Tuamotu Archipelago clarity.

So - all is well with Impi and we look forward to exploring these amazing islands ... cheers everyone ... Impi out !

After feeding our favorite abandoned island dog Moose on Ilot Casy we are now in Port de Goro wth good Internet. Later today we will leave for Lifou, Loyalty Islands.

After feeding our favorite dog Moose abandoned on Casy Island we are now Port de Goro with good Internet. Later today we will leave for Baie de Santal in Lifou, Loyalty Islands.

Cleared in here at Port Moselle Marina, New Caledonia. Had a massive lunch before Bio Security arrive to take all food :) Thank you for all the weather info Davd and Patricia, and to our mates Mark and Sue who kept us updated with world news and funny stories - thanks man !!! For the record, I caught NO fish so am in need for a visit to the psychiatrist !

All good on board Impi. We are here - cruising along the western shore of the outer reef of New Caledonia - we smell flowers, we smell salt in the air from the mist where ocean meets reef and best of all we smell the air of success! Well - let's not get ahead of ourselves here - my fishing skills have not improved in spite of my attempts to dress the lures up as sexy as possible! Actually it's no wonder at all there are no fish given the huge fishing fleets we sailed into en-route New Caledonia.

Ok friends - until later then Cheers for now Brent and Ana

All good on board Impi. For the record my fishing skills need some attention cos the fish are paying no attention! We are eating - oh man - I feel like a right 'fat little tick' - eating everything they may take from us on arrival in Noumea :) We tried the kite (asymmetric and Spin) today but conditions were just too light with the swell twitching the sail, so for the best part of the day and last night engaged engines - bummer! Otherwise 'all is cool in the pool' and we look forward to our arrival in New Caledonia tomorrow morning. Cheers from Brent and Ana

Asymmetric sail saved our bacon today !! Winds may be light but this sail drives us along very comfortably. Ana donned her beautiful bikini in the sunshine and she says she feels the vibe of the islands again. Today is champagne day however we feel the spirit somewhat dampened by the horror act in France - so will not pop the cork today - so sorry for all our French friends out there :( We now hope the winds stay from the south for the rest of the night as when we see the SE it will be spinnaker time, and I am not fond of doing this in the dark of night :) Cheers everyone - Brent and Ana

All well on Impi. The stars look bright in the sky and its beautiful out here. Motor sailing until we find the next breeze.

Later at GHRadio net time Ana reported in with a very strong clear signal, all was good and their eta is Late on July 18th.

All well on Impi. We need more wind please! Fishing lines are out but nothing yet :( The boom tends to bang from side to side as the swells slip underside - I call it the 'boom tantrum'. So we are trimming, tweaking and adjusting constantly to keep things moving along - but as our dear friends on SV Macushla always say 'EASY DOES IT'! Oh I really had to share this with y'all ... I wrote to my mates to explain the lumpy seas we encountered and suggested they should take pleasure not being out here ... that they should enjoy the comforts of their home on land for a while as we battle it out at sea.

Typical of the terrific folks they are - this was their reply: M is joining you in solidarity by replicating your conditions here, throwing off his slippers, having one less log on the fire and rocking vigorously in his chair, the soaking seawater has had to be replaced by a tastier cool libation, but he feels your pain! This sense of humour made our day !!!

All is well on board Impi. Light winds and still reefed as we catch up with some rest. Perhaps we will shake out the reef lines later this am if the seas feel comfortable - hoping the wind keeps enough not to need engines. Cheers !!!

Switched to 4x4 mode and low range. All is fine on board Impi. The sea is full of potholes and gusts 30 knots here and there. We are sailing close to the wind so very bumpy (slamming).

We are double reefed on the main and third reef in the genoa - SLOW is what we want right now to be comfortable. So - champagne is still deeply stowed and we wonder if there will be an opportunity to crack it before reaching our destination ... which by the way ... could be anywhere in the world the way the weather is going :)

All Good! Enjoyed mirror like conditions for most of the day - winds from N - NW saw us proceeding a little more to the east but all good with that. Horror of all horrors as we sailed into a huge fishing fleet at 30*50S 174*07E - oh man - why does Impi do this? Vessels constantly altering direction sometimes headed for us without any response to our VHF calls. It always seems to happen at night but thanks to AIS again. This pushed us due east for a long spell as we avoided the fleet. As we came back 'up' what would you know ... more fishing vessels - so the 'fish are a biting tonight'.

Found this rather frustrating as we try to reel in that elusive 30*S before the front arrives ... could they not pick a different fishing spot than one right on our route - LOL! So - we hope our pursuit of 'comfort' over 'speed and distance' serves us well, especially with the sea state predicted after the front - we think a gradual curve NW will make the journey a little longer but hopefully a little more comfortable (ha ha).

Not looking forward to the seas following the front but otherwise - All good on-board Impi

Seas calm with large slow swells. Smooth part of the journey. Heading NNE to avoid front tomorrow. All OK.

Seas calmer now than yesterday. Going N rather than NNW to avoid front coming through. All OK.

Checked out

Waiting to leave maybe 17/18 July for Noumea.

Still waiting for a gap to get to Noumea... Possibly Monday, looking at gribs later today. Able to take experienced sailor with us. 0211920057

Waiting for a gap to get to Noumea....

Waiting for a weather window for New Caledonia.

Anchored in Pomare Bay