What do you do when you need a little solitude? You head to the reef.
The forecast had a week of very light winds and we had some underwater projects to tackle.
Just 11nm from Noumea (the capital of New Caledonia) is the beautiful, secluded Grand Recif Abore (Grand Abore Reef).
There is not much protection here so you really need to come when the weather is just right.
We had absolutely glorious weather with light winds and very little swell (even during high tide).
Just look at these colors!
It felt like our own piece of paradise.
One shot is looking north and the other is looking south.
Just, Matt, myself, and the beautiful blue ocean.
Please Tell Me that Isn’t So?
Believe it or not, I have not been in the water for over a year. Yes, I know, I live on a boat. But the water has been very, very cold (60’sF or colder)! We did not get in the water at all in New Zealand and only a handful of times in Fiji. (This is me smacking my forehead).
It was time to suit up and jump in the water.
We had two big projects to tackle.
First, we had to clean the bottom of the boat including the waterline, both hulls. and all of the niche places (thru holes, behind the dagger boards, refrigeration and SSB plates, rudder, props, saildrives, etc.).
We also had to change the zincs on the props and fix a little “wiggle” that we noticed the last time we motored.
Even though the water temp was about 74F – I was freezing! Normally I could finish the entire boat in about 4-5 hours. However, I could only do one side before I was breathing funny and called it a day.
I jumped in the next day to finish the other hull while Matt worked on the props.
Bonus
We had some spectacular sunsets and sunrises. With unobstructed views of both.
Another spectacular bonus was that there are thousands of sand dollars under the boat!
We were anchored in about 4-5 meters of water which is just at my limit for free diving.
But, I was very tempted to get the dive gear out to pick up some new collectables!
All of the black spots under water are sand dollars (they are actually white but the camera picks them up as black).
Our blog post runs 4-6 weeks behind schedule.
Find Grand Recif Abore on No Foreign Land.
We hung out at the reef for a week (Aug.2026) and enjoyed the solitude and beauty.