Return to Serrurier
Back in the blue water, we soon had Serrurier Island in our sights with a plan to anchor up on the western side, where we had stayed on our way north. As we came around the point, giving the shallow reef a wide berth, we saw that the anchorage was empty – which is always a bonus.
It was 1pm by the time we dropped anchor, having covered nearly 30nm from Onslow. We soon had Bob down and into the beach. With Eden close behind, it wasn’t long before we were all chilling on the beach and discussing plans for the next few days.
We had a nice weather window over the next three to four days so we were keen for some exploration. First on the list was Flat Island, which was located about 3nm west of our anchorage. With the promised light winds, we packed our dive gear into Bob, along with a few snacks and a cuppa!
Whilst only three miles to Flat Island, we are in Bob, a 2.9 metre inflatable dinghy with a 9.8 four-stroke outboard. This means that we are pretty cautious about any decent journeys, especially if it means crossing a channel etc. where we could come unstuck if we had some sort of failure or problem. We carry life jackets, flares and a marine VHF radio, but still make it a priority to plan our routes carefully. In this instance, rather than go direct, we hugged the western side of Serrurier until we got to the northern tip and then we cut across to Flat Island, this distance being the shortest route from island to island.
The channel is about 10 metres deep and is used as a thoroughfare for whales – for whatever reason they choose to pass in both directions through this channel but more on that later. Conditions were good and in no time we were at our destination. We decided to first do a quick circumnavigation of the island and check out any decent dive spots. Once this was done – took about 15mins, we anchored up at the southern end and went for a wander down the east facing beach. Not a large beach, but there was some evidence of turtle activity overnight; whilst it is a bit early for laying, a turtle had definitely done a big walk up into the edge of the dunes and back out to sea, their marks still fresh in the sand, but soon to be removed by the next tide.
Post walk, we were keen to get wet and so dived on a couple of bommies off the north east corner. Nothing too exciting and soon we were back on our way towards home. Before long, however, we spied a couple of whales coming our way. We tried to rendezvous with them, but unless they are a bit inquisitive or interested in some way, they dive and leave you guessing as to their whereabouts. There was a lot of whale activity and to our north there was all sorts of breaching and carry on happening.
We were soon checking out the bommies at the north end of Serrurier and then bumped into the Eden crew who were out exploring as well. Whilst sitting chatting in our dinghies, we noticed that the pod of whales that had been breaching out to the north were making their way into the channel so we decided to get in front of them and sit quietly as they went past. We manoeuvred into position and then the waiting game…. We were rewarded when they swam past underwater, right in front of us, before breaking the surface, giving us a blast of air and then a wave goodbye with the pectoral fin. Unreal!! There’s a real sense of awe that you get through these types of interactions in the wild. Really difficult to put into words, but something that will be imprinted on your brain forever!
The next few days saw us diving and chasing squid. The diving was pretty cool as there are some really amazing coral formations on the south side – massive big brain corals – bigger than your normal car – some yellow, some green; and all the while we had whale song going on in the background.
We wanted to go and explore Round Island, which is quite tiny and directly west of our anchorage, but only about 1.6nm away. In company with Eden, we headed over and ended up having a pretty fun dive trying to spear some fish. The problem was that a huge cloud of baitfish descended upon us and they were so thick you couldn’t physically see anything around you. Bit spooky wondering if something was going to come charging through looking for a feed!
No success here, so we went over to an area to the south of the island. Some promising country, but no sooner had Pete gone into the water then he was joined by three bronzies who were all interested in a free feed! Pete and Beau poked around for a while, but couldn’t shake the men in the grey suits, so no fish! What did spark our interest was a little novelty wave – a right hander that was breaking off the point near where we were diving. We checked it out in the dinghy and surfed a couple in Bob before deciding that tomorrow we would return with our mals and catch a couple.
The next morning, with Bob down to the gunwales with mals, wetsuits, lunch and everything else required for a fun day out, we headed back to Round Island with the Eden gang. Bit of a tricky landing on the island with a big surge one way and a wave breaking the other way, but we managed to scramble both dinghies ashore, giving Beau a hand – given that Casey is 7 months pregnant and had Hux to look after as well. In saying that, apart from the obvious belly bump, you wouldn’t believe Casey was even pregnant half the time; such a legend!
It didn’t take long for us to head out there and get quite a few waves off the point. Nothing to write home about (which is exactly what we’re doing :) ), but good fun. Pete even saw one of his bronzie mates – but he kept that to himself! After an hour or so, it was time for some food so we paddled back to the island, hung out, went for a bit of a walk, and generally took it all in.
We had been experiencing a few roly nights in the anchorage. The winds had been light and from the south west, and we had a swell coming from the north west… ugh! The Kirralana crew from Exmouth arrived, as did Jeff and Lily on Island Flow, whom we had met at Warroora back in June. We all hung out for a few days and then everyone was on the move. Kirralana were back to Exmouth to go back to work, Island Flow were heading north to the Montes, Eden were staying put for another day or two and we were heading into Exmouth.
Light winds prevailed and we didn’t even raise a sail. The whale action, however, made up for it… everywhere you looked they were breaching, tail slapping, spouting and generally enjoying themselves. Hard not to take it for granted. We see so many, but each encounter always leaves you wanting more.
Soon, town was in sight and we were back in our spot at the end of the T jetty in the marina. We had a busy few days ahead with the usual jobs, but, more importantly, we’d organised a freedive course to take us out of our comfort zone!