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Do you get the bitter-sweet passage blues? I do. Even after 10 years of cruising, leaving a cozy anchorage for a longer passage stresses me out

Nine years ago we set out with a super-tight itinerary that looked quite feasible sitting on the couch, but approaching a burn-out we soon stopped rushing

Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer and ship’s cat Leeloo have been exploring the world on their yacht Pitufa since 2011. Visit their blog: www.pitufa.at

How to Sail Downwind With a Two Pole System for Ease AND Comfort – Advertisement – We’ve heard quite a few cruisers complaining after long downwind passages how they had to jibe back and forth away from the rhumb line after their spinnaker (or whisker) pole snapped and they could no longer fly the head sail in an ideal position. Luckily Pitufa came with two sturdy poles—even if we lost one, we’d be okay, but we’d still quickly buy another one. Going downwind without a pole just doesn’t work for mono-hulls with classic rigs (big headsail, small mainsail) as many cruising boats ha...