Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer and ship’s cat Leeloo (all 3 from Austria) set out 11 years ago and have traveled via the Med, Atlantic and Caribbean to the Pacific aboard their S&S 41 SY “Pitufa”. They have spent the last nine years cruising in the South Pacific between French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Tonga and now Fiji. They have explored all five archipelagos on and off the beaten track in detail and have useful advice and guides for cruising these areas at https://www.pitufa.at/pitufas-cruising-guides/.
They have accumulated a wealth of cruising information and have made their experience and insights available to other cruisers on their blog at www.pitufa.at, which they update at least once a week.
They have written cruising guides for the more remote archipelagoes of French Polynesia (the Australs and the Gambier Islands) and some of the Cook Islands (Penrhyn, Aitutaki, Palmerston, Rarotonga). These are well-researched after a prolonged stay and written in a concise style – https://www.pitufa.at/pitufas-cruising-guides/.
The section “for cruisers” https://www.pitufa.at/category/for-cruisers/ has all kinds of advice and shared experience about anchoring techniques, wildlife protection, creative cooking, etc.
They have also published many articles about destinations and helpful DIY topics. The majority of them are either available online or free to download – https://www.pitufa.at/publications/.
Both are particularly interested in weather and have a wealth of useful resources on their blog. Of particular interest is the summary of all weather sources they used in French Polynesia – https://www.pitufa.at/weather-fp/ and a global interactive wind atlas (based on satellite data) that’s ideal for passage planning – https://www.pitufa.at/oceanwinds/. Just click through the months to see prevailing wind speed and direction for the region you’re interested in.
Birgit and Christian are “green cruisers”. They rely only on alternative energy sources and try to minimize the impact they have on the environment. Living close to nature and the elements they witness the changes and the negative impact of cruisers as well as local populations on fragile eco-systems. Whenever they feel that something’s gone awry in a place that they are visiting they try to take action:
– Plastic on the beach? They try to raise awareness for pollution and organise a clean-up.
– Hardly any fish on the reef? They discuss sustainable fishing with the locals.
– Broken coral around the anchorage? They approach cruisers and try to educate about anchoring techniques that avoid damage and in Rapa Iti installed two moorings together with the local community in the main bay to protect the coral there and to save cruisers from risking chain and anchor in the deep and tricky anchorage.
Whenever they stay longer on an island they visit the local schools and give presentations on pollution, erosion, overfishing—whatever issue seems most pressing.
Cruising World – Pacific Weather Routing
SY Pitufas Report from French Polynesia, Gambiers, during the Covid-19 Lockdown
