Houtman Abrolhos Islands

Tied to Fisheries Department mooring, Pelsaert Island

Generally known as the Abrolhos, the 122 islands lie 40 nautical miles west of Geraldton. There are three main groups: Wallabi, Easter and Pelsaert. All by itself lies North Island. They spread north to south across 55 nautical miles of ocean and are a meeting place for tropical and temperate sea life. The south flowing Leeuwin Current brings warm, tropical water through the Abrolhos. Normally, corals and tropical fish would not be found in these southern latitudes. This is what makes the islands unique.

Sal Darago at Pelsaert Island

After a few heart stopping moments on our passage into the Pelsaert Group, where the depth plunged to only 1.9m at one point, we found the yellow triangular Fisheries Department mooring buoys. We tied to one and informed VMR Geraldton of our arrival on VHF 81. The wind was blowing strongly from the east.

Remains of guano loading jetty, Pelsaert Island

We stayed here for two nights. We took the dinghy ashore at the old Guano Jetty and saw the remains of the mining industry of the past. Someone had left a pair of diving/reef walking boots on the sand. They were Jeremy’s size. There were no other people on the island. We walked around the southern end of the long, ribbon like Pelsaert Island to the lighthouse and aptly named Wreck Point, then back to the old jetty. We were careful to keep to the tracks or walk close to the beach to avoid damaging fragile plants or disturbing wildlife. We saw many types of seabirds, several sea lions and a couple of lizards.

Lighthouse at Wreck Point, Pelsaert Island

It was possible to get a Telstra phone signal if you were 3 metres above sea level and the lighthouse was the highest point. We sent messages to our family. On our way back, we walked along a beach made entirely of tiny, white shells piled up by the sea into banks a metre or so high. Then we saw footprints. Perhaps they belonged to the owner of the boots although we saw no-one.

Can you name this lizard?

In the afternoon, I donned my wetsuit and swimming cap and we snorkelled on a nearby reef. We could see various corals and some tropical fish, but the water was cloudy and parts of the reef were shallow.

Do not disturb the sealions

The next day, once the now northerly winds had settled down, we headed north. We would have stopped at Middle Island, but the wind was easing, so we continued on to Morley Island in the Easter Group, 21 miles away. The swell died down as we reached the shelter of the South Passage, identified the entrance markers, furled our genoa and avoided bombies and an aquaculture area, to reach a yellow, Fisheries Department mooring. 
 

Climbing up for a phone signal

In the afternoon I persuaded Jeremy to come with me to snorkel a diving trail. We found the reef to be very interesting with lots of different types of coral and many tropical fish.The next day three lads in a “tinny” whizzed past us and zipped out to sea through a small gap between Morley Island and Crake Island. Two of them started surfing the rollers on the seaward side. Meanwhile, we took our dinghy ashore and walked around Morley Island, avoiding several beached sealions and noting a sea eagle on the highest bush on the island, which was probably only a couple of metres high. We talked to a crayfishing family enjoying time off at a small beach.

Beautiful evening at Morley Island

Back at the dinghy, Jeremy saw the surfing lads were in trouble. One was pushing the tinny and the other two were paddling it against the wind towards Morley Island. Jeremy called out to them that we would tow them to SD if they could bring their tinny through the gap. Soon we had brothers, Tom and Will on board along with their friend, Riley. Somehow, their Dad’s 15hp outboard had dropped off the transom into the sea. The fuel line was broken. 
 

Sunset from Morley Island

Jeremy fixed the broken fuel line with a Bic pen top, but the motor would not start. Eventually, we managed to send a text message to their Dad by hauling my mobile up the mast on a halyard. Dad arrived in his fishing boat called Connada and picked up the lads from the beach.

Spot the sea eagle

The next day, we headed to the Wallabi Group passing Rat Island with its many fishing houses to port. We felt the 2-3m swell as we left the shelter of the island and headed north to Goss Passage. We saw the reef where the Batavia went aground in 1629 and passed nearby Beacon Island where the survivors camped and suffered terrible atrocities at the hands of their Commander, Cornelius. We saw the memorial cairn erected on the island, but the swell was too big for us to stop.

Sealion family

Jeremy changed his mind about anchoring off Pigeon Island near another crayfishing village and we headed for quieter Turtle Bay further north. Here we tied to yet another yellow mooring and went ashore for a look around. We were surprised to see an aircraft pilot and a small group of people in a beach shelter. It turned out they had flown in from Kilbarrie.

Crab on Morley Island

We walked along the lovely, crescent shaped beach, where the white sand was partly covered in more seaweed than we’ve ever seen on a beach before. We followed a trail that led us to a dirt runway and there was the plane parked nearby. There were toilets but we didn’t find the terminal building! Later, we watched the plane take off and disappear into the distance.

Kathy on the runway, East Wallabi Isalnd

Back at SD, we swam and showered. Jeremy checked the engine over and we prepared for our overnight passage to Shark Bay 152 miles away.

Plane about to take off

On Wednesday 8^th July, we dropped our anchor in Geritsen Cove near the south passage into Shark Bay. We contacted ACRM Base in Denham and they let VMR Geraldton know of our safe arrival. So here we are in Shark Bay, our interim destination to discover whether it would be sensible to cross the Indian Ocean while Covid 19 rages across the world.