ende

Christian

Author's details

Name: Christian
Date registered: September 21, 2010

Latest posts

  1. Unterwasserfotos! — November 17, 2024
  2. Underwater pictures! — November 17, 2024
  3. Fotogalerie: Smurfy ist ein geborener Segler! — September 21, 2024
  4. Foto gallery: Smurfy’s a natural-born sailor! — September 21, 2024
  5. Smurfys erste Woche bei uns an Bord! — September 5, 2024

Most commented posts

  1. Change of plans — 10 comments
  2. Prevailing Ocean Winds — 6 comments
  3. Spenden für die Matuku Riffschutz-Zone! — 6 comments
  4. Anchor windlass overhaul — 5 comments
  5. Beitrag in den OÖNachrichten — 5 comments

Author's posts listings

2012
15
Aug

Sailing to Sapzurro

by Christian

This morning when we had to motor without wind we cursed the mediterranean-like winds in the basin of Colombia (remember: either no wind, or too much, and if there’s any it’s always from the wrong direction…). At noon the wind shifted and picked up slightly and Pitufa started with gliding along quickly and effortlessly on the flat seas, immediately we started praising the mediterranean-like sea… Continue reading »

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2012
15
Aug

Leaving las Islas de San Bernardo

by Christian

The day before yesterday southerly winds were predicted, so we took Pitufa to the northern side of the island to search for the pass through the reef we had discovered by dinghy. Our findings seemed to agree with our C-map charts, so we were optimistic. However, on the way we encountered some spots where the reef came up to three metres with C-map claiming that… Continue reading »

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2012
13
Aug

Tintipan, Islas de San Bernardo

by Christian

Yesterday we made a dinghy ride all around the island (that admittedly sounds less impressive when you know that the island is only 1.7 miles long ). On the northern side the reef reaches out several miles, we found a pass into the lagoon, but there’s shoals everywhere and taking Pitufa over here would be quite tricky. There are a few luxorious looking villas on… Continue reading »

2 comments

2012
11
Aug

Thunderstorms

by Christian

The area here is famous or rather infamous for its frequent thunderstorms. In Cartagena we saw the lightning far away in the south each night–now we’re in the middle it. Last evening the flashes in the south looked like the finale of a new years eve fireworks… at three o’clock in the morning the squall reached us with gusts over 30 knots of wind, we… Continue reading »

1 comment

2012
10
Aug

Islas de San Bernardo

by Christian

We left the reef channel of Isla Grande this morning at 7 o’clock veeery carefully and then motored southwards through the Rosarios archipelago–unfortunately again there wasn’t enough wind for sailing. It became clear how the archipelago was named: the little islands really lie next to each other like pearls on a rosary. Each island has at least one house, sometimes the motto seems to be… Continue reading »

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2012
09
Aug

Post-urban cleaning frenzy

by Christian

After two weeks in Cartagena’s harbour Pitufa’s hull was overgrown with barnacles and algae under the waterline, the propeller was hardly recogniseable in its never-seen-before layer of barnacles (no wonder we didn’t get over 4.5 knots on the way here), the waterline was covered with a mixture of slime, algae, oil and whatever filth can be found in the harbour. We cleaned for several hours… Continue reading »

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2012
08
Aug

Los Rosarios, Isla Grande

by Christian

We’ve left the realm of the reliable trade winds we enjoyed so much since leaving the everchanging winds of the Med. The trades don’t reach southern Columbia, without wind it’s incredibly hot and as a prelude to the sailing in this area we had to motor against a very light southwesterly wind to reach the archipelago of the Rosarios, about 17 nm southwest of Cartagena.… Continue reading »

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2012
04
Aug

Photo Gallery of Cartagena

by Christian

Here are some impressions of Cartagena — on time for a change

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2012
03
Aug

Long overdue photos of Grenada

by Christian

We realized we’ve never uploaded pics of Grenada and as we try do finish all internet-related projects before leaving civilization next week we make good for that now. Here is the Grenada album:

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2012
28
Jul

Pics from Los Monjes

by Christian

Here is a mini gallery of the Monjes:

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2012
28
Jul

Photos of Curacao

by Christian

Better late than never, we’ve just uploaded some pics of Curacao.

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2012
24
Jul

On the way to Cartagena

by Christian

We passed near the Five Bays north of St. Marta this morning, but decided against stopping because of a favorable weather forecast for today. There is less wind now, so we’ve slowed down a bit. A group of dolphins is taking a joyride on Pitufa’s bow wave, sitting under deck writing this blog entry we can hear them whistling We havn’t seen dolphins for ages.

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2012
20
Jul

Los Monjes

by Christian

The “los Monjes” archipelago off the Colombian coast looks like some rocks from the moon fallen into the Atlantic… There’s only a small military station on these tiny, white rocks, which offer no protection from the howling wind and no anchorage. We have tied to a line that is spanned across an artificial bay. 4 people from the coast guard welcomed us to the station… Continue reading »

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2012
23
Jun

Engine service

by Christian

The mixing elbow on our engine has been leaking for a while, so we seized a chance to get it repaired here in Spanish Waters on Curacao. Additionally, since it may become more difficult at our next, more remote stops, we even organized to get a proper engine overhaul. Unfortunately the mechanics are busy until mid of next week, so we have to stay in… Continue reading »

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2012
18
Jun

Review: WiFi antenna “BAD BOY Xtreme”

by Christian

Long-range WiFi antenna “BAD BOY Xtreme” (bitstorm inc., www.bitstorm.com) We bought a BAD BOY Xtreme three months ago and have had it in use almost permanently since then. We haven’t installed it permanently (yet), but only hoist it with a halyard about 10 m high and take it down for passages. Short description The BAD BOY Xtreme consists of a high-gain antenna directly attached to… Continue reading »

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