OUR ARCHIPELAGO ADVENTURE

Exmouth to the Montebellos

3 July – 5 July

by Margie

There is a little archipelago of islands lying just north east of the Exmouth gulf comprising of Serrurier  (a.k.a. Long Island), Round, Flat, Table and Anchor Islands, to name just a few. What a spectacular little group.  They appear as little oases offering a reprieve from the meeting of the stark blueness of the skies and the ocean.

Exmouth Marina the evening before our departure

We have had a non-eventful – well – nearly non-eventful motor from Exmouth northeastward across the gulf.   They say complacency is a mariner’s worst nightmare.  And it almost became ours, comprising of a near miss with a tug towing a barge as we both have our heads down concentrating on our scrabble game.  It is a last minute veer to port as we see the tug bearing down on us.  Ooops – out of the door are all the rules I learnt for my Skippers ticket the ‘right/starboard rule!.  The tug is, however, only travelling at 1.4knots and we are speeding along at 6knots – so once again I may be exaggerating the obvious.  But make a mental note to self – keep eyes on the water at all times. 

The waters of the Exmouth Gulf are calm, and the breeze and ocean surface are mesmerizing.  The breeze is a very very gentle 7 – 8 knot east/north east.   We manage to hoist Genny for a little freedom but compensate with motoring.  I end up nodding off for a closed eyewink or two and wake up to find us almost at Serrurier Island.  Round Island has been passed on our starboard aft quarter and Flat Island was already well behind us on our port aft quarter

 

Flat Island

Round Island

Serrurier Island (Long Island)

We inch our way slowly into the bay west of the neck.   Anchorage is in 5m and sandy – and very very calm.  The sands of these almost non-existent hills reach down to the ocean and the green mound covering it, looking like icing dripping down the sides of a cake, gives a sense of a very peaceful, long, stretching, gentle Island - not a tree or rock in sight.  Although there is reef indicated on the charts – the tell tale breaking of waves over them is non-existent – in these weather conditions anyway.

Serrurier Island from our anchorage

Serrurier Island, along with its surrounding companions, is a nature reserve – Serrurier especially for turtles and the wedge-tailed shearwater (a bird).   I believe it has a very bountiful marine life – which unfortunately we do not experience or see, as we do not fish. 

We spend a very gentle evening on anchor – interrupted every now and then with the sound of a turtle surfacing.  We also have a dolphin visit us.  In the stillness and darkness of the night – the silence is deafening and the auditory nerves become super sensitive. 

 

Sunset over Flat Island

We have crossed our 1000nm mark and we celebrate with an Indian meal and some Baileys and G and T.  Not a good idea!!  We send the many messages home to let our loved ones and friends know where we have arrived safely and then it is off to rest our weary bones – we have had such a busy day!!

Next morning we wake to much of the same…warm sands, blue skies and gentle breezes.   We relax, decide that it is just too much effort to take the outboard motor off its rack and put it on to Tinnie.  Rowing is a possibility but, we decided, not really a safe option  - there would be no one to rescue us if we overshot Moonshadow!   A good excuse anyway.  But we need to get away to reach the Montebello Islands at the right time and be in Broome by 21^st July. 

At 1400hrs after deciding which entry we would attempt into the Montebello Islands, we secure everything and sundry on board, lift the anchor once more and ‘motor’ Moonshadow out of her little bay anchorage, up the west coast of the Island and prepare for a 20hr journey towards Barrow Island and the islands beyond. 

Farewell to Serrurier Island

The seas remain calm and other than the odd little fishing boat, gas well head, barge and tugboat – we see nothing.  The weather is magnificent, we lose sight of land and all we have for company is the hum of the engine, the sound of the sea parting as Moonshadow slices through the very low gentle swell.

We settle in, play our scrabble (remembering to keep one eye on the surrounds) and have lunch and smoothies and Jeremy digs into his book.  I keep watch and learn more about the electronics on Moonshadow, the chart plotter, the radar and the various maps we have. 

Sunset falls at 1745hrs and we prepare ourselves for the night motor.  Wind is still head on and ranging between 3 – 7 knots.  At this stage one might be thinking – ‘what are they doing?  Do they not know that there are fish in the ocean?  Should they not be trawling for fish? ‘ Well - the confession to be made is that neither of us fish and to add insult to injury – not only does Jeremy not eat fish, but we have a fishing rod on board, complete with fully stocked tackle box still wrapped in plastic! .  So – we have, in essence, really become a floating photographic studio - And, because of this we have cameras and videos on standby ready for that extra special shot – and we have had lots of them I might add.

Back to our cruising – Jeremy reads and sleeps and eats and reads some more.  Yours truly watches and learns and marvels at the darkness, the silence and the night sky. At 2100 hrs Jeremy decides it’s time for his night sleep and heads down stairs while I watch for any oncoming traffic and relish the peace, studying the cruising guide and maps for advice re entry into the islands and, beyond, into Dampier.  The motor is humming but I am hardly aware of it as I sit on the edge of the cockpit and hypnotically watch the dark waters pass us by.

