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Our Books
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2025
09
Nov
Crossing the equator!
12 years and 8 months ago we crossed the equator as we were approaching Galapagos and since then we’ve spent all these years exploring the many, beautiful islands of the South Pacific. Today we’re crossing the equator again going north on the way to Micronesia! It’s been a tricky passage so far: we got NE winds instead of the promised SE, plenty of squalls and… Continue reading »
2025
23
Oct
How to hypnotise a crocodile
Have you seen videos of people hypnotising chickens and even sharks by rolling them on their backs and stroking them from the collarbone down their belly? I thought that magic might knock out crocodiles as well, so I grabbed ours and behold: it worked!
2025
17
Oct
Publications
Our Books Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Cruising Know-How, Amazon KDP, ISBN 979-8859579983, 310 pages, in English, September 2023. Available at Amazon (Paperback, Color Paperback, Hardcover and E-book) Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Sailing Towards the Horizon, Amazon KDP, ISBN 979-8843081546, 331 pages, in English, August 2022. Available at Amazon (Paperback, Hardcover and E-book) Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Richtung Horizont–Das Buch zu unserer Reise, Amazon KDP, ISBN… Continue reading »
2025
17
Oct
Smurfy aka Pukpuk monster aka Komodo dragon monster
Remember how we were hoping that Smurfy would be less aggressive with less testosterone in his system? Well, it seemed to work for a while, but then we started noticing that he’s been gaining weight since he was neutered, so we’re feeding him smaller portions. Guess what happens when he’s hungry and cranky? Yep, he gets aggressive… This morning he was sitting next to his… Continue reading »
2025
08
Oct
Cruising Info Bougainville (September 2025)
We spent 3 weeks cruising Bougainville in September/October 2025 and can only highly recommend the area. Clearance The team in Buka was very responsive and helpful–they even answered WhatsApp questions during the weekend. Contact them ahead of your arrival: Derick (Customs Buka) +675 7357 3817 Sylvester (Immigration Buka) +675 7009 8883 5 officials came to our boat shortly after we had anchored and did all… Continue reading »
2025
04
Oct
2025
26
Sep
Smartphones in Papua New Guinea
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 »
2025
25
Sep
Feeling like celebrities in Bougainville
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 »
2025
21
Sep
19 kg tuna and no freezer!
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 »
2025
11
Sep
2025
11
Sep
Cruising info Solomons
We’re back in Taro, where we checked in half a year ago, not quite knowing what to expect and concerned about crocodiles, malaria, crime and anchorage fees. We needn’t have worried, all went well, even though we often found it difficult to find a safe anchorage between very deep bays and reef shelves that come up to the surface almost vertically. We love heat and… Continue reading »
2025
05
Sep
Papatura Island
We met Kym (“Dive Guadalcanal”) when she volunteered to install the mooring for Simon’s Nature Reserve. Back then she invited us to visit her at Papatura (a private island at the northern end of Santa Isabel), where she and her parents run a resort. Sailboats are welcome to anchor in front of the resort, but make sure to ask for a good spot, before you… Continue reading »
2025
03
Sep
Sailing up the coast of Santa Isabel
We hopped up the coast of Santa Isabel in daysails between 20 and 50 nautical miles. The island has a deeply submerged outer reef far off the coast and plenty of little reefs within that area. There aren’t any detailed charts for the area here and to find decent satellite images we are usually switching between different providers (Google, Bing and ArcGis) and even then… Continue reading »
2025
28
Aug
2025
19
Aug
You don’t dump a winner lure
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 »