Impressive, Beacon Island and the sea life!

10 August 2013

Update by Arno:
“Houtman Abrolhos. It sounds very Dutch, but here we are, at the West Australian coast. The Houtman Abrolhos archipelago might not be familiar to everyone. But the ‘Batavia’, a Dutch East India Company ship (VOC), that stranded in 1629, is familiar by many. The ship stranded almost 400 years ago, the shipwreck was found almost 50 years ago and now, in 2013, three historical Dutch sailing vessels sail all over the world to visit these islands and to go back into history. Luckily our ships anchor and did not strand, due to modern equipment and knowledge.
The way to the Abrolhos from Fremantle was mainly supported by the engine, since the wind came from the wrong direction. During these two days at sea we were presented great pictures of the Batavia replica by our guide Jaap; when anchored we have had two more interesting lectures about Batavia’s grounding and its survivors. When we visited Beacon Island, where ‘Batavia’ actually grounded, it really impressed me, especially with all this background information. It is amazing how these people survived here. The ship and its survivors are being commemorated by a big stone on the island.
When we left the island the next day it was good to see that there is actually food here, it even jumped out of the sea to welcome us! One moment we were surrounded by a big group of tunas, probably hunting for food. We were actually hoping that they would coincidently jump into our dinghy. A day later, we had this experience again, but now not with tunas but a huge pod of humpback whales. They showed us their amazing acrobatic jumps out of the water. All in all, this is already a journey that I will never forget! If I ever hear anything about ‘Batavia’ again, these memories will come up again soon! I will be on board for quite some time after this journey, so this is a very promising start!”