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Birgit

Author's details

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

Latest posts

  1. Primer auf Deck und andere Wartungsarbeiten — April 2, 2026
  2. Primering the deck and other maintenance — April 2, 2026
  3. Werftprojekte in Zeke’s boatyard: Deck — March 28, 2026
  4. Zeke’s boatyard: Getting started — March 28, 2026
  5. Einklarieren in Surigao (Philippinen) — March 19, 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

2016
11
Nov

Fishies!!!

by Birgit

We are now anchored next to the western pass of Tahanea and used the opportunity to snorkel the pass yesterday and this morning. The amount of fishies in the pass is just amazing. In the deep water (about 10 m) we saw big groups of grey reef sharks and white tip reef sharks (the biggest we’ve seen so far) hunting swarm fish together with tuna… Continue reading »

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2016
04
Nov

Balanced days

by Birgit

Usually we use windy days when neither splashy dinghy rides nor dumpy snorkeling seem appealing for indoor-projects. This time we have such nice protection from the tiny island that we can still go snorkeling and go ashore every day, but we’ve still found a nice balance between fun activities and ticking off some projects from the to-do list. Yesterday we brewed beer (23 litres are… Continue reading »

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2016
02
Nov

Lagoon island

by Birgit

Yesterday it was flat calm and we used the opportunity to motorsail 2 miles up from the southern side of the lagoon to a tiny islet inside the lagoon. It’s just a huge bommie with some shrubs, a few palm trees and lots of nesting birds. The shelf around it is very narrow and shallow and then the drop-off goes down to about 30 m… Continue reading »

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2016
30
Oct

Surreal calm

by Birgit

On passage we dread calm weather and the flapping sails it brings, but inside lagoons it’s just what we wish for. Yesterday we sailed across a grey, rainy and stormy lagoon (during squalls we had 30 knots sustained…) to the southern side in anticipation of a windshift from the NW via the W to the SW. We were glad we had GPS tracks from our… Continue reading »

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2016
25
Oct

What a mess again!

by Birgit

We had a pleasant sail across the lagoon doing about 5+ knots in winds around 12-15 knots, Pitufa sailing clause-hauled like on rails and Christian keeping a sharp look-out from the bow for coral bommies. It’s amazing, at 40 degrees on the wind she doesn’t need any steering, I could go downstairs and have a cup of tea and she’d still be on the same… Continue reading »

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2016
23
Oct

Provisioning

by Birgit

Provisioning for a remote area is always tricky and we tend to focus so much on special goodies, that we usually forget to buy something basic like sugar (last time in Tahanea), salt (Maupihaa) and this time it’s black tea. Apart from that we’re doing fine. 12 days after our last visit to a supermarket we still have apples, a mango, half a stack of… Continue reading »

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2016
21
Oct

Kerosene fountain

by Birgit

This morning we thought we’d have a lazy day, just a bit of snorkeling, kayaking and relaxing between the incredibly vibrant shades of azure, turquoise and mint here on the southern side of the lagoon. But when breakfast bread had been on the stove for about twenty minutes, the flame suddenly started shrinking and soon after went out. A clogged up line? Out of kerosene?… Continue reading »

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2016
20
Oct

Gorgeous Tahanea

by Birgit

Tahanea was the first atoll we ever visited two years ago. Back then we loved the serenity of this uninhabited atoll, the bird colonies, the colourful underwater life and the motus with their white beaches so much that we stayed 8 weeks. You may think that we were only so impressed because it was our first experience of an atoll, but in the meantime we… Continue reading »

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2016
18
Oct

Sailing to Tahanea

by Birgit

We only stayed for 2 days in Fakarava and did some fabulous snorkeling in the pass amidst dozens of Grey Reef Sharks. But then a weather window with NE winds came up (the only one within the next week it seems), we couldn’t resist and now we’er approaching Tahanea after a very slow night sail.

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2016
17
Oct

A gluten-free boat

by Birgit

When the doctors in Tonga couldn’t find a reason for Christian’s weight loss we started reading all kinds of medical articles online. Gluten intolerance was among the topics we found, so we decided to give a gluten-free diet a try. Before that we had laughed about the media induced hype for gluten-, dairy-, and everything-free overpriced special diet food, but we were desperate to try… Continue reading »

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2016
16
Oct

English Weather…

by Birgit

Yesterday at 2:00 in the afternoon we entered the South pass of Fakarava at high tide in super-calm conditions. Today it’s grey and drizzling so we have postponed our excursions.

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2016
15
Oct

Fakarava

by Birgit

In the end we have decided to head for Fakarava (South Pass), as we can reach the pass around high tide early afternoon. We haven’t visited this atoll yet, so we’re curious, especially as it’s famous for the masses of grey reef sharks in the pass.

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2016
14
Oct

Like at anchor

by Birgit

We’re wobbling along with only 3 knots, the wind shifts around cloudy areas so that on top of that we’re going zigzag. We still don’t know to which of the Tuamotus we’ll make it this way–we’ll see. At least it’s very comfy sailing, with the boat hardly moving at all you barely notice that we’re on passage and even Leeloo is out and about.

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2016
13
Oct

Sailing towards the Tuamotus

by Birgit

We couldn’t resist the weather window (first southwesterly, than southerly and later southeasterly winds are predicted), so we quickly finished all business in Tahiti, got the boat into sailing mode (always a major event that includes obvious tasks like storing away gear, but also baking bread, renewing the kitty litter, etc. etc.) and set out yesterday afternoon towards the Tuamotus. Stomping out into 25 knots… Continue reading »

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2016
12
Oct

Sailing with Cats–a Summary after 5 years of Cruising

by Birgit

When we set out from Europe 5 years ago we were slightly worried how our cat, Leeloo, would cope with long passages, whether we’d have problems when clearing into countries with her, if we’d be able to find cat food in remote places, etc. Despite the fact that Leeloo was already 11 years old when we moved to the boat she adapted quite quickly to… Continue reading »

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