Pitufa and her crew will spend the next few months exploring the atoll chain of the Tuamotus (French Polynesia), working our way slowly upwind eastwards.
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2014
15
Sep
2014
15
Sep
Yacht services in Tahiti
During our repairs we’ve made some experiences with yacht services in Tahiti and the Societies, which we’d like to share with other cruisers. We cannot recommend the haul-out facilities at Technimarine in Papeete. It’s expensive, the personnel was unfriendly to rude and Pitufa still bears the rust marks from the sanding of rusty fishing vessels in this boat yard. The only advantage of Technimarine is… Continue reading »
2014
15
Sep
Finally ready to leave
The last 4 months have been quite rough on Pitufa and her crew. Hauling out twice to fix different problems on the shaft, replacing part of the rigg and installing a new antenna system for the SSB, changing the engine mounts, servicing the engine and dozens of other little jobs meant chaos on Pitufa, worries about the outcomes of the projects, flat feet from countless… Continue reading »
2014
07
Sep
Watersport in French Polynesia
The Polynesians have a long and proud tradition of navigating between the islands and even crossing oceans. Even though much of that knowledge was lost after the Europeans arrived and deprived the locals of much of their culture, watersports seems deeply rooted in the Polynesians. Here in the anchorage in Arue we hear pirogues (va’a) splashing by as soon as dawn sets in. Single paddlers,… Continue reading »
2014
03
Sep
Good-bye Dingsy
Right after buying Pitufa in 2008 we got our first dinghy. It was a cheap boat+outboard set from an Austrian DIY store and made of PVC, so nobody expected it to last very long in the searing tropical sun. In our rookie ignorance we towed it in rough conditions in the Med and tore off most of its straps, rolled it up on deck with… Continue reading »
2014
30
Aug
Busy days in Tahiti
We’re slowly going through our list of projects, replaced the old, rusty engine mounts, cleaned engine and bilge thoroughly and finally got the stays from the rigger (incredible after a 3 month long battle). Now we’ve started to get the stays back up, a task that’s not made easier by the squally weather we’ve been having recently. We’ve stopped using the slow bus system and… Continue reading »
2014
20
Aug
Back again in Tahiti
For the first time on our journey we’ve made miles towards the east. Up till now we mainly sailed with the prevailing trades westwards. There’s a saying “a gentleman never sails to windward”, but going back towards the Tuamotus and later on the Gambier should be worth some bashing close-hauled on the wind. We’ll just have to be patient and wait for rare southerly and… Continue reading »
2014
13
Aug
2014
11
Aug
Hiking to the 3 cascades
The last few days it’s been sunny and calm, so we tried out some anchorages along the outer reef. Our system of floating the chain over the coral heads with 2 or 3 fenders work nicely in these spots. The barrier reef is great for swimming and we even found some coral heads with a few elk-horn and brain corals still alive. Yesterday we took… Continue reading »
2014
10
Aug
Out and about again
The last two days the weather has been gorgeous, a cool breeze and azure blue skies, so we took our dinghy up Faaroa river, the only navigable river in French Polynesia. We passed through lush vegetation, lots of gardens with bananas, bread fruit, papaya, manioc, soursop, etc. A man waved us to his garden and we bought a big stack of bananas, got some papayas… Continue reading »
2014
05
Aug
Dengue in Raiatea
Today we got a phone call from the hospital. The results for our dengue tests are definitely positive. The doctor told us that more cases from the carenage area had come up and advised us to warn our friends and fellow cruisers to be extra careful and use mosquito repellent at all times when going ashore. It’s been two weeks now since we got ill… Continue reading »
2014
02
Aug
Getting better
Thanks a lot for all the good wishes–it really helps to know that we have people out there who care about us. We’re recovering, fever, headache and backache have left. The blood analysis has revealed quite shocking results for the liver parameters, which explains why we’re still very tired and feel a bit sickish. That should soon go away with a strict diet and lots… Continue reading »
2014
30
Jul
Back among the living
We didn’t want to worry anybody while we were in the middle of it, but the last week wasn’t funny at all. Christian and I both got 40C fever on Tuesday, together with thundering headaches, backache and pain behind the eyes all seemed to point to Dengue. I searched the internet for emergency numbers (only took me 1/2 an hour to find out that SAMU… Continue reading »
2014
20
Jul
Coral Garden
Yesterday we sailed out to an anchorage on the western barrier reef of Tahaa, where we wiggled Pitufa in between coral heads to a shallow sandbank where we anchored with less than 2 m under the keel. At a first glance the place was just perfect: a turquoise swimming pool with Pitufa swaying gently on a short chain that we had buoyed with two fenders… Continue reading »
2014
19
Jul
Shipments to French Polynesia
So far we’ve had good experiences having parcels shipped from Germany to Tahiti with ‘DHL Paket’ (that’s probably just the regular mail parcel). Important is not to use ‘DHL express’ though, because if you do that the shipment is not only almost 10 times more expensive, but the parcel is also handled by an ‘agent’ who charges 120 euros for this service (customs paperwork or… Continue reading »