Sunday morning – blue skies and balmy breezes here today. Internet on the boat not working so I hiked down to the Best Western Hotel Le Paris to log onto their wifi and catch up on the posting. The wind howled for a good 48 hours after Vania peaked here, but for the most part at least where we are in Noumea we don’t see much in the way of damage. Palm fronds and broken tree branches litter the ground, some tattered awnings and a few flimsy signs and fences blown down. The cleanup crews are already at work and life has returned to normal.
All the big yachts in the marina that were secured with extra lines and tucked behind a substantial breakwater fared well; most of the boats out on moorings, with one or two exceptions (see photo above), made it through as well although they were rocking and pitching wildly. However the dinghy fleet that the owners of boats on moorings use to paddle out to their vessels did not fare so well. Here’s a slideshow of the “mini shipwrecks” – click on the link below.
Yesterday I walked around with my camera for a couple of hours. All the locals were out in force as well sightseeing the aftermath of the storm. Most stores stayed closed and although traffic was heavy it was substantially slowed down by the “gawkers”.
Still no cruising in our immediate future however as Cyclone Zelia is projected to skim down the west coast of New Caledonia in a day or two and target New Zealand. If she stays on track we will just get some wind and rain, but no sense in taking a chance and going out in case the cyclone changes direction unexpectedly.
