ende

2013
31
Jul

Carpe diem

Instead of grinding down our nerves sitting on the boat in Rikitea while waiting for the right weather to leave we have now decided to seize our remaining days in the Gambier. We have sailed over to Taravai, visited the village caretakers again, got some veggies and fruit, did some laundry and enjoyed a sunny afternoon on Pitufa. +++++++++++++++++++ Anstatt sinnlos herumzusitzen und unsere Nerven… Continue reading »

2013
29
Jul

Weather window

Our word of the month is definitely ‘weather window’. The weather changes so quickly here that it’s even hard to find a sunny spell that’s long enough to quickly go ashore, or just have a shower… we’re constantly waiting for ‘weather windows’ to get things done, get ‘grib files’ (wind prediction charts) every 6 hours. Slowly we’re wondering if we can’t find a weatherwindow to… Continue reading »

2013
25
Jul

Winterstorms

For days we’ve had the wind howling over the boat with around 30 knots, frequent squalls and freaky changes of weather. Black clouds rush in, rain whips horizontally along, 5 minutes later blue skies follow and so on… Trips ashore become adventurous, just going to get a baguette in the morning requires putting on full foul weather gear and we’re both sneezing and sniffling all… Continue reading »

2013
23
Jul

More pictures of Mangareva

2013
19
Jul

New Photo Gallery: Mangareva July Festival

2013
19
Jul

Mt. Duff

We used the sunny weather yesterday to hike up Mount Duff, the highest summit of the Gambier (441 m). The hike was quite steep, but we were rewarded with incredible views of the whole archipelago. Today the weather’s back to ‘normal’ winter weather with dark clouds, lots of rain and ferocious gusts. We’re finally growing tired of the cold and are discussing moving north to… Continue reading »

2013
16
Jul

Photos of our snorkeling trips

2013
13
Jul

Le Juillet–The July Festival

The festival here in Rikitea has been going on for a week. Unfortunately we missed a few days because of the terrible weather, but two days ago the wind died down, the sun came out again and we could go out for activities again. Now the serious competitions start: yesterday the theme for the two competing dance groups was Mangarevan dance–they both danced different stories… Continue reading »

2013
11
Jul

Article on Melilla in Ocean7 Magazine

Our Articel about the Spanish town Melilla on the coast of Morocco has finally been published in the current (July/August) issue of the Austrian sailing magazine Ocean7. The pdf can be downloaded here (in German only). Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Melilla — Multikulturelles Spanien an der afrikanischen Küste, OCEAN7 04 (Juli/August) 2013, p. 26–27. download PDF (in German only)

2013
07
Jul

Festival in Rikitea

On Friday we came back to Mangareva for the annual cultural festival. This festival’s the most important event of the year here, it lasts two weeks, there are lovingly decorated food stands and each day some event is scheduled. The two competing dance groups of the island have practiced every day for two months (we heard them drumming every night and checked on their progress… Continue reading »

2013
07
Jul

Photos of Taravai

Taravai is our favourite island in the Gambiers so far, so we put a more extensive gallery together. Though, uploading it took quite some time…

2013
05
Jul

People of Taravai

During our second stay in Taravai we anchored in the southern bay, because we wanted to visit the few families who live here. We did several dinghy excursion, were received with Polynesian hospitality, talked to the people and heard lots of interesting stories. There’s an abandoned village on the eastern side of the island. Only one family lives here als caretakers. Herve and Valerie maintain… Continue reading »

2013
02
Jul

Back to Taravai

The Gambier Islands are an ideal site to overcome the reef navigation anxiety that we’ve developed in the San Blas. With the help of crystal clear waters, accurate charts and GPS tracks from other boats we’re slowly gaining confidence. Satellite images from Google Earth are a great help, too. Despite all that we’re still nervous before setting out to a new destination, we can feel… Continue reading »