Pitufa.at

We are now anchored next to the western pass of Tahanea and used the opportunity to snorkel the pass yesterday and this morning. The amount of fishies in the pass is just amazing. In the deep water (about 10 m) we saw big groups of grey reef sharks and white tip reef sharks (the biggest we’ve seen so far) hunting swarm fish together with tuna and groupers almost as big as the sharks themselves. In the shallower areas the colours and variety of the coral is mindboggling and small reef fishies in all colours (butterflies, trigger fish, surgeon fish, parrots, etc.) are packed so tight that animal rights group would protest if it was an aquarium…

On the way back we trolled a lure behind the dinghy. At the first attempt we caught a grouper we could hardly lift into the dinghy. We didn’t really know what to do with that giant (more than 1 m) and in the end we released him back into the water (we used a single hook so hardly any damage done). At the second attempt we caught a fish so big that when we tried to roll in the line he pulled the dinghy backwards through the pass–thank goodness the hook bent open and we didn’t have to deal with that unknown monster. We bent the hook back in shape and at the third attempt we finally caught a reasonably sized grouper and had sashimi shortly after we got back home.

Cleaning fish in an anchorage of course attracts sharks and we have a group of 10 black tips circling Pitufa. They freak out as soon as bits of fish hit the water, but the resident surgeon fish under our boat are usually faster and snap the pieces away before the sharks can get there

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Usually we use windy days when neither splashy dinghy rides nor dumpy snorkeling seem appealing for indoor-projects. This time we have such nice protection from the tiny island that we can still go snorkeling and go ashore every day, but we’ve still found a nice balance between fun activities and ticking off some projects from the to-do list.

Yesterday we brewed beer (23 litres are bubbling now in two jerry cans and will be ready to be bottled soon) and today we sewed a new cover for the big hatch on the foredeck. The old one consisted of more patches than original material, but we kept postponing this difficult task. In the end it wasn’t as hard as we thought it would be. We did one corner after the other (with detailed fitting sessions in between), then we turned over the fringe with space to fit a chord in and in the end wiggling the chord in with the help of a wire snake turned out to be the most complicated bit. The new hatch cover fits better than the old one and we were proud enough to celebrate it with an orange-sparkling wine punch (certainly the best on the atoll)

Provisioning for a remote area is always tricky and we tend to focus so much on special goodies, that we usually forget to buy something basic like sugar (last time in Tahanea), salt (Maupihaa) and this time it’s black tea. Apart from that we’re doing fine. 12 days after our last visit to a supermarket we still have apples, a mango, half a stack of bananas, lemons, carrots, radishes, courgettes, broccholi, cucumbers and 2 pumpkins as a last reserve. The garden’s also doing well with basil, parsley, thai basil, cilantro, spinach and 3 tiny tomato plants and apart from that we have bags of mung beans and lentils to sprout.

On the bottom of the fridge sits a large box filled up with cheese and sausages to last us for a few months. Yesterday we ate the last of the tuna we caught on the way, so we’ll start trolling when we sail in the lagoon next time (no ciguatera here).

This morning we thought we’d have a lazy day, just a bit of snorkeling, kayaking and relaxing between the incredibly vibrant shades of azure, turquoise and mint here on the southern side of the lagoon. But when breakfast bread had been on the stove for about twenty minutes, the flame suddenly started shrinking and soon after went out. A clogged up line? Out of kerosene? No, the pressure gauge showed 0 bar and the handle of the air pump was pushed up: the valve of the air pump had started leaking. Damn. We quickly pumped up the pressure again, put the bread back on the flame and then took turns pumping for 10 minutes until the loaf was done.

After breakfast Christian took the kerosene tank out of its compartment, took out the air pump and tried to disassemble it. While trying to get the lower bit out it cracked open a bit and voila, suddenly the valve worked again. Of course we wanted to try out immediately if it would actually keep the pressure, so I put my little finger on the kerosene hose (the one that usually leads to the stove), Christian started pumping and we were thrilled to see that the needle of the pressure gauge remained stable. Hurray, without thinking I took my little finger that had started cramping from the hose and immediately a kerosene fountain shot out, drenching us and the cockpit until I got my finger back in place. How stupid can you get? I paid for my lack of intelligence with a cockpit cleaning marathon… Even the bimini had got a stain, so we took off the rain collection canvas that sits on top to keep it from contamination. As it was already off we got the sewing machine out after the
cleaning frenzy and I restitched the seams that had started to come undone.

When we had finished it was already 5 in the afternoon–not exactly a relaxing program…

When the doctors in Tonga couldn’t find a reason for Christian’s weight loss we started reading all kinds of medical articles online. Gluten intolerance was among the topics we found, so we decided to give a gluten-free diet a try. Before that we had laughed about the media induced hype for gluten-, dairy-, and everything-free overpriced special diet food, but we were desperate to try out anything. Of course there are no gluten-free corners in the supermarkets in Tonga, but tapioca and rice flour are available in all minimarkets, so we stocked up on these flours and rice crackers and set out towards Tahiti. Christian soon found that he was feeling better and in Tahiti we were astounded to find that he had already gained 4 kg again (despite the passage).

It seemed we had already found a diagnosis ourselves, but we still made appointments for check-ups with specialists in Tahiti. The health service in Tahiti is fabulous. The doctors all have studied at European universities, the equipment in the hospital in Pirae as well as in the private clinics is up to European standards as well, but there are almost no waiting times for appointments and the fees are much lower than in Europe (health service for residents is free). We arrived on Thursday, got the first appointment with an ear-nose-throat specialist on Friday, were referred to a gastro-intestine specialist (appointment on Saturday) who ordered a blood analysis (Monday) and a further endoscopy (two weeks later, Christian had to eat gluten in the meantime to make a diagnosis easier). The blood analysis showed no antibodies that would indicate a gluten allergy, the biopsy also looked okay, but the doctor still thinks that a gluten intolerance is very likely. Why an apparently l
atent problem suddenly turned acute still puzzles us…

We therefore stocked up with gluten-free pasta, crackers and cookies and a 6-month supply of buckwheat, tapioca and rice flour and are prepared to enjoy some gluten-free (and hopefully carefree) cruising in the remote areas we love so much

Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Kommunikation auf Langfahrt, OCEAN7 06 (Nov./Dez.) 2016, p. 40–43.