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Birgit

Author's details

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

Latest posts

  1. Abholzung auf den Salomonen — March 29, 2025
  2. Logging in the Solomons — March 29, 2025
  3. Bei den Salomonen angekommen! — March 27, 2025
  4. Arrived in the Solomon Islands! — March 27, 2025
  5. Wir haben Nemo in Papua Neuguinea gefunden! — March 26, 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

2023
11
Nov

Fast passage to Suva

by Birgit

There is some nasty weather coming up, so we left Matuku to sail 100 nm to Suva. With winds around 25 knots from the SE the waves were quickly building up–slate grey, white-capped peaks towering over Pitufa’s stern before rushing through with a WHOOSH letting her surf down with up to 9 knots before lifting her yet again. We left Matuku early in the morning… Continue reading »

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2023
05
Nov

The Tabu in Matuku is now official!

by Birgit

Yesterday the big no-fishing zone between the villages of Yaroi and Lomati just north of Matuku’s main pass was officially inaugurated by Chief Ratu Niu and the minister of Yaroi! Hopefully the ban on spearfishing and netfishing in the Tabu area will help the reefs of Matuku to regain a healthy eco-system and to guarantee sustainable fishing in the rest of the lagoon for the… Continue reading »

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2023
22
Oct

Passing ships

by Birgit

Our nomadic life-style means that we meet many other cruisers briefly in one place, before our paths go in different directions again. Meeting up with old friends is therefore more precious to us than to other people I suppose. Revisiting the Lau group again with Soraya and Thomas of SY Garulfo we enjoyed our favourite places even more than before–shared joy is twice the joy!… Continue reading »

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2023
19
Oct

Fijian translation of our brochure

by Birgit

I met Liti on facebook (of all places), we got chatting about Fiji, the beautiful islands of the Lau group, the wonderful underwater world and the need to protect it. Liti volunteered to translate our brochure about sustainable fishing into Itaukei (Fijian) and did a great job! Thanks a lot for all your help–vinaka vaka levu!!

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2023
17
Oct

Our new book: Cruising Know-How

by Birgit

Over the years we have written tons of articles about sailing, DIY, life-style topics, etc. for different magazines. Now I have put 54 of them together in a book, basically a “best of Pitufa” It’s simply called “Cruising Know-How” and it’s available on Amazon as a black-and-white paperback and in colour as an e-book, paperback and even hard-cover! Prices range from 9,90 USD to 40… Continue reading »

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2023
09
Oct

Trip to Fulaga

by Birgit

We still have lots of things to organise and to do in Matuku, but the material for the tabu buoys has not arrived yet, so we have time for a little trip to another, pretty island in the Lau group. We have left in the afternoon with perfect conditions to sail due east and should arrive tomorrow morning in Fulaga. 95 nm to go, southerly… Continue reading »

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2023
05
Oct

Colder than usual

by Birgit

It has been blowing hard for weeks now with only short interruptions with a squash zone on top of a high above New Zealand bringing accelerated trade winds to the area of Fiji. We’re glad about the cold weather and don’t mind wearing socks and hoodies for a while longer, as the cool breeze keeps the temperature of the water down as well. The Eastern… Continue reading »

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2023
01
Oct

Revisiting places

by Birgit

It was great to come back to “our island” Matuku, see familiar faces everywhere and get a wonderfully warm welcome from our hosts Jiko and Penina and their daughters. We have met Ratu Niu, the chief of the main village, as well and had a long, interesting talk about environmental issues with him. Today we were invited for a spectacular Sunday lunch with shrimp and… Continue reading »

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2023
25
Sep

Spreading the word about sustainable fishing

by Birgit

Tiki is originally from Ono-i-Lau in the the Lau group, lives in Suva and gives her best to help her island with fund raisers and organising things for the islanders. When she heard about our project for sustainable fishing, she contacted us, so we met up yesterday for a chat, brought some of our newly made brochures for her to take to Ono-i-Lau and she… Continue reading »

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2023
25
Sep

Update on the Matuku Marine Reserve

by Birgit

The little Island of Matuku in the Lau Group is installing 3 big no-fishing zones around their island to guarantee sustainable fishing in the future. We have been trying to raise support for the project and a big thank you goes to all of you, who have donated for the project so far! This week we’ve been running around in Suva organising things and there’s… Continue reading »

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2023
24
Sep

New windlass

by Birgit

When our neighbours in the marina gave away their Muir Cheetah windlass for free (they replaced most gadgets on their newly bought boat) Christian couldn’t resist and grabbed it–after all the Cheetah is the bigger (and younger) sister of our beloved, but elderly Muir Cougar. An upgrade from 1000 W to 1200 W, a newer motor–great! It turned into a major undertaking as we had… Continue reading »

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2023
12
Sep

Musket Cove Regatta

by Birgit

The annual regatta event here in Fiji was taking place last week and we were in the middle of it taking photos! 3 races, lots of side events and fun evenings at the Musket Cove Resort Island Bar and Restaurant. As soon as I’ve sorted through all the pics I’ll post a gallery here on the blog

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2023
26
Aug

Squids

by Birgit

Most people hear squid and think “Calamari fritti”, but here in Fiji we meet squids when we go snorkeling and these fascinating, colour-changing, curious creatures are so much more than the rubbery rings that are served in restaurants. Quite often they hang out next to the boat, preferably near the anchor chain in line formations, constantly chatting with each other by complicated shifts in colour.… Continue reading »

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2023
15
Aug

Passive pollution

by Birgit

Remember the times when smoking was still allowed in restaurants and bars? You’d go in as a non-smoker for a quick drink, cough in the murky-looking air for a while and return home with red eyes, smelly hair and clothes. Those unlucky enough to work in such an environment often had negative effects on their health, so everyone agreed at some point that “passive smoking”… Continue reading »

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2023
08
Aug

Winter in Fiji

by Birgit

Fiji lies at 17° south, so it doesn’t get properly cold, but we (tropical islanders that we are) still call June to September winter, get out socks and hoodies and drink lots of tea (to warm up after an outside shower) and mulled wine for sundowners instead of cold beer. Especially while the southeasterly winds are blowing and bring cold air masses from the south… Continue reading »

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