Some comments from Roger

I flew into Noumea on a Sunday and was greeted by warm afternoon and bright
sunshine; but that was to be short-lived as the next day, Monday, it rained.
Anyway, umbrella-less (we're roughty-toughty sailors you see),we cleared out
at Customs and Immigration, provisioned for the trip and motored out a few
miles to pick up a mooring ready for an early getaway the next morning
(Tuesday).
Joanna was already on board and so the first-come-first-served rule meant
that she got the double berth. Well, being an old sailor and all, I
struggled along regardless and enjoyed the entire trip on an extremely
comfortable sea berth (between you and me, I think I got the best deal so
don't tell Joanna). Really the facilities and accommodation on Callisto are
superb and this, coupled with the very enjoyable company of Skipper Mike and
co-crew Joanna, made for a great experience.
Callisto is a real joy to sail. Putting aside the obvious comfort and
convenience of electric furling gear and winches (sail handing equipment),
she sails so easily and is very tolerant. Weather on the trip ranged from
winds of 30 knots on the nose right through to an oily-calm sea. One day we
had every possible piece of cloth that can be hung at the same time hanging
from the masts. Mizzen, Mizzen Staysail, Main, Staysail and Genoa. We
screamed along and actually covered 186 miles in a 24 hour period. If the
conditions had prevailed a little longer, it could have been a 200-mile day.
Mike called a 3-watch rota of 3hrs each to take us through the nights which
meant we each had a 6 hour sleep every night; luxury, sheer luxury it was.
The company was great. We all enjoyed being together and worked so well it
seemed that words were often unnecessary (except during the conversations of
course). We sorted out all of the world's problems but ultimately decided
that our ideas probably wouldn't catch on so I'm not going to mention them
here.
So, what were the highlights for me? In no particular order they were: Truly
great company, wonderful sailing and ....seeing Wales! oops sorry, I meant
Whales. Yes, we saw a pod of Whales passing by as the travelled north. They
were no more than 200m away and were rising halfway out of the water and
blowing regularly. It was a wonderful sight.
When we finally arrived in Newcastle harbour 7 days later and just after six
in the morning, it was a beautifully clear, sunny morning and that gave us a
very calm and peaceful finish to a terrific trip.
Thank you Mike, Thank you Joanna.