Hi all

Ever since Paul G posted in October that he was heading over to the Abrolhos after Christmas, I was keen to tag along. It gave me time to get a few things sorted on my boat, including building a canopy for added shade, installing an Air Head Composting toilet and sorting out how much deck space I had, so I knew what I could and couldn't take. I also rewired the boat and added a second 6 gang switch panel for deck lights, etc.

As I was planning a Kimberley boat trip for May this year (which is on hold now....but that's another story), this trip gave me a chance to see how the boat was set up and how I'd handle living on the boat.

From the outset, Paul has been vey supportive of me tagging along, and our PMs, texts & phone calls gave me the encouragement and guidance to ensure this trip would go smoothly and hassle free. Lyndon (outdoinit) and I had also been in constant contact, bouncing ideas off each other, too.

Come the big day, Thursday 27th and I was packed and ready to hit the road for the trip to Paul's place in Yanchep...arriving at 4pm. After meeting Paul, his son Jesse and brother in law Kevin, it wasn't long before we hit the road for Geraldton...with a planned fuel stop in Jurien Bay. As we drove north, the skies got blacker and by the time we reached Lancelin it was bucketing down....I mean bucketing down, with no end in sight. However, by the time we reached Jurien, the skies had cleared and that was the last of the rain. 

We reached Geraldton just after 10pm and fuelled up the boats, before making our way to the marina, where we were met by Lyndon and his mate Andy. We launched the boats and tied up to a couple of spare pens at the marina and Rob H ferried us back from the lock up yard that Paul had arranged...thanks Rob.

Friday morning we hit the water early (4.30am) and Kevin accompanied me on the trip over. This was the first of my 'firsts'....I've not been out in my boat before sunrise. We made pretty good time and reached the southern group of islands around 6am. With a couple of boats in our planned mooring, it was off for an early morning fish. The excitement grew as I hooked something descent, only to see a boltcutter on the surface a few minutes later.

Later on, we headed back into the mooring and rafted up alongside Paul. We all piled into Lyndon's boat for a dive and enjoyed fresh fish for lunch. In the arvo I set up the inflatable and paddled around, then fitted the outboard and Kevin and I went for a troll while Paul & Jesse kayaked. Managed to hook the very edge of my finger on a lure treble but the pliers came in handy for cutting the barb off....no real damage done.

Hit the swag early as it had been a long day....my second 'first' - the first time I'd ever slept on my boat.

Saturday we dived on Gee Bank...a huge lump that comes up within 5m and covered with plate coral....and plate coral attracts coral trout....and lots of them. The visibility was fantastic and I nailed my first coral trout on spear...another 'first'. The sharks turned up after I got out of the water but we had some fun watching them swim around the boats...have some video, too, which I'll post soon.
Headed over towards the middle island group for another dive with Lyndon while the others fished. Saw a nice dhuie, some trout and baldies...and a 5' shark which didn't get too close. 

We then motored to a mooring behind Wooded Island for lunch and a lazy afternoon....I'm amazed at how you can be in 20m of water and it comes up to less than 1m as you approach the islands....you certainly have to be on your guard while navigating these waters. Later in the arvo we headed around to Serventy Island and found a safe anchorage for the night. 
A seal was hanging around and Jesse was able to hand feed it...that was a great experience, seeing as this is a wild animal and probably doesn't have much contact with humans. I have some footage of that, too.

After brekky on Sunday, we headed out for a fish. The birds were working the surface so we followed them and the boys were having fun casting poppers into the bubbling water. There were a couple of sharks busting up the bait balls, too. Drifted over some lumpy ground and caught a couple of nice trout, both released. Later we fished some other ground and I landed a 53cm dhuie which I released. Andy got a fish hook stuck in his finger so he and Lyndon decided to head back to Geraldton.
We made our way around Serventy Island, around past Rat Island and ended up back at Geordie bay and set up on our mooring again. The weather looked like coming in but whatever rain there was, it managed to miss us, thankfully. 

Up early on Monday and after brekky we headed around to Whales Bay for a dive. Navigating thru the coral bombies keeps you on your toes and with Paul's guidance, it made it easy. Anchored in the shallows but the deep trenches were 25m+. Plenty of fish but nothing was speared. After the dive, we headed out for some bottom bouncing and while the other guys were catching their fair share, Paul hopped on my boat and tweaked my sounder and showed me how to set it up for best results. Then he showed me how to catch fish. I learned so much in that short time with Paul and I caught more fish in an hour, than I did in a week at Coral Bay. This little session with Paul saw me boat and release snapper, baldies, charlie courts and a small dhuie.....the highlight was the 5.5kg dhuie which I kept. This was another 'first'....the first time I've caught so many fish in a short space of time. Thankyou so much Paul for taking the time to show me how to catch fish.

The decision was made to have some lunch, tidy up the boats and head back to Geraldton and we were on our way by 2.15pm...arriving back in Geraldton around 4pm. The trip back was a little bit bumpy but we still managed to sit on 20kts. After walking back to the lock up, we retrieved our boats, caught up with Rob H again, then we fuelled up the cars and hit the road. Stopped for fuel at Jurien, said our goodbyes and headed for home. It was midnight as I backed the boat into the shed, weary but excited about the past 4 days....another first, the first time I'd been on an extended trip like this.

There is so much to see and do over at the Abrolhos and we've only just scratched the surface, so I'm sure I'll be going back there real soon. I learnt alot about what to take and what to leave behind, how to set up the boat, but more importantly I realised that I need to gain some more boating experience before I tackle the Kimberleys. I'm still going up there, but not by myself...tagging along with someone who's been there and done it, would be the best outcome.

I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to you Paul....for not only letting me tag along on this trip, but also for your support and guidance. I'd also like to say a big thankyou to Jesse, Kevin, Lyndon and Andy for making this trip so enjoyable. I loved every minute of it and learned so much. The weather was kind to us, the fishing was fantastic, the diving was the best I've done and the camaraderie amongst the FW community is something I'm proud to be a part of.

The boat clocked up 213kms and burned 198L of fuel.....an average of 0.93L/km or 1.07km/L.

I'm already talking to a local boat builder about a bigger underfloor fuel tank (to get the jerry cans off the deck) and I'll be selling the inflatable in favour of a kayak!

regards
rusty...

PS. photobucket didn't want to upload my photos so I couldn't post them with commentary, sorry.

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