Schondorfer Piendl arrived in the South Seas

Created: 05/04/2022, 09:41 am

By: Thomas Ernstberger

South Seas par excellence: Paul Piendl, co-pilot Emma Eggert and Piendl's faithful "Wasa" have arrived on Nuku Hiva, a group of islands northeast of Tahiti.

© Piendl

Schondorf/Nuku Hiva - Paul Piendl finally has solid ground under his feet again - and celebrated the successful crossing of the Pacific with a "Anlegerbier" in the South Pacific.

At 6:01 p.m. the phone of the KREISBOTEN reporter rang.

"Good Morning.

Everything's OK with you?

I just got up - it's half past six in the morning here," greets Paul Piendl (23), circumnavigator from Schondorf from the South Pacific.

With a time difference of 11.5 hours.

The connection is great - much better than one or the other from Germany or a neighboring country.

Nuku Hiva, the main island in the north of the Marquesas archipelago in the Pacific, is around 15,000 kilometers away as the crow flies...

Paul and his Viennese "co-pilot" Emma Eggert (22) did it.

After 34 days "alone as a couple" on the high seas, they have mastered the 4,100 nautical miles (almost 7,600 kilometers) between Panama and French Polynesia in their "Wasa".

A Pacific crossing without problems, without unforeseeable surprises, even without storms, thunderstorms and heavy rain.

"It was almost a bit boring," says Paul with a laugh.

“But it was still a cool experience and a great big adventure.

The days have flown by.”

How do you spend such a long time together on a boat?

Paul: “Read a lot – I had books with me, Emma audio books and podcasts.

Sleeping, casting a line, doing little things on the boat, cooking – we always had something to do.” The supplies bought in Panama (lots of fruit and vegetables and lots of canned goods) were easily sufficient, the yield caught on the way was rather modest.

"We even ate the last two eggs from Panama at the end of the crossing." Paul's tip: "If you turn the eggs over and over again, they don't go bad so quickly..."

Boat builder Paul and art student Emma both come from Lake Ammer.

Before their joint sailing adventure, however, they only knew each other fleetingly.

Were there problems when you sat together in a small space for so long?

"It went well," reports Piendl.

“Of course we had minor differences in between, but we solved the problem well and quickly.

We discussed everything and then we were a wonderful team.

Tell the other person directly if something bothers you – that helps.

Also on a boat…”

To the swaying shore

The Wasa arrived late at night, and the two adventurers were even greeted by friends Paul had met on Curaçao.

And who had already “sailed ahead”.

The next morning we went off the ship: "It took us a day to really check that we were back on land." What's next?

First with a lot of fish - "after we weren't that successful on board".

Paul: “You can buy a lot of tuna from the fishermen here.

The minimum pound you need to lose costs just five dollars.”

They want to "take it easy" in the near future, they have planned three or four weeks for visiting the Marquesas.

This is an archipelago of 14 islands south of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 1,000 miles northeast of Tahiti.

They are the peaks of a mountain range of volcanic origin rising from the deep sea - with tropical fauna, rainforest and numerous bird species.

Via the Tuamotu Archipelago, the world's largest group of coral atolls and islands, for which about a month is planned, we continue to Tahiti, the "Queen of French Polynesia", as the island is also called.

Arrival there is scheduled for early July.

"Until then we'll stay together," says the Schondorfer.

The “wonderful team” will then go their separate ways in Tahiti: “That is our last common goal.

Emma will get off there.” For Paul, however, the great adventure continues.