In the West

If you didn't notice the last entry from Katherine Bay – the longitude was W not E. We have crossed the date line meridian 180. However, we did not have to change the date on our calendar. There seems to be a dog leg for the actual "date" line so that Fiji as a country stays on the same day. Though we have crossed back and forth today (on our trip to Albert Cove), all that happens is that it makes our GPS change colors!

Also, we had a good internet signal in Katherine Bay, so Michael posted some pictures on the web site. A whole variety – so enjoy.

We did leave Katherine Bay this morning (Thursday) and headed 15 miles along the Rabi coast to a bay on the northwest corner. It is known as Albert Cove or Motawa. We did manage to sail most of the way which was pleasant – though not speedy (certainly not fish catching speed). Albert Cove is the picture postcard anchorage. The white sandy beach is studded with swaying palm trees. The water is all shades of beautiful blues and aquas. Reefs surround the boat so we can just jump overboard for a quick snorkel to one or another of the patch reefs. We anchored in about 40 feet of water in what seems to be a sandy bottom. Though there are reefs around, we think we found a good spot, though a tad deep. There is a breeze through the anchorage over the top of the hills. Windier than we would have thought, but there is no fetch or roll. There are two small huts along the beach, and we have read that there are two families that live in this area. There is no road to the area.

We do need to get to Nuku to check into the island. We thought it was a closer walk from here – but that's not the case. It would actually be hard to get there from here by land. So we will probably dinghy around to the next bay and walk from there to the town of Nuku. If the weather holds, this is a place we could sit for awhile. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Latitude: 19 26.63s
Longitude: 179 56.244w
Fish Count: Still Zero (though we keep trying!)
-----
At 7/14/2016 5:37 AM (utc) S/V Astarte was located at 16°26.63'S 179°56.24'W

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com