Pitufa.at

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• Read Online: Our Article on Anchoring Around Coral in Cruising World

  Christian Feldbauer, Birgit Hackl: SEARCHING FOR SAFE SPOTS–Anchoring around Coral, Cruising World, March 2022. Read the online version of this article.

• 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 »

• 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.

• 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 »

• 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 »

• 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

• Eco presentation at school

  Whenever we stay longer in a place I try to visit the schools and do a little presentation about sustainability and environmental issues. At primary schools this means mainly presenting some local wildlife and its “function” for eco-systems to explain why they are worth protecting. E.g. bird droppings are fertilizers for the soil and the lagoon, parrot fish are important as they clean the reef,… Continue reading »

• Eco-awareness at school

  We took our eco presentation to the local school here yesterday and talked with two classes of the primary school about issues like pollution, recycling and why it’s important to protect birds (fertilizer guano), parrot fish (cleaners of the reef), turtles (getting rare) and sharks (the keep the fish population healthy).ter All a bit simplified, but the kids here are fortunately already very aware of… Continue reading »

• Beautiful Rapa

  The main bay of Rapa is protected from the long swell that comes up from the S and SW most of the time, but the other bays around the island are open to it. Last week the swell was down, so we took Pitufa exploring. We were rewarded with stunning mountain views, sheer cliffs and beautiful underwater landscapes. Anchoring turned out to be quite tricky,… Continue reading »

• Toilet repairs

  Toilet troubles are a cruisers’s nightmare. The plastic base plate of our Jabsco was cracked and we were worried that it would turn into an ejector seat on passage (just imagine the mess, YUCK!). Fortunately the part was on stock in Tahiti (at Ocean2000) and we spent a fun day dismounting and remounting the whole thing (disgusting, but fortunately not quite as bad as expected).… Continue reading »

• Going Bananas! Article in Cruising World

  Christian Feldbauer, Birgit Hackl: Going Bananas! What do you when the whole stalk of green bananas turns yellow overnight?, Cruising World, January/February 2022. Read the online version of this article.

• Birgit is on the cover of All-at-Sea magazine!

  Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Passage Blues, All At Sea Caribbean, February 2022, p. 32–34. Download the whole magazine for free.

• New windows for our sprayhood

  One of the old plexi windows of our sprayhood got smashed in on the rough trip to Rapa. We ordered a roll from Tahiti and spent three days replacing the windows. Not an easy task to stuff so much material underneath Miss Pfaff (our sturdy sewing machine). They turned out surprisingly wrinkle-free and now we have a panorama view again! At least partially–the garden’s back… Continue reading »

• Testing the mooring in strong winds

  The main bay of Rapa with its two villages is a windy place when it’s blowing from the east, in all other directions we don’t see steady winds, but strong gusts whirling down the mountains. This pictures shows Pitufa testing the new mooring in 45 knots… Local boats were still buzzing across the bay on that day, fishermen going out on the ocean–the people of… Continue reading »

• Friendly community

  Only about 400 people live on Rapa. There is no airport and the supply ship calls only once a month, so the people rely mainly on their own resources and skills. When something needs to be done or fixed, everyone helps out. This generosity is also extended to visiting strangers. So far sailboats are still welcome here, but I suppose a single negative experience might… Continue reading »