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 all over the furniture and inside the lockers whenever we have to keep the hatches closed in the rain.
The best remedy we’ve found so far is to wipe everything with vinegar water and then safe the varnish by adding a layer of lemon oil. In rough seas we sometimes wish for a bigger, more stable boat, whenever we do provisioning we’d love to have more lockers, but when fighting the mushrooms we feel that Pitufa’s rather too big for us 
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2015
21
Jan
Mushroom season
2015
16
Jan
New photo album: Motu Puaumu (Gambier Islands)
Iles Gambier: Motu Puaumu
Hanging out at Motu Puaumu in the north feels like being in the Tuamotus, but the high islands with their protected bays and lush mountains are just a few miles away.
(28 photos)
2015
15
Jan
The environmental impact of cruising
We always found it very unfair, when we heard that states/islands had restricted anchoring for cruising boats, because we’re convinced that cruise ships, freighters, fishing boats and other big vessels do much more damage, but get away with it due to their financial role.
Observing the behaviour of cruising yachts for a few seasons now around French Polynesia, we must unfortunately admit that they do indeed cause damage after all. It seems that many crews think that there are so few boats around this large area that what they do is of no consequences, but over the year the anchoring yachts sum up to a few dozen here in the Gambier, a few hundred in the Tuamotus and maybe even a few thousand in the Societies. In the Gambier the negative effects are still limited to a few places, in the Tuamotus the more popular places already feel the consequences and in the Societies most of the corals within the lagoons are dead.
While the death of entire reefs may be due to general pollution and climate change (just another effect of the way humanity treats the planet) it gets clear when snorkeling around popular anchorages that coral heads in an otherwise healthy area fall victim to anchor chains. Large dead pieces lie on the bottom and the delicate structures are shorn off and shredded. It means only a little effort to avoid playing havoc with the corals: simply use fenders or buoys (e.g. stray ones from pearl farms) to buoy the chain so it floats over the bommies.
Some cruisers think it’s really cool to ‘live off the land’ on remote islands, collecting coconut crabs, hunting for lobsters and even stealing eggs from the seabird colonies. We talked to a biologist in Makemo and he confirmed what we suspected anyway: it might be okay to take a few crabs (not female ones!) and collect some lobsters (only fully grown ones!), but cruisers just overdo it and take whatever they catch without differentiating. Sadly, locals aren’t into sustainability either in many places, but that’s a different story.
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, then the wonders of nature are preserved for those who come after you and authorities don’t feel forced to restrict places for cruising yachts.
2015
15
Jan
Exploring the north
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 this weather the colours here are mindboggling: motus so white you think you’ll get snowblind and sparkling turquoise shallow sandbanks dropping off into the darkblue of the lagoon remind us of our time in the Tuamotus, but turning around we see the emerald green forested high islands in the background that we missed during our stay in the low atolls.
This morning we took the kayak out for a snorkeling tour along the bommies that dot the sandbank behind the outer reef and were amazed once again by the crystal clear water, the huge fish swarms and the healthy condition of the corals here. Nature in the Gambier is lucky to have escaped overpopulation, mass tourism and industrialisation so far.
2015
11
Jan
Motu Puaumu
The weather here’s still overcast and changeable, which is a bit disappointing as the grib had announced the arrival of summer with fanfares and excitement-building-up-drum rolls–only to call it off last minute. Hmpf. We still used a sunny spell to find our way up to the northernmost motu, Puaumu, navigating through uncharted areas and coral heads and are happy to be in yet another new pretty corner of the archipelago.
2015
07
Jan
Back to work
Today we dropped off Christian’s sister on the airport island. After two weeks of activity-filled holidays with snorkeling (her first shark encounters!), kayaking and hiking (up Mt. Mokoto) she has to get back to chilly Europe and for us it’s back to daily routine jobs (quite some maintenance jobs are waiting).
2015
06
Jan
Akamaru
On Sunday we visited Akamaru, the third biggest high island of the Gambier, for the first time (unbelievable, but yes, there are still new corners to discover for us around the archipelago ) and were really impressed. Only three houses are still permanently inhabited (10 houses are used on weekends), most of the population left during the 1950s and the school was closed in the late 60s, but the village is incredibly manicured and decorated with the newly renovated church in white and blue gleaming like a piece of Disneyland
We walked along the mainpath through colourful shrubs and flowers, up to the old cemetery in the forest and chatted with a few friendly people who were enjoying a picknick on the beach and welcomed us ‘to paradise’. This morning we were ready to lift the anchor when a boat on the way to Rikitea got alongside and the people we had met the day before handed up two big bags of tomatoes, pumpkins and reddishes–it’s just impossible not to love Polynesia 
2014
31
Dec
Happy new year!
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!
