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2016
26
Jun
2016
24
Jun
Article about anchoring in Ocean7 magazine
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Ankern — Kinderspiel oder Trauerspiel?, OCEAN7 04 (Juli/August) 2016.
2016
23
Jun
Niue
We arrived today after another fast and rough passage in Niue. Niue is our first ‘Makatea’, a raised atoll–a flat coral plateau surrounded by cliffs. On our trip over the Pacific we sailed by other Makateas several times, but never stopped: Henderson Island close to Pitcairn, Makatea NE of Tahiti (This one gives it’s name to raised atolls), Rurutu in the Austral Islands, Mangaia, Atiu,… Continue reading »
2016
23
Jun
Radio Silence
Our HF antenna tuner drowned in its box under the radar arch on the way to Niue–that means no more blog entries and emails from Pitufa under way or remote places. Even worse, we won’t be able to get weather forecasts for a while, but we’ll try to replace asap. So no worries if you don’t read from us whenever we’re away from civilisation.
2016
20
Jun
Beveridge Reef
Beveridge Reef is a submerged atoll, only a ring of coral in the open ocean. It has a wide pass, which we entered at 16:00 o’clock. We crossed the lagoon and are now anchored on the turquoise shelf with no land in sight–just surrounded by a ring of breaking waves. There are no other atolls around, the nearest land is the raised atoll Niue 149… Continue reading »
2016
19
Jun
800 nm in 6 days
We’ve had a swift passage: 800 nautical miles/1480 km in just 6 days. Pitufa is a heavy boat with a relatively short waterline, so she’s best in strong winds, the 20 to 25 knots (37-46 km/h) we’ve had this week were ideal for a downwind passage. Of course strong winds also mean bumpy seas, which makes the life for the human and feline crew a… Continue reading »
2016
18
Jun
Chilly
When we set out from Maupihaa the water temperature was still 28 degrees, but now winter is coming and additionally we’re sailing south, so the water’s now down to ‘chilly’ 25 degrees. After a perfect sailing day week (144 nm/267 km each day) the wind is now slowing down. 160 nm to Beveridge!
2016
17
Jun
Splashy
Pitufa with her high stern is usually a very dry boat when sailing downwind even in high seas. At the moment we have following waves of about 2 m and most of them just rush through under the boat, from time to time one spits up a little bit of spray, but yesterday a bold one managed to break over the stern. Fortunately we had… Continue reading »
2016
16
Jun
Change of plans
Yesterday we slowed down in order to reach Aitutaki in the morning, but when we then got a new weatherforecast this morning, we decided to sail on without stopping. We’re now headed to Niue, with a possible stop at Beveridge Reef. 450 nm to Beveridge!
2016
14
Jun
Out again
Yesterday morning the weatherforecast suddenly looked favourable, so we got the boat ready as quickly as possible (still took us 4 hours to clear up) and left Maupihaa at noon. The seas were still a bit rough, but they have calmed down a bit by now. There is more wind than forecasted, so we’ve been doing 6 knots all night long–let’s hope it stays that… Continue reading »
2016
12
Jun
Pillow fight
The designers of our boat focused on seaworthyness and performance, but didn’t pay too much attention to a comfy sofa–they just built watertanks and then put the cushions on top of them. Sitting on the sofa for a longer time (e.g. an overlenght movie) has always been a real trial for our bottoms. In Tahiti we bought a 5 cm matress which has been waiting… Continue reading »
2016
08
Jun
The people of Maupihaa
The eastern side of the atoll consists of one long, narrow motu (7km long) and the people of the neighbouring island Maupiti (140 nm away) have divided this land into 75 lots that belong to different families. Most families leave their land unattended, but at the moment 15 people live here. Mostly they stay for a few months, collect as much copra as they can… Continue reading »
2016
25
May
Bird island
Yesterday there was almost no wind (despite the weatherforecast that claimed it would blow 14 knots from the SE) and we used the calm weather to take Pitufa across the small lagoon to the only motu in the west. We had seen from afar that this motu isn’t cultivated (endemic shrubs and trees instead of coconut palm plantations) and there we found the wildlife we… Continue reading »
2016
24
May
Maupihaa (aka Mopelia)
We reached the tiny, westernmost inhabited atoll of French Polynesia late this morning, somewhat hesitant as it has a bad reputation. This is what ‘South Pacific Anchorages’ says: A number who have visited the atoll consider that there was not sufficient compensation for the trauma of entry and exit… Approaching we compared Garmin charts and satellite pictures, the chart is about 15 m off which… Continue reading »
2016
23
May
On the way to Maupihaa
This month we have to leave beautiful French Polynesia after 3 wonderful years, firstly because import tax on the boat would be due now and secondly because there are many more interesting islands further out in the Western Pacific. The next island group west of Fr. Polyn. are the Cook Islands that are spread wide from north to south, but they don’t have many anchorages… Continue reading »