Abrolhos Islands, May 20 - 24
CLEAN BOTTOM BUT A BIT OF WIND
23/5/2014
Well the good news yesterday was that Nic's ribs are not broken, so within 10 minutes of getting that news "fishgirl" was in the water with the hookah and we dived the point reef again. This gave Nic a chance to use her new underwater camera too. I was a bit disappointed because I had the GoPro all set to take some underwater pics and vids of my own, but it was completely dead when I went to turn it on. Seems the battery has died - oh well - something to replace in Carnarvon maybe.
We had another lovely dive and then came back to the boat to settle in for lunch and afternoon activities (sleeping and reading!). The weather as expected started to turn a bit nasty as the evening set in. We were snuggled up below cooking marinated chicken in the oven as the wind started howling stronger and stronger. I went up after dinner to wash out a pan, and just as I got onto the back deck I noticed one of the SUPs starting to drift away from the back of the boat. A quick rescue mission was launched in the dinghy and saved the SUP from ending up in Kalbarri probably.
Nic was pestering me to take the PowerDive out of the dinghy to stow it safely, but I assured her it would be fine. The wind blew up to between 25-30kns during the night but we were safe and snug on the mooring. I woke at about 3am to check everything was OK, but to my dismay the dive flag (air filter tube) on the PowerDive had been snapped off by a flying SUP - oh oh, will wait until the morning coffee to tell Nic about that! It was easily fixed, but reminded me I probably need to be a bit more vigilant about stowing things - and of course follow the girlfriend's advice!
This morning the wind persisted, so dive plans further afield were cancelled and I cleaned the bottom of the boat which was resembling some of the surrounding reefs, while Nic tided up and cleaned inside. We have decided to make the most of the breezes over the next day or so (15-20kn westerly) to head up to Shark Bay. The swell is going to get bigger, but after Monday the breeze dies out all together for a few days and I am sick of motoring everywhere.
We figure we will return to the Abrolhos for sure, but won't have as much time to enjoy some of the spots further North if we hang here for too much longer. So we are packed up and ready for a getaway around 8am tomorrow for about a 30hr sail to Steep Point.
Click images to enlarge
23/5/2014
Well the good news yesterday was that Nic's ribs are not broken, so within 10 minutes of getting that news "fishgirl" was in the water with the hookah and we dived the point reef again. This gave Nic a chance to use her new underwater camera too. I was a bit disappointed because I had the GoPro all set to take some underwater pics and vids of my own, but it was completely dead when I went to turn it on. Seems the battery has died - oh well - something to replace in Carnarvon maybe.
We had another lovely dive and then came back to the boat to settle in for lunch and afternoon activities (sleeping and reading!). The weather as expected started to turn a bit nasty as the evening set in. We were snuggled up below cooking marinated chicken in the oven as the wind started howling stronger and stronger. I went up after dinner to wash out a pan, and just as I got onto the back deck I noticed one of the SUPs starting to drift away from the back of the boat. A quick rescue mission was launched in the dinghy and saved the SUP from ending up in Kalbarri probably.
Nic was pestering me to take the PowerDive out of the dinghy to stow it safely, but I assured her it would be fine. The wind blew up to between 25-30kns during the night but we were safe and snug on the mooring. I woke at about 3am to check everything was OK, but to my dismay the dive flag (air filter tube) on the PowerDive had been snapped off by a flying SUP - oh oh, will wait until the morning coffee to tell Nic about that! It was easily fixed, but reminded me I probably need to be a bit more vigilant about stowing things - and of course follow the girlfriend's advice!
This morning the wind persisted, so dive plans further afield were cancelled and I cleaned the bottom of the boat which was resembling some of the surrounding reefs, while Nic tided up and cleaned inside. We have decided to make the most of the breezes over the next day or so (15-20kn westerly) to head up to Shark Bay. The swell is going to get bigger, but after Monday the breeze dies out all together for a few days and I am sick of motoring everywhere.
We figure we will return to the Abrolhos for sure, but won't have as much time to enjoy some of the spots further North if we hang here for too much longer. So we are packed up and ready for a getaway around 8am tomorrow for about a 30hr sail to Steep Point.
Click images to enlarge