Pitufa.at

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• Article on Ustica in Ocean7 magazine

  Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Ustica — Smaragd im Tyrrhenischen Meer, OCEAN7 06 2011. Read article (in German only)

• Waiting for the right wind

  We’ve been anchored off La Linea (next to Gibraltar’s runway) since last Monday, watching the weather files everyday and growing constantly more nervous. Today’s forecast for the next week looks perfect so we’ll set sail for the strait tomorrow early in the morning to catch the right current to get us through to the Atlantic. Cross your fingers for us!! We added some pictures of… Continue reading »

• New photo galleries added

  We have just uploaded two small photo galleries from Sardinia and Melilla.

• Amateur radio aboard Pitufa

  On Pitufa we have a ham radio station that consists of a Yaesu FT-857 transceiver, an SCT PTC-II USB pactor modem with pactor 3 license, a CG 3000 automatic antenna tuner, and a 13m-long isolated segment of the back stay as antenna. The CG 3000 tuner is mounted on deck underneath the radar arch in a separate watertight box (see picture below). So it is… Continue reading »

• New Photo Galleries

  We’ve just uploaded new photos: a mini gallery with photos from Dubrovnik and the passage to Sicily and a larger one from Sicily.

• Ustica

  While we were anchored in Vulcano’s Porto di Levante to seek shelter from gusty westerly winds (up to 35 knots), we met Aylin and Goeran from Cantana 3, a Hallberg Rassy 35 under Swedish flag (www.cantana3.com). Those two are the first real cruisers we have met since our departure. Goeran made a 6-year circumnavigation starting in 1993 and currently they are exploring Italy. It was… Continue reading »

• New photo gallery

  I’ve just uploaded pictures form the first two weeks of our journey. See here.

• Gale Probability KMZ File

  Pilot charts are certainly of great help for planning ocean routes and fortunately, the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency makes their Atlas of Pilot Charts available for free (get it here. you may find their server somewhat slow and rather try it here). I’ve recently generated kml/kmz files that show the prevailing ocean winds (get more info here). Viewing them with Google Maps (as in our… Continue reading »

• Prevailing Ocean Winds

  Recently, I have discovered world-wide ocean wind data collected over ten years from the ‘SeaWinds’ scatterometer onboard the ‘QuikSCAT’ satellite on the Internet at Oregon State University: COGOW. The site offers an interactive atlas to view prevailing wind maps and wind roses. For blue-water cruisers, the site is definitely a great source to aid route planning.

• Total Solar Eclipse of November 13, 2012

  According to NASA there will be a total solar eclipse in the South Pacific when we plan to cruise there from French Polynesia to Chile.

• Crew page has been updated

  The Crew page has been updated. Click here.

• Sponsors

  Fahrschule und Schiffsführerschule DONAULAND Blumauerstr. 21, 4020 Linz, Austria Phone: +43 (0)732 656 256 E-mail: office [at] donauland.com www: http://www.donauland.com LUMBRICO d.o.o. Jadreški 109, HR – 52100 PULA, CROATIA Phone: +385 (0) 52 570 130 E-mail: lumbrico [at] pu.t-com.hr Lumbrico is a boatbuilding company which also offers all kinds of boat services/repairs. Klaudio Krivičić from Lumbrico did most of the upgrading/repair jobs on Pitufa and… Continue reading »

• Publications

  Our Books Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Cruising Know-How, Amazon KDP, ISBN 979-8859579983, 310 pages, in English, September 2023. Available at Amazon (Paperback, Color Paperback, Hardcover and E-book) Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Sailing Towards the Horizon, Amazon KDP, ISBN 979-8843081546, 331 pages, in English, August 2022. Available at Amazon (Paperback, Hardcover and E-book) Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Richtung Horizont–Das Buch zu unserer Reise, Amazon KDP, ISBN… Continue reading »

• SY Pitufa

  Our sailing yacht “Pitufa” (Spanish for Smurfette) was built in 1988 in Brisbane, Australia according to plans of the famous designers Sparkman & Stephens. The entire yacht is made of aluminium: 5 mm on deck, 6 mm below the waterline (at least originally, the keel has now 6 mm + another 5 mm). The solid construction with a medium long keel design, a skeg and… Continue reading »

• Map

  On this map you can virtually travel along with Pitufa. The markers link to our photo albums and some (by far not all) of our blog entries. Distance Calculator Toggle Markers If you search for our atlas of prevailing ocean winds, click here.