When we arrived in Opunohu Bay (a huge bay on the north side of Moorea) we dropped the hook right behind the outer reef where about 15 boats were already swaying in the turquoise water. After doing some snorkeling (cute eagle rays, but coral in a bad shape), we decided to get away from the buzzing dinghies and roaring generators and anchored 1.2 miles further… Continue reading »
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2014
27
May
2014
25
May
2014
25
May
Holidays on Moorea
Yesterday we sailed the fifteen miles downwind to Tahiti’s little neighbouring island Moorea. Incredible what difference a smooth new antifouling makes–Pitufa was flying along with 7 knots… Moorea’s a beautiful place with steep, green mountains and we’re planning on doing some exploring, even though it’s a bit hard to take time off for fun with still a lot of outstanding projects and (even worse) a… Continue reading »
2014
21
May
Splash!
The past days have been quite an emotional rollercoaster. Monday morning the bearing arrived at the shop (yippee), but then Christian and Adrian spent a frustrating day hanging head first in the engine compartment, trying to wiggle parts together. Imagine the scene: two sweating, swearing guys lying on the floor, each one stuck with head, one shoulder and one arm in the engine, barely able… Continue reading »
2014
17
May
Still in the boat yard
We’re still on the hard, waiting for a sparepart that was promised to arrived last wednesday, then friday, now postponed to next monday… Everything else is finished: new antifouling, we cut the dieseltank open and cleaned it (what a mess), made all kinds of small repairs and Pitufa’s basically ready to splash. Let’s hope the part arrives, because we can’t wait to get out of… Continue reading »
2014
10
May
Days on the hard are hard days
Sanding, painting, repairing, despairing when yet another complication comes up, running a marathon between chandleries–working in a boat yard’s takes us to our limits (and beyond), but we’re making progress.
2014
08
May
New Article in Ocean7 Magazine
The first part of our article about the Gambier Islands has just been published in the May/June issue of the Austrian sailing magazine Ocean7. Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Iles Gambier — Südseeparadies am Rande der Tropen. Teil 1, OCEAN7 03 (Mai/Juni) 2014, p. 24–27. download PDF (in German only)
2014
06
May
On the hard
Last night the cosy anchorage turned out to be an area where anchoring was prohibited, as a port sheriff informed us late at night. He insisted we had to move away, not considering our protests that we weren’t able to move without an engine. It took us half an hour of discussion and setting a stern anchor to move a few metres further away from… Continue reading »
2014
05
May
Pitufa in Tahiti
A small accident forced us to sail to Tahiti earlier than planned. After doing repairs in a boatyard we’ll take the chance to explore the island a bit.
2014
05
May
Arrived!
We’ve had a bit too much excitement for our taste during the last 24 hours, but now we’re safely anchored in Papeete, Tahiti. We arrived yesterday at night and had to sail along reefs right into an (to us) unknown anchorage right behind Point Venus at the northwestern corner of Tahiti. Usually we never enter an anchorage at night, but as this one’s very open… Continue reading »
2014
02
May
what a day…
For a few days we’ve been fretting about a change in the weatherforecast. Instead of the predicted steady easterly trades we saw before setting out, the forecast suddenly showed a strong blow from the NW when we’d be approaching Tahiti. Strong winds on the nose when navigating close to shore in a boat without an engine worried us more than a bit. So we were… Continue reading »