Perth to Abrolhos by boat
Submitted by Wayne77 on Thu, 2019-06-27 06:35
Hi all trying to organise a trip to the southern group Abrolhos next April but will have to head up by boat as boat not on a trailer (C35) just chasing any info I can get from anyone who has done the same trip ie where they stoped for fuel Jurien or dongara , best spots to get mooring or anchor with a bigger boat and roughly how it whent .
Thanks
Brock O
Posts: 3236
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Gezz...wish i had your
Gezz...wish i had your problems :)
I have an CD at home covering a trip the Halco owner did with a few lads on a large vessel...they sailed through to the Monties from memory. They were testing a pile of new lures but it did comment on the logistics, fuel and stops etc....ill dig it out and see if theirs anything that might help.
scubafish
Posts: 962
Date Joined: 15/08/12
Abrolhos
Back 2002 (Easter) 2 weeks 7 seven guys 42 ft Keywest,all put in $1500 ea fuel/food grog all up.
Stopped at Jurien overnight just tied off on the service jetty,got pissed at pub.No fuel got fuel at Abrolhos off Iris Barge.Mate ex cray guy from that organized it, area topped up 2x1500 ltr tanks.We anchored small island east of Rat first night(Morley Island)North side.Mooring buoys are marked on Navionics just watch out for stray bommys.
Best Holiday ever,fishing drink'n,eating and more fishing.
If you can call into Little Turtle Dove shoal(big Spanish macs)troll over it on the way from Jurien or back.125 km from Jurien heading 324 deg.
Have DVD but never bothered posting it quality shit.
Food we took pies ,lasagna,bread doe that you can put in oven and cook fresh,chops,sags,steak,you will get sick of fish.
cray pots are a must.
After some days fishing we were stuffed ,they are the times no one wanted to cook ,Pies or cray fish rolls.
DON'T FORGET THE BOURBON /COKE/BEER.
WENT THROUGH A LOT OF CHEESE/BISCUITS.
Geoff.
http://img.gg/BQ91Sys
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Thanks guys yeah there
Thanks guys yeah there should be 4 of us on a caribean 35 with pretty much the same plan thanks for pointing out turtle dove shoals will fish that on way there if weather permits , thinking it will be around $1300 -1500 each with piss ,diesel and food . Did you do much moving around when there when fishing ,trying to work out how much fuel I need to allow when there for fishing each day? love to see the dvd even if quality shit mate .
scubafish
Posts: 962
Date Joined: 15/08/12
fuel
Can't help with that,we had two large twin diesels.
Job of the boat owner/skipper ,he should know how much fuel the boat uses.
1kg fuel=1kg wieght= fuel burn
1kg grog= happy days.
Skipper of the boat is the supreme comander of all .
One thing on a trip like this is spares,what do we need spare if something fails,to get us home.
Because of weight you have to think of mutable use tools/things.
Other tips, we had a dive tank set up as a(shot term comp/air) portable air compressor in case you need to blow something up
or clean parts that you may need to pull apart.
Also had "Sat phone" for Emergency's,can hire for trip.
Good first aid kit.
We had a Port/Gen set on the bow when we anchored up at night running till we went to bed (charging batt's and running 250 freezer in saloon to double as a fridge). Fishing in 80/100 mts also was very productive for big duh fish but very tiring (all day)suggest on the way too Abrohlos from Turtle Dove(15.20km from tur/dov heading 322).
Turtle dove is 71km off Dongara so make sure the life raft works !!
We had a 12ft Ridged enflatable(tender)but borrowed a life raft as well off a freind (fiberglass 8 person auto enflate)went on the bow.
Sunscreen/mossie prtector a must,One of our guys got sunburn day 3 ,sufferd the rest of the trip (not a happy camper).
Make each a list and check it twice !!
P.S
Vacume sealer and fish rules and reg's.
http://img.gg/BQ91Sys
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Thanks scubafish yeah I have
Thanks scubafish yeah I have a sat phone amongst us and I think I will be strapping it to my self as well as the epirb as this captain is not going down with the ship, as far as spares go I was thinking the usual spare filters ,impellers and belts and fluids but like you said it all takes up space on board that will most likely be filled with blocks of red can. Not a bad Idea about the life raft either I wonder whether they hire them out anywhere?
