Pitufa.at

Last night the cosy anchorage turned out to be an area where anchoring was prohibited, as a port sheriff informed us late at night. He insisted we had to move away, not considering our protests that we weren’t able to move without an engine. It took us half an hour of discussion and setting a stern anchor to move a few metres further away from… Continue reading »

A small accident forced us to sail to Tahiti earlier than planned. After doing repairs in a boatyard we’ll take the chance to explore the island a bit.

he last few days a wind has been blowing from the south bringing for the first time chilly air with it and a whiff of rough weather and icebergs far away down there. The sun is still burning hot, but autumn has reached the Gambier. We actually like the seasonal change that we experience here at the fringe of the tropics (compared to the neverchanging… Continue reading »

Now that we’ve basically finished the jobs on Pitufa we’ve got time again to enjoy ‘our’ little island. Recently tourist groups from the two pensions on Mangareva have started visiting Taravai and last week our neighbour Herve led some up to the peak behind the village. As there’s no paths into the mountains we asked him for directions yesterday and started hiking up the same… Continue reading »

Yesterday our neighbour Herve showed us the ruins of the old church and its cemetery in the forest behind his house. An overgrown stone road leads up the mountain to the site where only one wall of the first church and a huge cross of the cemetery remain. Those were built by the people soon after the arrival of the missionaries in 1860. A landslide… Continue reading »

At the beginning of this week we sailed to Rikitea in order to get some things done in the big city (post office, etc.). Our elderly outboard engine had been a nuisance for quite a while (first the choke rod ripped off, then the carburettor got clogged, then the drive pin broke, etc.) and on Monday the gear lever broke off (since the axis of… Continue reading »

By now we’ve established a daily routine: we spend the nights in the house, have an early breakfast (with fresh baguettes, because the only electric equipment the house offers is a gigantic freezer powered by solar panels, hurray!) and spend the mornings varnishing on Pitufa. At noon we come back ashore and do some gardening, cleaning, etc. around the house. Life ashore is taking its… Continue reading »

When we saw that the grib file predicted winds of up to 30 knots for the weekend we already expected quite a breeze, but the squalls that moved every two hours over Pitufa brought gusts of 50 knots. We could clearly see the gusts approaching as high banks of whipped up spray, as soon as they reached the boat she was whirled around and pushed… Continue reading »

We’ve sailed back to the little motu Tauna to enjoy some more swimming, snorkeling, diving and beach walking (the shells here are just irresistable ) Birgit’s mom’s enjoying her last few days here, the flight back’s going to be long and strenuous (Gambier-Tahiti-L.A.-Paris-Vienna…) Despite the warm weather a virus is going around bringing joint ache, fever, a sore throat and a runny nose to its… Continue reading »

There’s only one house on the little island Agakauitai right next to Taravai. Last time we were there only the three little piggies lived there. We were quite surprised to find additional 7 piglets this time. Yesterday we saw from the boat as the whole family took off for a walk on the beach. Quickly we raced there by dinghy. Instead of disappearing into the… Continue reading »

The pre-christmas shopping frenzy has reached as far as the remote Gambier islands–everybody’s stocking up to bake and make pig champagne. The shops have been without sugar for a month, last time the supply ship arrived sugar was sold out within 2(!) hours. Yesterday the next one arrived and we started asking at the shops immediately, were sent away 3 times (not yet unpacked), but… Continue reading »

Yesterday was one of these incredibly clear days with southern winds (no longer chilly, but pleasantly cool) and a deep blue sky without a single cloud. We used it to hike up Mount Mokoto–apparently the second highest peak, but it looks exactly the same height as it’s neighbour Mount Duff (officially the highest mountain). The ascent wasn’t difficult, but extremely steep and despite the pleasant… Continue reading »

Finally the weather’s sunny and warm and we’ve started making dinghy excursions. Yesterday we visited Herve and Valerie (the caretakers of the village of Taravai) and got news of all the boats that we met here last time around–Valerie’s good at keeping in touch with people. We brought them a few presents (cookies, books, etc.) and in return Herve took us for a walk in… Continue reading »