Pitufa.at

It seems like such a culture clash when locals in handmade canoes show up, smartphone in hand to take pictures of our boat. People who live in huts made of woven pandanus, coconut or bamboo with just a single solar light and charger still invest the little money they have into a smartphone… PNG never established a network of landline connections, instead they started putting… Continue reading »

We’ve never felt so popular before… Many people here have never seen a sailboat before and the normal reaction once we drop anchor is for half the village to rush out by boat or canoe to have a chat and take pictures of us. Yes, here the locals takes photos of the tourists, not the other way round Of course they are eager to trade,… Continue reading »

This 19 kg yellow-fin tuna was the heaviest fish we ever caught. We use a simple handline for fishing and Christian pulled the big guy in within 5 minutes (no endless fighting and torturing like people with professional fishing gear seem to enjoy). Christian usually just grabs the swivel of the metal leader to hoist fish up to Pitufa’s high stern, but in this case… Continue reading »

After a long period without much fishing luck we’re regularly catching fish. Maybe it’s because the waters around Santa Isabel aren’t fished empty yet, or maybe it’s because of our new lure (we always use dark lures as they don’t attract birds!). Soon after Christian rigged that dark-grey, blue silvery squid the line went tight and we caught a barracuda. Over the next few weeks… Continue reading »

The only way to be really comfy in an open anchorage like in Honiara is to be huddled in a protected corner with the bow pointing into swell, so that’s what we did for our last two visits to the capital of the Solomons. I used to dread manoeuvres with Pitufa (no bow thruster, long fin keel, huge prop), but with lots of practicing I… Continue reading »

Smurfy welcomed today’s oh-no-fishy aboard! Why oh-no-fishy? Because we never catch one when it’s convenient… Today we were sailing goose-winged through an uncharted area full of reefs with the help of sat pics and just as a squall hit, the genoa got backwinded and rain was suddenly pouring into an open hatch, this king mackerel decided to bite! Smurfy didn’t care about the brouhaha and… Continue reading »

I can highly recommend hydrocolloid plasters for the onboard pharmacy. They are ideal for cruisers as they seal off a (clean uninfected) wound perfectly from dirt, flies, bacteria and you can even go snorkeling with them. They were readily available in French Poly, but not in Fiji or Vanuatu and even in Austria I had to order them at the pharmacy and the ones I… Continue reading »

After a long waiting time for us, finally a visiting vet came to the vet-less clinic in Honiara and we used the chance to take Smurfy for a vaccination boost AND to have him neutered. People were assuring us that he’ll be tamer without testosterone in his system, but I have my doubts as he was more aggressive as a kitten than he’s now as… Continue reading »

Ever since we set out sailing we’ve relied on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for weather info and warnings. But NOAA data and warnings on storms, earthquakes, climate, etc. are not just important for sailors, but for everyone around the world. That’s why the orange administration thought it was a great idea to cut their staff and budget brutally down. Yesterday there was… Continue reading »

We don’t see many sea birds here, but when anchored close to shore the chorus of birds consists of an amazing array of different voices! The most raucous and visible are the groups of white cockatoos that flit from tree to tree and always seem to have something to quarrel or chat about. We hear lots of different warblers and pigeons, but they mostly remain… Continue reading »