Pitufa.at

We’ve been busy exploring Makatea for the last few days. It’s a raised atoll with a plateau over steep, white cliffs towering over a strip of flat land around the island and a fringing reef. The reef falls off steeply, but the friendly locals have installed 4 moorings for sailboats–basically their only tourists apart from a few travellers who arrive with the supply ship from time to time (there is no airport).

Yesterday we took a hike with fellow cruisers we met here and they showed us the main attraction of the island: big caves with pools of freshwater, connected by tunnels. Swimming under the low ceiling we reached the next chambers full of stalactites and stalagmites. On our way back we were spontaneously invited for lunch by a family sitting out in the garden–Polynesians are just fabulous.

Today we did a guided tour around the island (our contribution to the tourism here) and visited the old guano excavation sites. From 1917 on a French company with 3000 workers dug off huge quantities of sand and rock to get the phosphate it contains (long-gone bird colonies left huge quantities of poo, so-called guano, which is full of phosphate). They stopped in 1966, leaving behind a barren surface full of deep holes and lots of machinery. By now nature has recovered, the jungle has grown over the scarred land and the huge, rusty machines, locomotives, etc. give the landscape a post-apocalyptic feeling.

Instead of encouraging the low-scale tourism industry some little pensions, snacks and tour-guides have started, the mayor wants to sell the mining rights for the remaining phospate to an Australian company. Greed for short-term profits could lead to another ecocide. The population of just 70 people is divided and property owners who actually live in Tahiti will have a say as well. Let’s hope that beautiful, little Makatea won’t be destroyed once again.

After 3 months in Tahiti we are eager to head out towards the Tuamotus: I feel healthy again, we got Pitufa prepared, bought more provisioning than we can store, but somehow we don’t get away from Tahiti.

First the drain of the kitchen sink fell off (rusted through) and just when Christian had finished repairing it, he noticed that the fridge was acting strangely–the compressor wouldn’t start. We were horrified. Without refrigeration our stocked up fresh things would go bad and a repair project would keep us in Tahiti for a long time. A cruiser friend who happens to be a fridge expert suggested several trouble-shooting approaches and in the end the problem was easily solved: we only had to change the electronic unit (fortunately we had a spare one on board).

Now we’re really ready to go, but the predicted weather window for tomorrow is turning less and less attractive as it comes closer. Light winds, fickle winds–at the moment we still prepare to leave tomorrow, but we’ll see…

I got strong fever last week accompanied with a head ache and back ache–typical symptoms for dengue. As we’ve had it before I was worried (dengue can be extra dangerous when you get another type your immune system thinks it recognises). I got lucky though, the symptoms remained weak and I was fine after only a week.
Researching on the internet I found that there has been a dengue epidemic going on here since April(!) with more and more cases in Tahiti and the Socities, but also some in the Tuamotus and Marquesas.
So it’s a good idea to spray and avoid tiger stripe mosquitoes!

An Austrian newspaper published an article about ‘Sailing Yesterday and Today’ (the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s first circumnavigation) and we’re mentioned as modern bluewater sailors. Here’s the link.

We’ve been in Moorea now for two weeks, explored the island with a rental car (quite a luxury for us hitch-hikers) and were lucky with the weather. Moorea’s such a spectacular mountainous island with incredible views!
Leaving the pass of Opunohu Bay with Pitufa on the way to Cooks Bay we met a humpback whale mom with a baby. We let the boat drift and she approached us slowly! While Christian took pictures from the deck I hopped into the water and could watch the two swimming

I took the boat to a calmer anchorage on Saturday, thought I was doing a nice single-handed manoeuvre, but then the little rollbar behind the windlass that keeps the chain under control while it rushes out broke and all 70 m of chain rattled out high speed. Fortunately I was far away from the reef, but still not happy and feeling quite ill on top. Shortly after the harbour masters boat came by to shy me away–apparently this anchorage is now off limits…
After some arguing they let me stay, then friends came by and helped with the windlass repair, so all fine again.

This morning Christian and my Mom finally arrived, tired after 50 hours of journey and without their 4 suitcases–the luggage had been lost somewhere along the way.

Now we’re anchored off the airport in nice turquoise water, watching planes coming and going. Hopefully one of them will bring the missing luggage soon

After 3 weeks alone here in Taina, Christian and my Mom were scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. Now I’ve just got an email that their flight from Vienna was cancelled, they were rebooked for the following day…

Here it’s grey and rainy after a 2 months of stable, sunny weather and a 3 m swell is forecast to arrive this evening. I’ve fallen victim to the constant air-conditioning-attack in Tahiti and feel feverish with a sore throat…

Since Christian flew to Austria last week, it’s just us 3 girls here (counting Leeloo and of course Pitufa). Life in Taina has been productive and quiet so far, but last night a 3m southwesterly swell arrived around midnight and made an end to our calm lifestyle. The reef that protects the anchorage isn’t very wide and swell turns the lagoon into a chaotic witches’ cauldron. At 3 in the morning Leeloo and I moved into our seaberth, now we’re still bouncing like a cork doing whitewater rafting.

I have to write this blog with one hand, because the cat insists that I stabilise and pet her with the other hand. Whenever I stop I get a taunting meeow. She obviously blames me for not turning off the stupid pitching, rolling and corkscrewing. I considered moving to a better anchorage, but doing single-handed manoeuvres in crowded anchorages is too much of a hassle and the swell is already supposed to go down in the evening.

Christian’s finger still looks a bit like Frankenstein’s monster, but it’s healing. The stitches will come out on Monday…

Today we wanted to fill up with diesel, but as Christian can’t really use his right hand at the moment we couldn’t follow our usual routine with me at the wheel and Christian at the bow. Instead he was at the helm and I had to get up the anchor chain (a messy business on Pitufa as it doesn’t fall straight into the locker, but has to be transported hand over hand from the windlass and into the locker behind). It’s good to switch roles from time to time anyway to be familiar with all jobs on the boat, so we saw that manoeuvre as valuable practice.

At the fuel dock we were told that they were out of diesel(!), so we anchored a bit further down from Marina Taina in the channel where we should be better protected from the SW swell that will turn the anchorage off Marina Taina into a witches cauldron (from tonight on until Friday evening).