Hi all,
Heading to the Abrolhos soon. Got a question on charting.
For anyone who has been there - what would you recommend bringing for charting? And any charting tips for a first time visit there?
So far I understand the following - keen to hear your comments on these points?
1. AHS and DoT charts of The Easter and Wallabi groups are good as they were well surveyed, but that the Southern Group did not get surveyed in that same effort
2. Charting of the outside of the groups is pretty good, but the inside reefs is poor
3. Navionics is known to be particularly bad for the Abrolhos
4. People have said that OpenCPN charts (presumably o-charts.org charts) with an overlay of Google Earth is probably the best option
5. Polarised sunglass eyeballing is key
Really keen to hear any advice to help navigate this terrain safely.
Thank you!
The charts are what they are and they aren't the best. Take what you need to be compliant, but ultimately your best charts are the MK1 Eyeball.
The 2 northern group of islands are well surveyed as you have already mentioned. If you are going into Turtle Bay (East Wallaby) there is plenty of deep water and well marked (daylight only though).
I went on a day trip from Turtle Bay to Weibbe Hayes Bay but anchored just south of Pigeon Is and took the dingy across to the fort. It does get shallow but navionics was more accurate then my nerves allowed..
Most of the reef in the Easter Group (Rat Island) are well marked.. Being the hive of boating industry that the island groups are, they (as in the locals) have put in a lot of their own marks. They keep you well clear of reef laterally, deapth you treat with caution. I comfortably went in between Rat Is and White Is through makeshift marks with no issue drawing 2.1 meters.
The Perlsaert Group is a little scary. There's very little to no survey and the port/starboard marks run you close to bommies. There is an unmarked rock at 2 meters that you either need to spot or give a wide birth by dead reckoning. I just followed a previous safe track on my plotter but I have unfortunately since deleted that.
Just take it easy with a good lookout in that southern group. The next two groups are easy enough. Your biggest problem if coming from the south are the cray pots especially during the night. Head straight out to 100m where the pots font tend to be.
You don't happen to have the Hunter in Port Coogee? I may have spoken with you last weekend.
Thanks very much Toph. I appreciate your response. Very helpful to hear from someone who has been there.
Sounds like the MK1 eyeball is definitely the go. Easy does it.
With the difference in surveying it sounds like a bit of a more compelling case to spend more time in the Wallabies and Easter groups.
No that wasn't me at Port Coogee.
Cheers