At 0100 I wake Jeremy for his turn at the watch and I lay my head down in the cockpit.  Somewhere in my stupor I hear Genny being pulled out and then somewhat later the motor being turned off.  The silence is beautiful.   I wake to find us almost side on to one of the massive gas well heads that grace this part of the coast line, and Barrow Island behind us.  The Montebello’s are within sight and excitement once again sets in.   We have sailed past the west coast of Barrow and now heading towards the north west entrance to the Montebello’s – but first we must clear the reef and then find the entrance. 

 

Men at work all at sea on the way to Barrow Island!

Gas well head between Barrow and Monte Bello Islands

First glimpse of the Monte Bello Islands

As I head towards the bowsprit to take some video of our first peek at the islands, I notice some ‘blowholes’ happening in the distance, and am aware that there are a just a few whales around.   I aim my video camera ready to take some footage of this phenomenon of these great creatures.   Suddenly, without any warning, two of them decide to surface within touch distance of Moonshadow…they are so close that the water that they blow out reaches us and the accompanying groan that it makes sounds like snorting horses in very close proximity.   I nearly drop the camera, forget to press the ‘record’ button and yell out to Jeremy to ‘stop the boat’.  He is standing in the cockpit with his camera to the ready – having a great giggle – as if he could ‘stop the boat’!!  

Whales toying with us

A whale of a splash

These magnificent giants were so close – I could see the markings on their gray gleaming wet skin and their eyes as they fixed our position and took another sedate slide back into the dark water below.  A huge sigh of relief and very loud ‘thank you’ from me, as they decide not to breach or give us their flipper flap.  From that moment on we have a spectacular show of whale antics, they continue to surface and play, and finally as we near the entrance to the Islands, they breach for us.  They are everywhere.   There are ‘blowholes’ and whale surfacing’s happening 360 degrees.  We have our still cameras and video cameras ready and manage to catch some magic images – but we don’t know where to look to catch the next shot.  

 

Triple backward sommersault with pike!

I can fly too!

Finally, at 10am we take Moonshadow past the reef separating us from North West Island of the Montebello’s and turn to starboard to negotiate the passage through the North Entrance.  We pass Drambuie Bay – and I silently wish we had planned this better and stocked our cocktail cabinet with a few more choices.  A Drambuie toast would have been great.  

 

Drambuie Bay with North West Island behind

Preparing to go past Pansy Island and in through the North Channel

Heading down Bunsen Channel past Trimouille Island

Trimouille Island on way to Main Bay

We have plotted the course very carefully, taking heed of the many warnings of ‘bombies’ and low depths.   We have no problems at all navigating our way through the Bunsen Channel and very soon we are at our chosen anchorage on Trimouille Island in Main Bay.  Once there, though, we realize that it is quite uncomfortable and rolly, so we elect to take Moonshadow further through the shallows and the ‘bombies’ and find anchorage and protection in Chianti Bay on Alpha Island.  I hand over the helm to Jeremy, who I know can navigate us through the obstacle course – the truth of the matter is I didn’t want the responsibility if the off chance of running Moonshadow aground – again!  My running aground tally is mounting very fast!

Jeremy takes her very carefully across the ‘pond’ separating Trimouille Island from the western group, navigating around rocks underwater and above.  We pass Burgundy Bay on Alpha Island and make a mental note to come and revisit this.  We pass Mushroom Rock and turn to port and pass ‘Man on a Rock’ rock, and finally at 1300hrs  we find a very unexpected and very welcome and very large orange mooring at Chartreuse Bay – neighbor of Chianti Bay.   We pull up the encrusted loop-less rope, tie it around the cleat – and we are secure – in the Montebello Islands.

 

Moonshadow in Chartreuse Bay with Alpha Island in the background

On our way in we have videoed and photographed extensively, and can’t help thinking that this should have been the parting point for us with for Divided Sky and Aqua Vitae – whose goal it had been to reach these islands before heading back to Fremantle.

Jeremy and I make comment that the mooring we picked up is big enough for all three of us – so we pour a drink and toast absent but ‘present in spirit friends’ – Karen, Mike and Aqua Vitae and Robyn and Nick and Divided Sky – this is for you! 

What a welcome sight this is. Moonshadow safely attached

I also make mention to Jeremy that this last 20hr sail in my opinion has been the highlight of our travels thus far, all made perfect by the gentle breezes, gentle seas and swells, sails filling with the breeze and doing their job, Moonshadow silently slicing effortlessly through the water,  the clear crisp skies and last but not least the free and at times, very close, extravaganza  given us by these beautiful gentle giants of the sea.

Life is fabulous.