ende

Birgit

Author's details

Name: Birgit
Date registered: September 22, 2010
Jabber / Google Talk: admin

Latest posts

  1. Richtung Horizont als pdf — March 20, 2025
  2. Sailing Towards the Horizon as pdf — March 20, 2025
  3. Kein Nordwest-Monsun in Papua Neuguinea — March 15, 2025
  4. No NW monsoon over PNG — March 15, 2025
  5. 6 Monate Smurfy und wir sind immer noch überfordert — March 6, 2025

Most commented posts

  1. The Matuku Marine Reserve and how it came into being — 11 comments
  2. Donations for the Marine Reserve in Matuku — 10 comments
  3. Hilfsprojekte für Matuku — 7 comments
  4. Leeloo 2000–2021 — 6 comments
  5. Survived! — 6 comments

Author's posts listings

2025
20
Mar

Sailing Towards the Horizon as pdf

Are you interested in reading my travelbook, but haven’t ordered one yet as you don’t want to support Amazon? I’ve now converted it into a pdf, scaled it down to a reasonable size (50 MB) and I’m happy to send it as a WeTransfer. The paperback costs 17 euros on Amazon (btw I only get 5 per book), but I thought I’d offer the pdf… Continue reading »

2025
15
Mar

No NW monsoon over PNG

Remember our plan to sail up from Vanuatu to the north of PNG using the SE trades in order to arrive before December when the wind collapses and then sail back from northern PNG to the Solomons using the NW monsoon that’s supposed to blow over PNG from December to March? Well, that didn’t work out: the winds got very light (but predominantly east) in… Continue reading »

2025
06
Mar

6 months of Smurfy and we’re still struggling

Smurfy’s the most stubborn person I’ve ever met (of any species and that includes my own pighead), fiercely independent and rebellious–not ideal features of a ship’s cat. None of the cats we’ve had before prepared us for this struggle… Sometimes we’re close to giving up, but then he shows his adorable, dotted belly and we’re melting again. Sometimes we suspect that he’s not quite sane…… Continue reading »

2025
03
Mar

Giant giant clams!!

Giant clams rarely get to grow to a size that merits this name. All across the Pacific we hardly ever saw specimen larger than a hand as they are considered too tasty to be left on the reef by locals (and cruisers). Here in PNG we see giants of a meter or more all over the place! Often they are considered a last food reserve… Continue reading »

2025
21
Feb

Even heat-resilient coral dies in 32°C

Seeing healthy coral in waters around and even above 31°C around many islands in PNG gave us hope that coral might be able to adapt to rising temperatures. In French Poly and Fiji we saw horrible bleaching events at 30°C already, but the coral near the equator that is used to all-year-round hot water seemed to cope. But then around the northern islands of New… Continue reading »

2025
17
Feb

Canning fish

Big fishing fleets empty the Pacific, but we still troll a simple handline whenever we sail between islands and sometimes we get lucky! On the last sail we caught a jack while still in the lagoon–perfect size and timing and Christian quickly cleaned it with Smurfy eagerly watching and waiting for the first bite of sashimi… When we were in the middle of the passage… Continue reading »

2025
14
Feb

Do you believe in climate change? Rising sea levels?

Not sure? Ask Lorraine, she does. The row of houses in front of hers has disappeared over the last years, by now the water is rising into her house at each high tide. She shrugs it off with a smile, while standing ankle-deep in the Pacific, cleaning her island-cabbage. Lorraine has never been on a plane, she doesn’t own an air condition, her family just… Continue reading »

2025
08
Feb

No more Stinklink

Evil Elon doesn’t just meddle with world politics in disgusting ways, he also cut off our internet at the most inconvenient time. (For those of you who aren’t using internet in remote places: Musk is the owner of Starlink (we gave in and bought the gear for satellite internet a few months ago) and as cruisers we move from country to country, some don’t have… Continue reading »

2025
21
Jan

Clem’s Place

Clem’s Place on Tunung Island on the northern tip of New Hanover is a lodge for alternative tourists who really want to experience small-island life, go snorkeling, fishing and camping. Clem doesn’t just make his own guests welcome, but is also happy to receive visiting yachties! We got a tour of the village and Clem explained the different projects he is trying for a more… Continue reading »

2025
16
Jan

Reef check with kids

Last week we visited Tunung, an island on the NW side of New Hanover. Clem’s place is lodge with a good reputation among divers and nature lovers and Clem, who also works on other projects for sustainability on the island, asked us to take some of the school kids from the island into their no-fishing zone to talk about coral and the role of different… Continue reading »

2025
06
Jan

Island kids are just incredible :-)

When we got back from snorkeling off Snake Island, the boys from the island paddled by, just as Christian was grabbing a brush to clean the rudder. “Do you want to help him?”, I asked. “Yes, we want to help!”, came the immediate answer in a choir. No hesitation, no discussion among themselves, no asking for money. I got out some more goggles and brushes… Continue reading »

2025
05
Jan

Snake Island

Last week we anchored off the smallest inhabited island we’ve ever seen: just a rock with a strip of beach, a few trees (full of noddie terns) and 11 people on it! The 6 boys were thrilled to have a sailboat anchored next to their home (the first one ever!) and kept us company. Usually they paddle to the neighbouring island for school, but at… Continue reading »

2024
24
Dec

Happy holidays!

We wish you all a merry Christmas (or other festivity) and a happy, healthy, adventurous and exciting year 2025! Thanks for reading and travelling along with us for another year We send you slightly sweaty kisses from summery hot Papua New Guinea, Birgit, Christian and Smurfy

2024
16
Dec

Clearance and shopping in Kavieng

Checking in in Kavieng is a pleasure: we had done our online-evisa (50 USD per person) and sent off an email with a prearrival notification beforehand, so when we arrived in Kavieng we simply anchored in front of the friendly Nusa Resort (they take separated rubbish, so make sure you keep burnables, recylable plastic and cans separate!!), took a taxi boat over to town and… Continue reading »

2024
14
Dec

Finally back in Papua New Guinea!

In 2005 we spent 4 weeks travelling PNG as backpackers, flew to Port Moresby, on to Madang and did some great diving before riding a series of trucks up the highland’s highway. We had a great time (despite travel warnings and expats who told us we’d get killed if we attempted that trip) and vowed to come back soon. Well, it took us a while,… Continue reading »

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