It’s Not the Years in Your Life – Abrolhos Adventure

by Greg Milner on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

Me with a decent sized pink snapper, with Michelle looking on

Michelle and Annette with a friendly seal in the shallows, with the Nordon in the background

Sunset on the back of the boat at our mooring

One of our crew with a very fat dhufish

Every year I take a Secret Men’s Business fishing trip with friends to some remote, cell-phone-free location. Advancing age has brought with it some wisdom, and this year I bailed out on the men-only adventure, owing to the fact that it would have been diplomatic suicide to disappear with a bunch of guys immediately upon my return from our honeymoon on the island of Bali.

Instead, I organised a couples adventure. Michelle and I hosted three other couples on my brother’s charter boat Nordon, which I skippered to the Abrolhos for a week of great fishing, excellent food and stunning weather.

For those unfamiliar with this part of the world, don’t for a moment imagine a picture of palm-fringed beaches, smiling natives and umbrella drinks served poolside. The Abrolhos group of islands is nothing like that. It’s not much more than a string of coral atolls poking out of the water, and perched on some of the 122 ‘islands’ is a ramshackle collection of lobster-fishermen’s shacks.

There is NO fresh water available, no stores of any kind, no cars, no cell-phone signal, no rubbish removal, no medical services…nothing. Just stunning coral reefs, astounding fishing, and the early-morning sound of lobster boats heading out to the grounds every day.

Which means you have to load up the boat with everything you’ll need for the week. Fortunately, Nordon makes its own fresh water, has ample freezer facilities, a well-equipped galley and a vast aft deck for entertaining. And we had two smaller boats for fishing the deep waters west of the island chain.

Even better, the prevailing southerly winds held off for the entire week, and we enjoyed glassed-off days of sunshine and spectacular marine life, as you can see from the photos.

For the detail-minded, we set out for the islands from Port Denison, which is about a 4 hour drive north of Perth. Nordon cruises at about 14 knots, so our trip to the Wallabi Group (it’s at the northern end of the chain of islands) took about 6 hours.

This is not the kind of boating that inexperienced boat owners should attempt. You’re pretty isolated out there, and the reef around the Abrolhos Islands is trecherous in the extreme. It’s claimed many an unwary captain and his ship, most famously the Dutch East India Company‘s Batavia which ran aground in the middle of the night in June 1629.

Most of the ship’s crew and passengers got ashore, but there followed a murderous mutiny in which more than 120 men, women and children were slaughtered before the mutineers were arrested, tortured and eventually hanged.

It’s a fascinating story, well worth reading up on if you’re into history.

A post by Greg Milner

The odd idea, a bit of prodding, a nudge here and there, a little fun, and the occasional dose of brutal reality. Greg is co-founder and CEO of Worldwide Salon Marketing, a writer, direct response marketing consultant, specialist marketing systems adviser and coach.