SHIPWRECKED sailboat on uninhabited Abrolhos island sailing WA - 117

SHIPWRECKED sailboat on uninhabited Abrolhos island sailing WA – 117

How come we had never heard about the shipwreck of the Batavia before we came to The Abrolhos Islands? The mutiny and mayhem that took place on these beautiful remote islands, in 1629, is almost too incredible to believe. Now 392 years to the day we are anchored just a stones throw from where the drama all took place and get a chance to dive what remains of the wreck. This week we explain what happened to the survivors and how they were eventually rescued.
We also visit the first European structure built on Australian soil, Wiebbe Hayes fort. He was the soldier that led the resistance to the mutiny and ultimately saved 46 men.

Music
De Lune – Out of the dark instrumental
Luna Keller – I don’t know where I’m going
De Lune – Hero
De Lune – Out of the dark instrumental
David Mumford – Ball and chain

We are stoked if you take the time to watch our journey. Even better if you take the time to ‘like’, ‘comment’ or ‘share’ (or all of the above) our YouTube videos. These are free things that help us enormously.
Thank you!
Rob, Rachel, Finn, Declan, Ivan
https://www.patreon.com/CruisingKiwis

BACK STORY
In 1997, after rowing at the Atlanta Olympics, Rob decided to row a tiny seven-metre plywood boat, 2500 miles from Tenerife in the Canary Islands to Barbados in the Caribbean. It took 6 weeks and he and his rowing partner, Phil Stubbs, won the inaugural Atlantic Rowing Race. His first taste of a blue water ocean crossing.
Skip forward to 2014 and, married with three children, Rob and Rachel purchased Javelot a 43 ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran. Armed only with Rob’s 3 years of racing P class yachts from the age of 11 to 13, and Rachel’s non existent sailing knowledge, we set off to learn the ropes of ocean sailing. We broke stuff, replaced stuff and got to know our boat before heading offshore with the kids, Finn 18, Declan 16 and Ivan 13, in tow. Through trial and error, we have become confident wayfarers, kind of.
Our plan? To sail around the world.
Part of the journey will be retracing Rob’s eldest brother Kerry’s travels at sea. Using Kerry’s original letters from the 1970’s we will re trace his movements from Australia through Indonesia and South East Asia to Cambodia where Kerry’s life was cut short after straying into Cambodian waters in 1978. Kerry and two friends were attacked by a Khmer Rouge gun boat, captured, tortured and executed. www.brothernumberone.co.nz
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