Christian Feldbauer, Birgit Hackl: SEARCHING FOR SAFE SPOTS–Anchoring around Coral, Cruising World, March 2022. Read the online version of this article.
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2022
31
Mar
Update: Checking out of French Polynesia
We just did our check-out from Tahiti and had some hiccups along the way. It seems the different offices that deal with pleasure crafts don’t talk to each other Even though it the Capitainerie sent us an info sheet claiming that we had to send the check-out application to traffic maritime AND we got an email from them replying that we were free to pick… Continue reading »
2022
29
Mar
Watermaker worries
Just as we were patching up the dinghy yesterday, the watermaker suddenly quit. Horror scenario. We carry a spare pump head and installed it today–fortunately the pump is running now again! A more serious issue would have been a big problem before a long passage.
2022
29
Mar
Wobbly
We’ve had our dinghy for one and a half years and it’s been leaking from day one, that’s why it’s called “Wobbly”. It arrived with a transport damage: a hole was punched through the hypalon on the bottom, so the first thing we had to do was glue the damn thing in a very tricky spot. It continued leaking just a little bit (enough to… Continue reading »
2022
23
Mar
Preparations
Before a long passage the boat needs to be thoroughly checked and prepared: We have checked the rigg and changed the headsails to have the big genoa downwind (and repaired some seams as we were at it). Then the Yanmar got some attention: we cleaned the sea strainers, changed the engine oil, new coolant and yesterday a new impeller. Some engineer at Yanmar thought it… Continue reading »
2022
13
Mar
2022
07
Mar
Back in Tahiti
We arrived this morning on the southern side of Tahiti Nui, where we’ll do a stop-over in a quiet area before braving the big city. Last year we perceived the anchorage as quiet (in comparison to Punaauia), today we find the constant droning of traffic on the coastal road deafening
2022
06
Mar
Pumpkin passage
Even though we headed out with a less than ideal forecast, this has been a very smooth passage. Now the wind has shifted E and we are gliding along with the wind on the beam. We cut up a huge pumpkin before setting out, so the menu so far has consisted of pumpkin curry, Thai soup with pumpkin, chow mein with pumpkin, pumpkin pie and… Continue reading »
2022
05
Mar
Challenges
After passing some squalls in the morning we had stable conditions all day long with Pitufa racing along doing 6 to 7 knots in winds of 15 to 20 from the NE. In such conditions the toe-rail is almost in the water and boat is jumping over waves and slamming into valleys–walking becomes a challenge and cooking an adventure, but the miles are ticking down.… Continue reading »
2022
04
Mar
Reefing in and reefing out
We had a fast sailing day yesterday and also steady conditions through the night, going close-hauled in NE winds of 15 knots. Now we are entering a zone with squalls again, not the ones that suck the wind away this time though, but the ones that accelerate it to 25 knots. 360 nm to go
2022
03
Mar
Squally
After a fast sailing day and night we are now caught in an area with lots of squalls, so the wind picks up, shifts, then it rains and the wind dies down until it finally comes back and the same game starts all over again with the next squall… Very annoying. 480 nm to go!
2022
02
Mar
Lightwind sailing
We’ve been sailing in light winds all night, but further up there’s supposed to be more wind. 590 nm to go!
2022
01
Mar
Goodbye Rapa
Rapa’s a somewhat tricky place: difficult to get here, difficult to find a weather window to leave again, strong gusts in between, hardly any internet and the supply boat only calls every month or sometimes every two. We still enjoyed the wonderful mountains, the beautiful coral, snorkelling with the numerous galapagos sharks and the wonderful generosity of the islanders. Tongia maitaki Rapa (thank you in… Continue reading »