Dlvr.it seems to work! As we blog bilingual, I added another service to share our German posts to another facebook page @Pitufa.at for our German-speaking friends. Another Test…
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2020
31
Jul
2020
31
Jul
Automatically posting to facebook?
I am testing a service to automatically share our blog posts on our facebook page. It’s called dlvr.it, and I’m not sure yet whether it works or not. We will know as soon as this post shows up at @sy.pitufa…
2020
27
Jul
Happy birthday Leeloo
Sometime in July our Leeloo turned 20–quite an age for a cat… She’s seen a lot during this long life: she lived in our garden flat with us in Austria, went on a student exchange with me to Madrid as a kitten, roamed Swedish forests, resided in our British ‘long garden’ in Cambridge and when we decided to start sailing in 2009 came along on… Continue reading »
2020
25
Jul
ProfiSeal Drip-Less Shaft Seal–Long-Term Test
Pitufa’s previous owner was German, so she came with many gadgets ‘made in Germany’. One of those is our shaft seal: a ProfiSeal (www.profiseal.com), based on the design of drip-less face seals. Instead of a flimsy rubber harmonica (like on the PSS), it features a solid metal housing that is flange-mounted to the stern tube. Inside the housing, a rotary unit (fixed to the shaft)… Continue reading »
2020
25
Jul
Orderly Tahitians
While no flights were allowed into French Polynesia we observed that people went back to their normal behaviour–no masks, kisses for greetings, etc. We were worried that they would not change these customs when the borders were opened again. Fortunately we were wrong: In town almost everybody is wearing masks now (many in colourful Polynesian patterns), people queue with respectful distance in supermarkets and I… Continue reading »
2020
24
Jul
Boatyard chaos
Being on the hard means hard work all day long (and a few times into the night–ever tried to apply black antifouling in the dark?). As we live on Pitufa, we cannot walk away from the building site in the evening. We usually need at least one bit from every single one of our many lockers and by the end of the day there’s no… Continue reading »
2020
14
Jul
Article on Dangers of Atolls in Blue Water Sailing Magazine
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: The dangers of navigating and anchoring in atolls, Blue Water Sailing, Spring 2020, p. 24–29. Read the current issue online.
2020
12
Jul
In Touch with Nature–Article in All-at-Sea July Issue
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Cruising–Living in Touch with Nature, All At Sea Caribbean, July 2020, p. 42–48. Download the whole magazine for free or read the online version of this article.
2020
06
Jul
Arrival in Tahiti
After a fast sail we were running out of wind on the last miles. Tahiti was ahead all day long–still 10 nm to go at sunset. Fortunately anchoring in the dark is no problem in the bay off Pt Venus, so we’ll sleep in our bed tonight again.
2020
05
Jul
Sailing under a full moon
Despite the so-so forecast this passage has been fabulous. 6 knots average on the first day, 5 from then on and all that under sunny skies without a single squall. The nights are magic as well with a full moon lighting the way. 65 nm to go!
2020
04
Jul
Water in the bilge
Yesterday the water alarm in the bilge went off and we discovered about 40 l of water sloshing around… We quickly got a manual pump out and dried the bilge–not much fun on a rolling boat. Then came the frantic search for the lead–fortunately it was quickly found. The seal on the rudder stock needs redoing. Another little project for Tahiti… 185 nm to go!
2020
03
Jul
Fast trip
Yesterday’s start was a bit bumpy: we sailed through squalls with 30 knots across the lagoon, doubting our decision to head out. The outgoing current rushed us out with 12 knots (4 knots boatspeed, 8 knots current), but then the ocean conditions were not so bad. Now we are rushing along downwind under headsail only, doing 6 to 7 knots. 320 nm to go!
2020
02
Jul
Change of Plans
On July 15 international flights are supposed to resume to French Polynesia and we are a little bit worried that this will lead to another covid alarm and subsequent inter-island travel ban. We therefore have changed plans, will head to Tahiti today and try to get a haul-out, some repairs, some doctor’s appointments, shopping (the yearly routine) done before that may happen. The weather’s not… Continue reading »