The downwind passage from the Gambier to Tahanea with quite a windy start put lots of strain on the material. We bent a stanchion and one of the genoa poles actually ripped the pole track out of the mast (a 15 cm long bit, we could still use the other pole). Christian has already cut out the bent bit and will move the remaining piece… Continue reading »
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2017
27
May
2017
26
May
Good sailing
This morning we arrived at the pass of Tahanea after a very slow nightsail (we didn’t want to get there during the night). At 8 the pass still looked quite impressive with high standing waves (wind against an outgoing current), so we sailed up and down with 3 lures out hoping to finally catch a fish. After 2 hours the pass calmed down, so we… Continue reading »
2017
23
May
Good sailing
The wind is still holding out, we did a daily run of 150 nm–a fabulous speed for Pitufa (downwind isn’t usually her thing) and were still comfy enough (despite waves of still about 3m) to bake bread. 210 out of 660 left!
2017
22
May
Better conditions
Yesterday the sun came out and we were happy to be able to dry out our damp foul weather gear, the wind got lighter and we optimistically rolled out the genoa, but then it died down completely and we started the engine to stop Pitufa from rolling in the still high and confused seas. While sailing we use the windvane to steer Pitufa, but when… Continue reading »
2017
21
May
Miserable passage
It’s been squally with winds around 35 knots gusting 45 since yesterday, torrential rainfalls add to the general misery on Pitufa. A shitty trip so far.
2017
20
May
Sailing again!
After 5 months in the lagoon it took us two full days to get Pitufa back into passage mode. In our case that doesn’t just mean clearing and organising, but also repotting and securing the garden. It seems we didn’t do such a good job, because the Pok Choy did a plungedive through the companionway and into the kitchen leaving an epic mess just when… Continue reading »
2017
13
May
Anchoring around Coral
Each year sailboats cruising in the Tuamotus get into trouble at anchor: they get trapped on lee shores after a shift in the wind direction and foul their anchor and/or chain in coral. Having just a short piece of free chain left while pitching madly is a dangerous situation and the results are stressful maneuvers to get the anchor back up, bent bow rollers and… Continue reading »
2017
11
May
Tour de Motu
We didn’t really have the time to explore around the motus on the barrier reef during this cyclone season. First we were busy with the house and then I spent some time in Austria. Now we’ve been doing a tour along the barrier reef for a week. We started with southeasterly winds anchored off the bird motu Tauna, then we spent a phase of northerlies… Continue reading »
2017
02
May
Winter is coming
The day I left Austria it was snowing, during the day in Tahiti I was sweating and suffering in the humid and hot climate, but arriving in the Gambier I already felt the change in the seasons. The days are still warm and out of the wind in the sun it’s even hot, but at night it gets chilly and the water temperature is also… Continue reading »
2017
02
May
Boatgarden Article in Ocean7 Magazine
Birgit Hackl: Mein kleiner Garten an Bord, OCEAN7 03 (Mai/Juni) 2017, p. 28–31. download PDF (in German only)