We’re gliding along in steady conditions and haven’t touched the sails since yesterday–lazy sailing as we like it 200 nm done, 300 to go to Kauehi!
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2016
30
Mar
2016
29
Mar
Sailing westwards!
The cyclone season’s coming to an end, the grib files predict a breeze, Pitufa’s ready (and we’ve been ready for quite a while), so we set sail towards Tahiti. We have enjoyed the fabulous hospitality of the Marquesians (Kou tau, vai ei nui!!), but 5 months of rolling in the open bays in the heat of summer was a very long time and we’re happy… Continue reading »
2016
20
Mar
What goes around comes around
It seems the generosity of the Polynesian peoples rubs off on the cruiser’s society around here. It’s become a habit for us that wWhenever we get plenty of something we share with our neighbours and they do just the same (no matter if they’re old acquaintances or just arrived). Despite our lack of luck fishing around the Marquesas (just one tuna off Ua Huka…) we’ve… Continue reading »
2016
18
Mar
Exciting Veggies
There is no veggie market here in Tahuata, but we get more fruit than we can handle from the locals anyway, that’s why we have banana smoothies several times a day, banana cake and a big tray of bananas drying in the sun on deck;-) Teii who lives in the little house in the bay of Hanatefau has lots of maniok and sweet potatoes and… Continue reading »
2016
09
Mar
Haul-out facility in the Marquesas
The first haul-out facility of the Marquesas (in the harbour of Atuona, Hiva Oa) is soon going to start operating (April 2016). Vincent Roche, a young French pilot and mechanic who has lived in the Marquesas for the past 15 years, has organized a trailer capable of carrying keel vessels with a draft of up to 2 meters. He thinks he can deal with yachts… Continue reading »
2016
07
Mar
Back in Tahuata
We haven’t written many blogs lately, as there simply haven’t been any news to report. We’re still in the Marquesas and still waiting for the cyclone season to pass. It looks as though the el Nino situation is cooling and calming down, but we have decided to abandon our plan of paying our beloved Gambier another visit. It’s already too late in the season to… Continue reading »
2016
29
Feb
Hiva Oa
We had a pleasant sail down to the southern group of the Marquesas and reached Hiva Oa yesterday. We are anchored for the first time behind the breakwater of Atuona’s harbour, where it’s nice and calm (with a stern anchor). The water is very murky in here, so today we took the dinghy out for a rough ride into the clear ocean water outside. We… Continue reading »
2016
21
Feb
House to let in the Gambier Islands
Our friends Valerie and Herve will spend some time in Tahiti and are therefore looking for someone to rent their pretty little house on Taravai (the second biggest of the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia) between March and July 2016. The house comes with a beautiful garden full of tropical fruit, a white sand beach and a calm and protected anchorage just in front of the… Continue reading »
2016
17
Feb
The next article of our cruising series in Ocean7
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Basteln im Türkis, OCEAN7 02 (März/April) 2016, p. 40–43.
2016
07
Feb
New Article in All-at-Sea Caribbean
Birgit Hackl: A Cruiser’s Toolbox, All At Sea Caribbean, February 2016, p. 38–40. Free download from allatsea.net.
2016
05
Feb
Travelling by mail coach
…or at least with a modern version of it We hadn’t made it to the central part of the northern coast yet (the anchorages are open and difficult by boat and there’s hardly any traffic going up there so no point in hoping to hitch a ride), but reading the guides about this rugged piece of coastal line we were eager to get there. Yesterday… Continue reading »
2016
03
Feb
Taipivai
We’re still in Nuku Hiva, waiting for the cyclone season to cool down. The latest predictions suggest that another cluster of cyclones will hit the South Pacific mid February and we hope to leave the Marquesas after that to spend the rest of the season in the Gambier. In the meantime we’ve settled in in the bay of Hakahaa off the friendly village Taipivai. This… Continue reading »
2016
20
Jan
Kitchen project
Three factors are really grinding down our nerves and energy in the Marquesas: the rolling in the open anchorages, the heat (how can you get anything done when you’re sweating like a pig even in idle mode?) and the nonos (in places where they make it to the boat). Hooumi bay is reasonably calm (at least with a stern anchor), the nonos haven’t found us… Continue reading »
2016
17
Jan
Nonos
The Wikipedia only says the following about Nonos: Simulium buissoni, the black nono or no-no noir des rivières, is a midge species in the genus Simulium found on Nuku Hiva and Eiao, Marquesas archipelago in Polynesia. This short sentence gives no idea how annoying these critters are. Their bites itch at first, but after two days they get infected, swell up and keep itching like… Continue reading »
2016
10
Jan
Two new articles in January issues…
January is a good month for us, at least publication-wise. Both magazines, All-At-Sea Caribbean and Ocean7, have new articles of us in their January issues. Birgit Hackl: Plant a Garden on a Cruising Boat, All At Sea Caribbean, January 2016, p. 42–46. Free download from allatsea.net. Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Nachtwachen, OCEAN7 01 (Jänner/Februar) 2016, p. 44–46.