July 30, 2013
Our plan was to head to the Matei anchorage at the east tip of Taveuni Island, and after some morning rains we made our way out through the pass. We had waypoints through Texas Reef, just east of Rabi Island, but there was a problem: a line of nasty-looking squalls headed in that direction.
We pondered this, watching the line of big black mushroom cloud formations as they marched towards the channel between Taveuni and Rabi Island. We could try to beat them, but there was a chance they could catch us as we motored through the passes in the reef. These things looked nasty, and the last thing we needed was a torrential downpour and strong wind gusts while threading our way through coral reef.
We decided to change our course and head to Katherine Bay back at the other end of Rabi Island, spend a night, then head to Taveuni the next day.
On the Google map below, the green line is the route we would have taken to Taveuni. The purple line was the route we took to Katherine Bay.
We made the right decision. It was calm motoring between Rabi Island and Vanua Levu, and the sun even came out. We decided to fish and caught a nice mahimahi.
Katherine Bay is not one of the main “destination bays” in Fiji; it’s more a place to stop on the way to or from Albert Cove. That said, it’s a nice spot, a deep bay surrounded by lush green mountains and a good-sized village. The water was dark and muddy, and we had to move quickly to turn off our watermaker as we motored in.
On one side of the bay is a Methodist church, a big structure whose white, mission-like features just fit in with the jungle green. On the other side is the Catholic Church, basically a shack by the water. They don’t have the pretty church structure, but the congregation sings beautifully. (Catholics, get over here and do some building; the Methodists are making you look really bad!)
This is one of those places where it’s easy to go make friends with the local people. A trip ashore (or even just to your cockpit if one of the local outrigger canoes is passing by) will net you an invitation to visit the village, maybe even someone’s home, and certainly a visit to church.
Our goal was to simply spend the night, share our mahimahi with our friends on Bright Angel (who had decided to come this way and were due in here this evening), and head out in the morning towards Taveuni across the channel. Thus, we implemented our Church Avoidance Action Plan, which entailed ducking below if we saw a boat about to pass by. We felt kind of bad about doing this, but it’s so much easier not to be asked then to have to tell someone “no, thank you.”
(A side note rant: I don’t know what planet those writers in women’s magazines come from, the ones who advise busy women to just say no to requests and offer no explanation. On this planet, “no” needs to be followed by an explanation as to why not. If you don’t offer it, you will be asked. And worse, your explanation will be evaluated and even debated (“Why do you need dental surgery? You should cancel; my dentist would be much better qualified to do that procedure. Why on earth would you go to that dentist in the first place?”))
Anyway, back to Fiji. A canoe did come by, and Rich told them we might come ashore tomorrow. That seemed to be a satisfactory response that pleased everyone. I have to say again that Fijians are maybe the nicest, friendliest people in the world. I would wonder if it’s genetic, but this is true of Fijians who originate from other cultures (Banabans, Tuvaluans, and the Indo-Fijians). It must be something in the air or water.
That evening we had a lovely fresh fish dinner with our friends. The only thing better than catching a fish is catching one and being able to share it with your buddies. –Cyndi
Below, a gallery of Katherine Bay (click to enlarge and scroll).
