Checked out of Noumea without a hitch and headed off to the Loyalty Islands, a group of three islands east of New Caledonia. The winds were light but we sailed a lot of the way, we had to be at a certain point to pass through this shallow gap at late afternoon which we did. We headed out of the reef which surrounds New Caledonia into deeper water. Brian put out his fishing rod and said that the next fish on the line was mine. Strike !! Not long later and the reel was spinning and losing line, i grabbed the rod and started to reel her in. I saw the fish jump a couple of times and it looked like a good size. Barracuda !! Me and Brian had gone to the aquarium a couple of days earlier and seen one swimming around in the big tanks, nasty looking things with big teeth, i commented how it would be funny if the next fish caught would be one of those !! I brought the fish back to the boat and up on deck, a great looking fish but very dangerous looking teeth !! Only probably with catching them is you have to kill, fillet and skin them. Thirty minutes later and it was in the pan for tea !! Delicous.     I had the 6 to 9 shift that night and the 6 to 9 in the morning but continued until 11 as it was a great days sailing.   Brian stuck gold again and caught another Mahi-Mahi, not as big as the last but the colours were even better. Very striking blue, yellow and green. Mahi-mahi it was for breakfast then !! Can’t be a better way to eat fish than freshly caught and straight in the pan. The freezer was full of fish so fishing is going to have to be suspended for a couple of days. The wind died down later in the morning and we had to turn the engine on and motor sail to Lifou and the marina. Sadly when we got there the marina hadn’t seen a yacht for what seemed like some time !! We anchored in the bay as there wasn’t really a suitable berth for us. Even though it was sheltered the smallest waves cause the boat to roll unevenly. Didn’t seem like too much to do in town, think the guide books bigged this place up a bit !! Off around the corner tomorrow about 4 hours away to  somewhere that sounds a liitle better. Writing this on the back of the boat with a few lights flickering on the shore, very quiet with only the odd shout from the beach and the odd dog barking. Its only 8.30 but the rest of the ship has gone to bed and i’m just about to follow, sun went down at about 5.30 p.m., its a little odd watching the sun go down at that time when its been a beautiful sunny day. Night all.