2014
22
Dec
Flat to rent in Graz
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
2014
22
Dec
Photos of Makemo
Makemo, Tuamotu Archipelago
We only wanted to stop quickly for some shopping, but unfavourable winds held us for 3 weeks. Makemo is a huge atoll with a bommy-strewn lagoon, a relatively big town, and copra plantations everywhere.
(30 photos)
2014
17
Dec
Sticky mess
We now have 4 service batteries instead of 3 (we kept the car battery we bought in Makemo) and as they are slightly smaller than the old ones they even fit into the battery compartment, but only without their separate boxes. Christian therefore decided to make a new shared box out of plywood and fibreglass directly in the locker. We had neither enough fibreglass for the project, nor the right piece of wood, but asking around in Rikitea we soon found a local kind enough to give us some leftover fibreglass mat and a cruiser who had just the right piece of plywood.
An indoor project always means chaos on Pitufa. All the stuff that is usually stored on top and inside the sea berth (where the battery compartment is) had to be moved into the saloon. The orbital sander lives behind the saloon bench, the fibreglass equipment under the mattress in the forecabin, so all the stuff from the forecabin joined the chaos in the saloon and soon there was no free surface left on the boat.
The fibreglassing itself is a sticky mess. You cut the fibreglass matt, put it into place, drench it with resin and it soon forms a resistant, plastic surface. Sounds nice in theory, but the mat isn’t compact, but a loose fabric that looses fibres all over the place, won’t stay where you put it and soon you have resin on your gloves, then on the scissors and the whole mess is then covered with fluffy fibreglass fibres sticking everywhere. Anyway, we almost finished the box yesterday, today we just have to make a few little reinforcements and tomorrow the batteries can move into their new home
2014
10
Dec
Battery adventures
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 could only start making phone calls after returning to the village on the first of December. While crossing the lagoon, we got into a thunderstorm, rain splashing down, no visibility, I steered standing on two rubber mats wearing rubber gloves and was still slightly worried about the lightning around us. Everything went fine though, but we later heard that our neighbouring boat that had remained in the anchorage was struck by lightning and lost ALL their electric and electronics!
It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon when I called the two cargo ship offices in Tahiti (only two ships go to the Gambier every 3 weeks) and they told me that one of them was already completely full and the other one would leave the next day and, with some luck, might find a little space for our 3 new batteries (clearly, they’re extra busy before Christmas…). I immediately called the chandleries in Tahiti, found one that had 3 suitable batteries on stock and was willing to send them to the cargo ship–if they would still take them. The next day the mobile network was down in Makemo, so we had to sail off without knowing whether the batteries had made it into a container or not.
We arrived in the Gambier on December 8 at night (slightly scary to rely on blinking buoys and the GPS track in a pitch-black dark night after dusk and before moonrise) and snuggled into our favourite bay on the protected western side of Taravai. The next morning we were really tempted to just clear up the boat in the quiet bay and relax a bit, as the man at the office had assured us that the cargo ship would not arrive until the 14th. Somehow we wanted to double-check though and as there’s no mobile phone connection in that bay we reluctantly lifted the anchor again and sailed towards the village. As soon as the mobile showed some reception bars, I called the office again and was informed that they had changed the schedule–the ship would arrive on the 10th instead (today!!). If we had been delayed by weather/wind or stayed in that bay a day longer, the batteries would be sailing back to Tahiti by now…. Phew!
So we sailed directly to the village, the cargo ship arrived this morning, the batteries were in the second container they opened, they fit nicely into the compartment, Christian installed them immediately and they’re loading already.
We are so used to having to deal with delays and complications whenever we have to order something that we couldn’t quite believe how smoothly everything worked out this time
2014
10
Dec
Another cyclone season in the Gambier
Protected anchorages, golden palm-fringed beaches, pine-clad mountains in the background, pristine waters and remote motus–yes, we’re happy to be back in our favourite corner of Fr. Polynesia!
2014
08
Dec
Rushing along
It seems Pitufa’s having a great time rushing along and ploughing the deep azure of the Pacific with her bow. With just the main in the second reef, the tiny inner foresail and a piece of yankee we’ve still had a daily run of 130 miles. We can’t wait to reach our favourite islands in French Polynesia, just 160 miles to go, no worries about pass times (the lagoon’s too open to have strong currents) and protected anchorages ahead!
2014
07
Dec
Sailing close-hauled
This trip’s not exactly fun, but then we didn’t expect it to be. We’re sailing as close to the wind as possible which sometimes shifts more easterly and then more northerly again, so we manage to stay on course. It’s steadily blowing between 15 and 20 knots (doesn’t sound like much, but feels like more when it’s on the nose) and the waves are high and short with Pitufa’s bow plunging into them, but the skies are blue and we’re making good progress. We caught a bonito the day before yesterday (fishing’s great between the Tuamotus, maybe the fishing fleets stay outside?), so now all available jars on Pitufa are filled, all 3 of us have fish for every meal so it won’t spoil and we don’t put lures out any more.