Pitufa.at

The weather’s still changeable here, but then it’s weird all over the region with lots of depressions rushing over Tahiti and down the poor Australes just west of us, so we don’t complain about a few rainy days in between. The only thing that’s annoying is that the humid weather’s just what the mushrooms enjoy–not the yummy ones, but the nasty ones that start growing… Continue reading »

We’ve had northwesterly winds plus sunny, blue skies now for several days, which is very unusual, but ideal for a visit to the northern corner. After the grey weather period we had, we enjoy the summer weather to the fullest. That’s something we’ve really learned in the Gambier: carpe diem–seize the day, you can never be sure how long the sun will be out! In… Continue reading »

We have Christian’s sister visiting at the moment and like usually with guests we enjoy doing the holiday program with hiking, snorkeling and exploring along with her. We wish everybody who’s reading along with us a happy, interesting, healthy and satisfying year 2015!

Unfortunately our tenants are leaving our flat for a bigger one, so we hope to find new tenants soon. If you know somebody looking for a gorgeous garden flat in Graz, let us know

While we were in Makemo, our 6-year-old batteries suddenly died of old age (not surprising really, we should have changed them when we had the chance in Tahiti, but there was so much else to do, we somehow couldn’t get around to do it…). We had no mobile phone connection in the protected eastern corner of Makemo where we spent most of the time and… Continue reading »

At last the weather forecast looks okay to head for the Gambier, Pitufa’s all shipshape, Leeloo has got her seasickness drops (we’ve taken some too, it looks like a bit of a rough ride) and in two hours we can go out through the village pass of Makemo. It’s a bit more than 600 nm, so we’ll hopefully get there in about 6 days.

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.

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »