Kayaking and Caving

Yesterday (Sunday November 27th.) I went back to Punta Parda, last visited a month ago (blog post 9/11/22), with The Twist.  A shopping trip to Mojacar the previous day, with a look at the sea, had confirmed that after a long period of high winds conditions were looking pretty good for another kayak trip.

After launching in the lovely sheltered bay, Cala Cerrada, I paddled out into open water and round to Cala Taray to have a closer look at the cave rooms I saw on my previous visit.  Of the three groups of man-made caves at Punta Parda this one is best reached by water.

A view of the interior from the entrance.  From the opening on the left the floor slopes up to a hole in ground above.  The arched alcove looks like a fireplace but there isn't a chimney nor any sign of smoke deposits. There is a near identical alcove at the back, past the dividing wall.  Ceiling is low, standing room for short people only!

Outside the cave is this shallow lagoon.  It transpires that these cave rooms were not storerooms for fishermen, as I first thought. but were used for storing esparto grass.  Part of processing of esparto grass, for its use in paper making, was soaking it in sea water - hence the creation of a shallow lagoon.  

Heading back towards Punta Parda.

From Cala Taray I had followed the beach southwards for a while, towards the town of  San Juan de los Terreros, until a beach angler started jumping up and down and shouting at me (in Spanish, so I've no idea what he called me!).  And I've no idea how he had managed to cast so far out and still have his line floating on the surface, to be picked up by my paddle.  Anyway, he calmed down when he realized his rod wasn't going to get towed out to sea.

Conditions, hardly a breath of wind and barely any swell, were perfect for a lengthy paddle.  So I rounded Punta Parta, through the nets and marker buoys still there, and headed across to an island, Isla Cama de los Novios, to the north of the headland.  Not much of an island, just a very big rock really, inhabited by cormorants and seagulls - which all abandoned the island before I could take a photo!  Had a closer look and did the necessary circumnavigation before a long, lazy  paddle back to my starting point.  Isla Cama de los Novios is a long name for a little island.  The name doesn't translate easily - it literally means 'Bed of the Newlyweds Island' (or 'Honeymoon Island' perhaps?).  Maybe there is more to this name!  

Time on the water was 2¼ hrs. and distance paddled was 6.7 kilometres - fueled by fig rolls, wine gums and a small carton of a tropical fruits drink.  There were a few people on the beach in the bay when I got back there at 1:15 p.m. but nowhere near as many as when I was there a month ago.  Colder days have arrived.

After packing the kayak away I went to look at the cave storerooms in the bay, which can be reached by foot.

The inside of one part of the storerooms, which I saw soon after launching in the bay last month.

The doorways to these rooms are too high above beach level to scramble into and some are gated.

 

Very close too these storerooms was the remains of another of the man-made shallow lagoons.  According to a bit of Google research these 'lagoons' were called 'cocedores'.

On the other side of the bay, nearer to the headland, there are more cave storerooms - too many to fit in the viewfinder.  I didn't get close to these last time I was here, because there were crowds of young people near them.  A coachload had arrived and they had chosen the shady spot outside these caves to congregate.

Looking into one of the cave store rooms.  One where the gates had fallen off.  Here the rooms were mainly bigger than any of the other locations I had been to.

At beach level outside these cave storerooms was the remains of another 'cocedores'.

According to the little we've found out so far about esparto grass, these cave storerooms date back to the 19th. century when the esparto grass trade was very important in this region of Spain.  Esparto was used to make rope, twine, baskets, mats, soles for shoes and all manner of everyday items.  It was even exported, in huge quantities, to England for the manufacture of quality paper - but it had to be damp ('fermenting' it said) before loading onto ships.

It had been an interesting, enjoyable and eventful kayaking day.

 

Catching Up

 A Trio of Little Trips with The Twist

The first, on Thursday October 27th., was to a new destination for my kayaking - Punta Parda.  I had been there a month or so ago to check it out for kayaking possibilities.

Punta Parda is the headland on the other side of this little bay.  The bay, Cala Cerrada, is shallow and horseshoe shaped - and a very popular bathing spot.  There are other bays, less sheltered, either side of Cala Cerrada.  Punta Parda is in Murcia Province and where I stood to take this photo is in Almeria Province - and the most eastlery point of Andalucia.

Lovely and calm in Cala Cerrada.  This bay is so sheltered I guess it would be possible to launch a kayak in most weather conditions.

Looking back, as I paddled out towards the entrance to the bay, I spotted cave houses.  Had to go and have a closer look.

I'm guessing that there was once a fishing community here and these were store rooms for their fishing gear.  It's obviously still a good fishing area as outside the bay I had to negotiate my way around long lengths of fishing nets and marker buoys close to the headland.

Looking back from just outside the entrance to Cala Cerrada.  Just a gentle swell out here.  A lovely morning for kayaking.

First destination was Playa de la Carolina - a bay on the north side of Punta Parda.  I wasn't the only kayak on the water that day.

The beach in this bay shelves gently out into shallow water.  Another good spot for bathing or launching a kayak.

