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!
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2017
23
May
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)
2017
24
Apr
Back home!
The flight back was fortunately quite eventless, apart from minor nuisances like a bunch of schoolkids who chatted relentlessly all night, a polynesian woman who fell asleep over her own seat, the empty one next to her and half of mine and a french woman who refused to pull down the blinds next to her and had shouting arguments over it with the flight personnel.… Continue reading »
2017
11
Apr
Location Report WordPress Plugin
Several fellow cruisers asked me whether I can recommend a WordPress plugin for position reporting, that is, a plugin to show the latest position of your vessel on a map and normally also to show the route traveled so far. The truth is I cannot really recommend one. But what do you use on Pitufa.at? On Pitufa.at I use Geo Mashup, or rather a highly… Continue reading »
2017
06
Apr
The yoghurt miracle
As cruisers we are used to make our own bread (without a bread-making machine), grow sprouts and make yoghurt (without a yoghurt-maker). Landlubbers are of course used to having a supermarket nearby, so I fully understand that they mostly don’t feel the need to put time and effort into such things. Making yoghurt from an existing culture on the other hand is so simple that… Continue reading »
2017
04
Apr
Spring
In the Gambier the nights are getting colder and summer is coming to its end while here in Austria the first flowers are blooming and tender new leaves are growing on trees and shrubs. After so many years in the tropics I marvel at the miracle of spring even though I’m shivering in temperatures that seem freezing cold to me, while the rest of Austria… Continue reading »
2017
29
Mar
Dangerous times?
Living in peaceful, happy French Polynesia we sometimes manage to forget about the political and economical crises that buffet the planet, but whenever we open news pages and often when we receive e-mails the vibes are decidedly negative. More crimes, more wars, more terrorist attacks, more refugees, more scandals, more unemployed people, more fear and a general feeling that things are getting worse. The mass… Continue reading »
2017
29
Mar
Single-handers
Getting from the Gambier via Tahiti, Los Angeles, Paris and Vienna to my Mom’s home in Upper Austria is a tiring journey even when all connections work out perfectly, but with the friendly help of the US government it turned into a 6 day odyssey. In Tahiti the Air France personnel didn’t let me check in due to a problem with my ESTA visa (necessary… Continue reading »