It’s our third visit to Raivavae, but this year we’re lucky with the weather for the first time–sunny skies make such a difference… We’ve been dividing our time between writing/boat projects and fun activities with our cruiser friends. Three days ago we hiked up Mt. Hiro, the highest mountain, together: 8 cruisers in a row To get to the path we had to cross a… Continue reading »
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2018
27
Nov
2018
21
Nov
Weather forecasts for cruising in and around French Polynesia
I’ve just put a page on our blog that, on the one hand, summarizes all weather forecasts we’re using on Pitufa. It includes weather bulletins, surface-analysis charts, cyclone warnings, El-Niño discussions, and of course how all those can be requested via Saildocs. On the other hand, the page also embeds all those current forecasts, so it may be a convenient all-in-one weather site for cruisers… Continue reading »
2018
17
Nov
The end of our adventure trip
We arrived on Thursday in Raivavae after a fast sail with steady winds (despite the light and fickle winds that were predicted). Just as we were approaching the pass it started pouring down, the high island was completely invisible in the clouds and we were glad that we could follow an old GPS track to an anchorage we had used 4 years before. The next… Continue reading »
2018
15
Nov
Leaving Tubuai
In the end we had a very nice time in Tubuai. The anchorage in the west was so calm that we could get some work done and then we met a friendly Polynesian while hitchhiking: He offered to take us up Mt Pahatu (we had failed on our own) and it turned out, there is indeed no path–but Grandpa Viri made one for us with… Continue reading »
2018
11
Nov
Finally a calm anchorage
When we first arrived we anchored near the village on the northern side. We tried inside the harbour with a sternline and corkscrewed horribly, moved outside and rolled even worse. The reef on the northside is open, so on top of the windchop bent SW swell comes in and adds to the misery. Only the northside is charted and cruising guides refer to this one… Continue reading »
2018
07
Nov
Up the highest mountain of Tubuai
Yesterday it was sunny, so we kicked ourselves to some activity even though we were still tired from the passage–you never know how long the nice weather will last in the Australs… We went to the mayor’s office, didn’t get a map, but some vague advice about hiking tracks. We hitched a ride along the cross-island road–after friendly Rurutu we were surprised how many cars… Continue reading »
2018
06
Nov
2018
04
Nov
Annoying arrival in Tubuai
We arrived this morning in Tubuai after an unexpectedly windy night (20 gusting 30 kn instead of 12 kn predicted) and tried out two anchorages just inside the pass–one was unbearably rolly and at the other one we ploughed some sand before we gave up and headed over to the village. The lagoon is murky, shallow and difficult to navigate. Now we’re anchored behind the… Continue reading »
2018
03
Nov
Some more hikes
The past three days it was still blowing hard, so we stayed in Avera bay where it was bouncy, but at least safe. The sun was out again and we explored the last few corners of the island we had not seen yet: we walked along the beach to a spectacular cave just north of Avera, hiked along the ridge southwards and today we made… Continue reading »