Yesterday Giorgio took us and Mark and Liesbet from Irie round the island on his boat ‘Hoa Motu’. We picked a beautiful day with sunny skies and got wonderful views of the steep, green volcanic slopes of Fatu Hiva. Unfortunately we had very little wind so we had to motor quite a bit, but we nevertheless caught a small tuna and a large wahoo, so… Continue reading »
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2013
29
Aug
2013
25
Aug
Explosive experiments
As some of you might remember we left Panama with 120 litres of wine distributed in the bilge, under mattresses and basically wherever we could find some space, because we knew that alcohol would be very dear in French Polynesia (just to give you an idea: a box of ok Chilean wine cost about 2 Euros in Panama, 10 in the Galapagos, but 15 Euros… Continue reading »
2013
23
Aug
Having a good time in Fatu Hiva
The reason that we haven’t written any new blog entries during the last few days isn’t that there’s nothing to write about, but rather the opposite–we’ve been too busy to open the laptop once. Also, there’s no internet and the best time to send/receive mails on the SSB is in the evening and we were simply never at home in the evenings… Despite the fact… Continue reading »
2013
17
Aug
What a view!
We reached Fatu Hiva around 3 o’clock this morning, waited outside the bay for the first morning light and entered the bay on the western side. The island’s absolutely spectacular: steep, volcanic mountains and lush tropical vegetation. We now anchor in the only good anchorage on the little island: the Baie des Vierges (Virgin’s Bay). It’s said to originally have been called Baie des Verges… Continue reading »
2013
16
Aug
Almost there
We are just 40nm away from Fatu Hiva, so we will arrive early morning but it looks like it’s going to be an annoying night with lots of squalls (had thme all afternoon) and northerly wind… +++++++++++ Wir sind nur noch 40 nm von Fatu Hiva entfernt und werden morgen frueh ankommmen aber es sieht nach einer nervigen Nacht aus mit vielen Boeenschauern (so wars… Continue reading »
2013
14
Aug
Action Canning
We caught another Tuna this morning and as we don’t have a freezer we put it into jars (cutting up the fish, frying it slightly, putting everything into jars and and after 40 mins in the pressure cooker you’ve got your selfmade canned tuna). In 25kn of winds on a wildly slingering boat this is not an easy task. 275nm to go. +++++++++++++ Heute Morgen… Continue reading »
2013
13
Aug
Finally luck with fishing
Pitufa is rolling almost unbearably in those waves following from 150 degrees, nevertheless we managed to catch a small tuna (or a big mackarel) and bake a banana cake 415 nm to go.++++++++++++ Pitufa rollt zwar unertraeglich in diesen schraeg von hinten durchwalzenden Wellen, dennoch haben wir es geschafft, endlich wieder einmal einen Fisch zu fangen (kleiner Thunfissch oder grosse Makrele) und einen Bananenkuchen zu… Continue reading »
2013
12
Aug
Sunny but cool sailing
This morning the wind got a bit lighter, but now it’s picked up again to about 20 to 25 knots and Pitufa’s running along with over 6 knots–sailing as good as it gets (even though we still can’t wait to arrive ) All the Panamanian food and booze in Pitufas lockers don’t exactly help her along, but then cruising’s much more about good life in… Continue reading »
2013
11
Aug
Running along smoothly
Last night we had a few squalls moving through, they brought just a slight accelaration in wind (about 20 knots), but lots of rain. Fortunately we finished a new side-cloth for the bimini before sailing off and it keeps rain and spray perfectly out when the wind is on the beam. A dry cockpit’s so much more comfy. Today the wind has shifted more southerly… Continue reading »
2013
10
Aug
800 nm to Fatu Hiva
At noon we left our anchorage off Taravai and are now sailing north in a light wind and calm seas. The Gambier islands are still only a few miles south of us, but they’ve already disappeared in a black rain cloud, while ahead the skies are blue Unfortunately no fish was tempted by our lure yet, so today’s supper was green bean and manioc soup… Continue reading »
2013
09
Aug
Good bye Gambier
Yesterday we returned to Taravai and had lunch with the Polynesian church-caretaker family and some French cruisers this afternoon. The weather prediction for the coming week looks as good as it gets, so we’ll leave for the Marquesas tomorrow morning. We’re a bit sad to leave the little paradise we’ve found here, but maybe we’ll return in November to spend the cyclone season here. +++++++++++++++… Continue reading »
2013
31
Jul
Carpe diem
Instead of grinding down our nerves sitting on the boat in Rikitea while waiting for the right weather to leave we have now decided to seize our remaining days in the Gambier. We have sailed over to Taravai, visited the village caretakers again, got some veggies and fruit, did some laundry and enjoyed a sunny afternoon on Pitufa. +++++++++++++++++++ Anstatt sinnlos herumzusitzen und unsere Nerven… Continue reading »
2013
29
Jul
Weather window
Our word of the month is definitely ‘weather window’. The weather changes so quickly here that it’s even hard to find a sunny spell that’s long enough to quickly go ashore, or just have a shower… we’re constantly waiting for ‘weather windows’ to get things done, get ‘grib files’ (wind prediction charts) every 6 hours. Slowly we’re wondering if we can’t find a weatherwindow to… Continue reading »
2013
25
Jul
Winterstorms
For days we’ve had the wind howling over the boat with around 30 knots, frequent squalls and freaky changes of weather. Black clouds rush in, rain whips horizontally along, 5 minutes later blue skies follow and so on… Trips ashore become adventurous, just going to get a baguette in the morning requires putting on full foul weather gear and we’re both sneezing and sniffling all… Continue reading »
2013
23
Jul