Again thanks all for the great advise
resurgence
Posts: 578
Date Joined: 23/04/14
Did the trip in March
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Thanks Resurgense How did
Thanks Resurgense
How did you find the weather then ? did you end up bringing the boat back south again if so how was it heading staight into the sea breeze? would you do the trip again?
sorry for all the questions but its great getting first hand info from guys that have done it already appreaciate it
resurgence
Posts: 578
Date Joined: 23/04/14
Definitely doing it again
Weather was OK, on the trip up, but travelling with the prevailing wind makes it much easier.
We continued on to Exmouth to fish Gamex, and I ended up getting someone else to bring the boat back, mainly due to time constraints. I had taken the boat up to Jurien before though, and had the luxury of being able to leave in Jurien until a good weather window presented itself for the run home to Perth. Managed to pick a rare day when the northerlies were blowing. I think you just have to be prepared that it will be a lot slower on the way home.
We are probably going to head up to the Abrolhos again later this year, but it will be in a much bigger boat this time.
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Yeah im factoring in if
Yeah im factoring in if weather crappy on way back might have to hold up at either dongara or jurien for couple of days if it blows too hard, what type of boat you taking up later this year?
resurgence
Posts: 578
Date Joined: 23/04/14
A bit bigger
Will be a 58 footer
Greg_B
Posts: 40
Date Joined: 26/05/15
Abrolhos
Hey Wayne,
We do it every second year in our C40 and the best advice i can give is have a window to go.
We've done it on fixed dates before and murphys law...
This year we set a 3 week window for weekend to weekend (freo > southern > freo) and we got 8 magic days of 10.
We ended up going on the first week.
We leave 5am and get to Dongara about sundown, dinner at the pub and then leave at gentlmens hours once the easterly settles down.
We also have some of the crew bring a run about up on a trailer, which give us a car in Dongara, if we need to leave the boat there and go back to get it whe the weather is better for coming home.
We have a 300 L soft bladder which we fill up in Dongara and then pump into the tank when we get to the islands.
I also second the idea for keep the cooking to minimum. Pies, BBQ's, Pizzas (convection microwaves are awesome) and precooked food the go.
After a long days of fishing, beers, filletting and cryovacing - cooking from scratch sucks balls.
Gods country - enjoy!
Cheers Greg
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Thanks Greg yeah I am hoping
Thanks Greg yeah I am hoping to be able to leave it flexible with timing to go but a couple of my crew may have trouble with there jobs on that, I like the Idea of the extra bladder might have to look into one .
resurgence
Posts: 578
Date Joined: 23/04/14
A few other thoughts
Have a good set of charts, and a sounder that you trust.
Each of the moorings we went to had reasonably well marked channels, make sure you follow them!
Avoid moving around either too early or too late in the day - very hard to see bommies with the sun low in the sky.
Take a spare anchor of a different variety. We didn't end up anchoring, but advice from friends who have been there a few times is that some areas look like sand but are really just a shallow layer of sand over rock. We had a Sarca anchor and an admiralty anchor as backup to cover a variety of bottom types. Reports from others are that the moorings get crowded during holiday periods so don't rely on using them.
I'd second the suggestion above about the sat phone. We carried one although didn't need to use it. Mobile coverage was patchy and weak so don't rely on it. If conditions are right you might pick up Geraldton VMR direct on the VHF (we did but were lucky). You are more likely to get hold of Kalbarri or Geraldton on the repeater on 81/82.
Water - do you have a water maker, or alternate source of fresh water? None available on the islands.
Also, if you haven't already done it, it's a legal requirement to notify Dept of Fisheries that you will be visiting the islands. Can be done easily on their website.
RobMeridian
Posts: 26
Date Joined: 07/02/16
Autumn 2020
We're planning a dive & fish trip late summer /early autumn next year.
We'll be in a 40'. If anyone is interested in bringing a boat out at the same time, would be interested buddying up there & back.. Bit of backup for the first trip..
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
Hi Rob That sounds like not
Hi Rob
That sounds like not a bad idea if we end up going the same time we planning to go around April but like others have said we are going to try and stay flexible as much as possible to get best weather window and planning to avoid the easter weekend as apparrently its like Thompson bay that weekend over there. PM me closer to time if you like and if we can tee it up great .