During the past weeks we got a lot of cyclonic alerts around New Caledonia (Vania, Zelia, Anthony and of course Yasi, all packed in one month)
I take time during the current cyclonic pause for explaining one of the advantages of an alloy centerborder. Of course it's perfect for going close to the beach or enter in a very shallow lagoon. However the main advantage is safety by allowing you to pick your place in narrow cyclonic holes.
In New Caledonia, there is no port with a total protection to cyclonic conditions. For example in Nouméa, most of the marina poles are only one feet below the high tide level. If a cyclone strikes at high tide, I let you imagine...
The two good cyclonic holes in New Caledonia are in Bay of Prony (20 miles south of Noumea) and Port Laguerre (12 miles north), where rivers allow to access inland protected waters. However in case of a cyclonic alert both of these shelters are overcrowded, with most of the boat crews having a moderate to low standarts of cyclonic anchoring. The real dangers in these places are the other boats.
We choose Port Laguerre because of its mangrove shores (better than the rocky shores of Prony for an emergency landing) and because part of the place is accessible only for shallow draft boats. Accessing to this place at any time of the tide allow you to arrive first and to pick the deeper place in the mangrove, with no other boat around.
We entered Graine d'étoile in a narrow river branch, less than 30 feet wide, and attached no less than 10 lines to the trees and 4 anchors (that's the time where you are happy to have 4 massive cleats welded on each side of the boat)
We spend three cyclonic alert safely in this place, and without our 3 feet draft our position would have been much less secure.
