I've had a flurry of kayak outings this month, to make up for the months I didn't get afloat. The energy sapping heat of summer, followed by a time consuming autumn project, had kept me away from the water since June 21st. (blog post 22/6/21).
On the morning of Saturday Dec. 4th. I took The Twist to Villaricos and enjoyed a pleasant warm up paddle, pottering around in the bay in front of the Chiringuito (beach bar) Las Brisas and the flock of motor homes of the Northern Europeans, who head south at this time of the year to escape the less inviting weather of their home countries. Time on the water was 1½ hrs. and distance paddled was 3.9 kilometres (according to my gps thingy).
Heading back to the starting point. What a nice December day to get back into kayaking!
Chiringuito Las Brisas as seen from the sea. Closed for the winter.
On the morning of Tuesday Dec. 7th. me and The Twist were back at Villaricos. This time launching from the beach at the north end of the town, Another beach which is popular with the migrating motor homes. After a bit of dodging among the rocks I paddled northwards along the coast, until a freshening wind made it prudent to head back. Time on the water was again 1½ hrs. and distance paddled was 2.7 kilometres.
Another nice December day. The sea got a bit choppier than this for a while. However, the only time I got wet was when I tripped and sat down in the shallows when landing in front of those motor homes. Luckily no one was around, or paying enough attention, to witness my misfortune!
A favourable weather forecast encouraged me to return to Villaricos yet again on the morning of Friday Dec. 10 th. Getting afloat in The Twist from near the Chiringuito Las Brisas again. I was only on the water for an hour this time, as the wind, which was forecast to be fresh but blowing off the land, didn't act as predicted. Soon after getting on the water the wind decided to blow, quite strongly at times, parallel to the coast, making paddling a bit more challenging. Distance covered was 2.7 kilometres.
On Tuesday Dec. 21st. (the Winter Solstice) I had a change of venue and kayak. At long last The Halibut got an outing, on Embalse de Negratin at Playa de Freila. The last time I used this kayak was Feb, 2020 (blog post 11/2/20), before I got enthusiastic about the simplicity of using The Twist. However, very nearly two years on, when it comes to comfortable kayaking on Negratin, I now find that the extra effort of assembling The Halibut and getting it (it's too heavy for me to carry far) to the water, is worth it. Time on the water was 2½ hrs. (incl. eating lunch on the water) and distance paddled was 8.3 kilometres.
At last The Halibut gets an outing. That trolley makes it easy to get it to the water. Getting back it back up the concrete ramp takes longer!
The water level in the reservoir was extremely low, the lowest I've ever seen it, so all the nooks and crannies of Negratin looked totally different, again.
This scene wasn't so attractive earlier in the day. It was grey and spitting with rain when I first arrived - then, just after I had assembled everything, it rained enough for me to take shelter for a while. But I took the gamble and launched as soon as the rain stopped. Then the day just got better .... and better .... and better.
Today, Friday Dec. 31 st., The Halibut and I were back at Embalse de Negratin for another 3 hrs. of quiet paddling. Distance covered was 8.8 kilometres - from the slipway at Freila towards the dam and back again. Since my last paddle around this area much has changed, because of the very low level of the reservoir: a new island has appeared, an old island is now joined to the shore, ruins of an old building show sticking up out of the water, the remains of an old dam has become apparent at the head of one of the side inlets and trees, which stuck out of the water in photographs on some previous blog posts, are now high and dry. With the fluctuating water levels the shoreline around the reservoir looks different every time I go there.
The Halibut at rest while I have a leg stretch on a recently uncovered spit of land. Even an inflatable seat pad starts feeling hard after a couple of hours of paddling. The water wasn't quite this glassy calm when I first got on the water at 11:00 am. It was another day which just got better ....and better .... and better.
Much of the shoreline is steep and muddy, so it's a bonus to be able to step out onto gently shelving stony ground like this.
The view from that spit of land back towards Freila slipway at about 1:00 pm. Not a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky - a perfect day for quiet paddling,
Past water levels can clearly be seen on that headland on the right. According to the website of reservoirs in Spain, Negratin is only at 27% of capacity.
AND SO ENDETH MY KAYAKING YEAR
