We had to do some repairs on the mast last week, not a big deal, but the mast had to be pulled for that. The preparations alone took two days (getting the sails down, taking the boom off, disconnecting all cables, taking the instruments off the mast, removing the mast collar, etc.). Everything went well with the repair, but now we’re busy getting everything back… Continue reading »
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2017
03
Dec
2017
20
Nov
2017
20
Nov
Fish!
We haven’t had such an easy passage in a long time. The wind was strong (surprisingly just as predicted and also from the direction the forecast had promised), not so strong to build up huge waves (2 m were not even enough to make the cat seasick), but just enough to push heavy Pitufa along swiftly. Averaging 6 knots we needed less than 2 days… Continue reading »
2017
19
Nov
From Fakarava to Tahiti
We left Fakarava yesterday, but instead of sailing straight to the Australes as initially planned, we have to go to Tahiti first to do some repairs. We’re sailing swiftly along with 15 to 20 knots behind us and will reach Tahiti tomorrow. 120 nm to go!
2017
15
Nov
Sharks
The south pass into the lagoon of Fakarava is popular with dive tourists. Reef sharks hang out in all passes we’ve seen in the Tuamotus, but for some unknown reason the pass of Fakarava is teeming with grey reef sharks (apparently 200-300 live in the area). You see some of them while snorkelling, but most of them are deeper down, so it really makes sense… Continue reading »
2017
12
Nov
Big atolls
We usually avoid big atolls, because when the wind shifts you suddenly have a few dozen miles of fetch ahead and getting to the protected side in nasty weathers means hours of motoring against the wind. Fakarava is more than 30 miles long and doesn’t offer many protected corners (no protruding reefs to hide behind). Its attraction is the South pass where hundreds of Grey… Continue reading »
2017
06
Nov
Some impressons of our last stay in Tahiti
Better late than never, we just uploaded some pics of our recent stay in Tahiti and Moorea.
2017
04
Nov
Article on Watermaker installation in All-at-Sea magazine
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Watermaker on a small boat: It can’t be modular enough!, All At Sea Caribbean, November 2017, p. 36–38. Free download from allatsea.net.
2017
04
Nov
New article in Ocean7 magazine
Christian Feldbauer, Birgit Hackl: Navigation in Korallenatollen, OCEAN7 06 (November/Dezember) 2017, p. 28–33
2017
04
Nov
Fakarava
Yesterday we left the lovely lagoon of Toau and sailed over to the neighbouring atoll Fakarava. We had a nice breeze, calm seas and only took 3 hours for the 13 nm ‘passage’. Unfortunately we weren’t lucky fishing this time, but Fakarava has one of the bigger villages in the Tuamotus (also quite some tourism) and so we stocked up on luxuries like tomatoes, eggplants… Continue reading »
2017
01
Nov
Beautiful Toau
Looking at a chart of the Tuamotus you’d think that many of the atolls (especially those without passes) would be uninhabited wilderness. Unfortunately almost all of them have at some point been ‘cleaned’ (the shrubs burnt down) and the natural vegetation was replaced with coconut plantations. Therefore it’s rare to find motus with bird colonies and we’ve been disappointed in many places. In Toau we’ve… Continue reading »
2017
23
Oct
Atoll hopping
Yesterday we made another small hop from the false pass on the Northern side of Toau down to the SE side where there’s a pass into the lagoon. The day started squally with sporty tacking up and down in shifting winds (the atoll kept jumping into our way, so we had to dodge it twice), but then we were sailing close-hauled along the edge of… Continue reading »
2017
22
Oct
Sprayhood made by Dustom
The sprayhood we bought in Croatia 8 years ago is still in good shape, the sunbrella and the ‘windows’ (I don’t know what material) are keeping up nicely, so we can only recommend the canvas work done by Dustom (check out www.dustomcovers.com). The threads were giving up after long years of exposure to UV light, so we spent 3 days restitching all seams and as… Continue reading »
2017
18
Oct
Toau
After a few grey days with lots of squalls, yesterday morning it was sunny again and the wind was blowing from the NE. Despite contradicting weather forecasts we couldn’t resist the opportunity and set out towards the neighbouring atoll Toau. I mean, what can go wrong on a passage that’s only 30 nm? We sailed across the lagoon, out of the pass at the wrong… Continue reading »
2017
17
Oct
4D Bimini
The bimini’s a sun shade/rain cover that is kept over the cockpit by 4 tubes. As we like being dry and shaded off during passages as well and never take our bimini down (some sailors do so regularly), it gets some wear and tear over the year. It got chafed through at the aft edge and we knew we’d have to repair that damage before… Continue reading »