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Birgit

Author's details

Name: Birgit
Date registered: September 22, 2010
Jabber / Google Talk: admin

Latest posts

  1. Zeke’s boatyard: Getting started — March 28, 2026
  2. Einklarieren in Surigao (Philippinen) — March 19, 2026
  3. Clearance into in the Philippines in Surigao — March 19, 2026
  4. 15% Rabatt auf alle Pitufinos! — March 12, 2026
  5. 15% discount on all pitufinos! — March 12, 2026

Most commented posts

  1. The Matuku Marine Reserve and how it came into being — 11 comments
  2. Donations for the Marine Reserve in Matuku — 10 comments
  3. 2 magical, but bouncy weeks on an uninhabited atoll — 8 comments
  4. Hilfsprojekte für Matuku — 7 comments
  5. Leeloo 2000–2021 — 6 comments

Author's posts listings

2021
24
Dec

Silent Night?

by Birgit

After a good first sailing day in fairly calm seas, the conditions will change today. A front and strong southeasterlies are ahead of us and Xmas eve is not going to be a silent one for us.

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2021
23
Dec

Leaving for Rapa

by Birgit

We met plenty of friendly people again in Raivavae, but the anti-cruiser campagne led by the protestant priest here made us somewhat uncomfortable (rumours, nasty facebook comments, fake news) so we decided to leave for Rapa, even though the weather forecast isn’t ideal. Hopefully it’ll turn out okay… 290 nm to go

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2021
22
Dec

“Black pearls” come in all shades of the rainbow…

by Birgit

I’ve had a creative phase again, got the dremel out and played with pretty things. I’m not a jewellery person, but the shiny balls that grow here keep inspiring me…

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2021
19
Dec

Arrived in Raivavae

by Birgit

After a slow start we had 2 fast sailing days in a stiff southeasterly breeze. We had done enough easting beforehand to have a comfy angle all the way to Raivavae. We could feel the temperature drop with each degree of latitude south. It’s southern summer down here, but the night air is still cool enough to remind us that Christmas is coming

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2021
16
Dec

Slow sailing

by Birgit

We’ve only made 70 nautical miles over the last 24 hours, but we’re not complaining, just baked some bread, worked on the laptops, dipped in from the ladder–almost like at anchor. Just now the breeze is picking up, 340 nm to go!

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2021
15
Dec

Dipping into the ocean

by Birgit

We’ve had beautiful fair-weather sailing, mostly doing around 4 knots, but with a few hours of 3 knots in between. Not fast, but comfy and we used the calm phases to dip into the ocean–firmly holding on to the swimming ladder. The feeling of several kilometres under your feet and the incredible dark-azure colour all around are quite impressive (on top of being very refreshing… Continue reading »

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2021
14
Dec

Flat seas in the shade of Katiu

by Birgit

We have left Katiu at noon with the onset of a light breeze after a calm phase (which we used to explore the remote motus on the S side–some birds, but as many as we had hoped for). Now we are sailing down the SW side of the atoll, close enough to the reef to the see the red rocks in the water and to… Continue reading »

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2021
09
Dec

Adventures and challenges

by Birgit

e did a daysail from Tahanea to the neighbouring island of Katiu–a place we hadn’t dared visiting before, because of it’s scary pass. We took the depthsounder with us in the dinghy to scout ahead, then we were still not certain whether we could take Pitufa in and snorkeled to take a close look at what might be lurking in the narrow channel. We memorized… Continue reading »

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2021
06
Dec

Brown Boobies

by Birgit

Last week we had lots of fabulous encounters with boisterous, curious, cute “teenager” birds–cute brown boobies. On most inhabited atolls of the Tuamotus there are no more ground nesting birds and even here on uninhabited Tahanea too many visiting copra workers (but also thoughtless cruisers) have shied away nesting couples from many of the motu on the remote side of the atoll. This year we… Continue reading »

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2021
18
Nov

Cooking ahead of Decay

by Birgit

We don’t want to fish and forage in the Tuamotus, so we buy lots and lots of provisioning before heading out. Making dinner plans we don’t ask “What do we fancy?”, but rather “What has to go next?” That doesn’t mean that we’re not cooking gourmet meals though. A few days ago one of the zucchini was getting squishy (resulting in zucchini risotto), then an… Continue reading »

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2021
14
Nov

Towards the Horizon

by Birgit

The convergence zone keeps annoying us… One sunny day is followed by a grey, rainy one. Two days ago we sailed south across the lagoon for SE winds (which actually showed up), today we sailed N again close-hauled for predicted NE winds–we’ll see Due to the success of our travel book in German, I’ve decided to translate it into English. I started on “Towards the… Continue reading »

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2021
13
Nov

Oh, no, nonos!

by Birgit

Nonos (tiny little sandflies, not much bigger than 1mm) were “imported” to French Polynesia with the sand ballast tall ships carried. They are known to roam the Marquesas and make many beaches off limits–mosquito repellent doesn’t bother them and the only protection seems to be a layer of coconut own (thick enough to drown them in it…). Unfortunately they are still spreading: sand is transported… Continue reading »

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2021
09
Nov

Steady breeze

by Birgit

We were worried we’d end up with clanging sails in not enough wind, but we ended up having a fast ride in perfect 15 knots and sunny skies. We arrived in Tahanea yesterday at noon!

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2021
08
Nov

Night start

by Birgit

It looked as though we wouldn’t have any wind until the end of the week, but this morning we woke at 2, because the boat was pitching in a steady breeze. Rather than being uncomfortable at anchor, we thought we’d use the breeze to sail. So we quickly tidied up the boat, put the dinghy on deck (not easy in the dark while pitching) and… Continue reading »

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2021
25
Oct

Just the right amount of tourism

by Birgit

Most people will agree that mass tourism is bad for the environment (except CEOs of big hotel companies maybe), because of all the pollution that comes with it. A certain amount of eco-aware tourism on the other hand really helps protecting nature. As soon as wild animals become a tourist attraction and the locals get some dollars out of that, they will refrain from killing… Continue reading »

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