The Austral islands are notorious for unstable, bad weather and during a La Niña phase (as we have this year) it’s supposed to be even cooler and rainier than usually. We therefore had rather low expectations weatherwise when we sailed to Raivavae at the beginning of December. We mainly wanted to keep our elderly cat ‘cool’ (she suffers in hot temperatures) and quietly work most… Continue reading »
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2021
22
Feb
2021
18
Feb
Update on the covid situation and travel restrictions in the South Pacific
After an intial lockdown between March and July 2020, French Polynesia opened its borders and Covid arrived here shortly after. Ironically a local Politician brought the Virus back from France–presumably from some conference about avoiding the spreading of Covid… The Polynesians seemed very orderly and determined to hold the virus at bay, but in the end it got out of control with many cases in… Continue reading »
2021
12
Feb
Article on alternative energy aboard
Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Green Cruising with a Mix of alternative energy sources, All At Sea Caribbean, February 2021, p. 42–46. Download the whole magazine for free
2021
12
Feb
Pretty, but tricky!
We consider ourselves quite experienced at navigating lagoons and coral-strewn areas by now, we even enjoy close-hauled zig-zag sailing between bommies in the clear waters of the Tuamotus. Raivavae’s shallow and murky lagoon is a bit more of a challenge. Distances are tiny, but a 1.5 nm ‘passage’ here needs a perfect weather window with blue skies and the sun high up in the sky.… Continue reading »
2021
12
Feb
Pitufino–not just another Wi-Fi gateway!
Over the years we acquired a mix of old and new navigation instruments on Pitufa, which used to communicate via NMEA convertors that lack configuration options–never quite the solution we really wanted. Unsatisfied with the situation and unconvinced by existing products, I decided to build an NMEA converter and gateway myself. Later on I started implementing more and more ideas and now my Pitufino replaces… Continue reading »