As you can see, this is a very popular destination for motor homers!

Back out in open water I headed towards the bay (Cala Taray) on the opposite side of the headland. Those two islands, one centre picture (Islote de San Juan de los Terreros) and the other (Isla Negra) to the right against the white cliffs, are possible destinations when I have the bigger and faster kayak currently on order.  There is another small island (Isla Cama de los Novios) within reach to the north of Punta Parda.  There is scope for a variety of kayaking here.

Another cave (or store) in the secluded bay of Cala Taray.  A lovely little bay for those who want to be away from a crowded beaches and motor homes - but access isn't easy.  As I found out later, when I tried to walk to it.

Brief stop here, just past Cala Taray, for a leg-stretch and a can of lemonade.  It might be October but it was still pretty warm in the sun - the shade under those palm trees looked inviting.

Sculptural, wind eroded rocks at the entrance to Cala Cerrada.

The beach at Cala Cerrada wasn't this busy when I set out at 10:15 am.  This is definitely a good spot for kayaking.  Time on the water was 2 hrs. and distance covered, according to my Garmin GPS thingy, was 5.2 kilometres - of just leisurely paddling.

Next trip was two days later, Saturday October 29th., for a morning paddle at my more frequently visited place - Villaricos.

Although the settled weather was still with us it was a bit disappointing, when I got to there, to find that sea conditions had deteriorated a bit.  The swell had increased somewhat since Thursday and getting on the water might be a tad tricky where I had planned to launch.  So I relocated to a more sheltered beach just outside the entrance to the southernmost marina.  Outside of that shelter the paddling wasn't quite so leisurely as on Thursday, but it was quite fun - and good exercise!  Time on the water was 1½ hrs. and distance paddled was 4.6 kilometres.

I was back for another morning paddle at Villaricos the following day, Sunday October 30th.  Sand and salt water had made a mess of The Twist by now, so I thought I might as well have another outing before having to get the hosepipe out.

Sea conditions looked a bit better than the previous day.  However the swell was still there, just not so obvious from the shore.  Outside the shelter of the marina entrance it was another 1½ hrs. of brisk paddling - well, brisk paddling into the swells, more leisurely riding them back again.  Distance covered this time was 5 kilometres.

Not Done Much So Far This Year

My second paddle of 2022 was on Friday June 10th.   Just 1½ hours on the sea at Villaricos, in my Twist kayak.  Conditions were good for a longer paddle (I covered 4.5 kilometres) but despite getting on the water at 8:45 am it got too hot to stay there much longer.  The summer heat started early this year - and it's been relentlessly hot until now.

So, mainly due to the relentlessly hot days, and the lethargy induced by them, my kayaks haven't  seen water again - until now:

Yesterday was the Autumn Equinox and I thought it would make a fitting start to getting afloat again - and, if I made an early start, I might see the first sunrise of autumn.  So I took my Halibut kayak to Embalse de Negratin, hoping that there was still enough water in the reservoir to get a decent time on the water.  Like a lot of reservoirs in Spain, and most of Europe, reservoirs are very low.  Negratin is currently down to 19.75% of full capacity.  This time last year it was 27.2%.

Thanks to a recent birthday I also had a new bit of kit to try out:

The Eckla folding Beach-Rolly.  A fine bit of German engineering.

It's a cart.

It's a seat.

It's a kayak trolley.

And I can take it with me, if I want to.  Stows quite nicely, with the wheels on or off, on the back of my Halibut kayak.  The wheels can be detached very quickly.  Saves taking it back to the car - and provides a seat ashore if I have a lunch break.

Back to yesterday:

When I reached Playa de Freila, the only place with easy access to the water now that the level is so low, I was pleasantly surprised to see there was still a good area of water for kayaking - but not so pleased to find that the concrete ramp now stops short of the water!  Fortunately my new trolley coped with the last stretch of rough ground admirably.

  

 

Not far from Playa de Freila (that's the playa in the background) I came to a new island.  Just a little one.  Was I the first to circumnavigate (and I did do that) this island I wondered.  From here I paddled towards the head of the reservoir, into a fresh breeze creating a bit of a chop on the water.  If the breeze continued all day, or even freshened, at least I would have it behind me when I turned back.

Most of the side inlets, which I used to delve into, are dry now.  So, a couple of hours later, without those distractions, I was quite a way towards the head of the reservoir.  In June 2018, when the water was a lot higher, I  paddled a long way up this valley in my Neris Valkure kayak!

This photo was taken in June 2018, as I paddled out of that valley.  See blog post Fri. 8 June 2018.  I wrote then:  Coming out of that inlet again.  It was quite a large one and well worth a look.  It is going to take a lot of winter rain, maybe over several years, to get the water that high again.

Next I spotted this, standing 4 to 5 metres out of the water.  Never seen it before, so a good indicator of how much lower the water is now, compared to my previous visits.  You never know what is lurking beneath the water in this reservoir.  I guess it is an old electricity pylon, but I'm surprised it was left standing when the valley was flooded.

The wind had died away by now and it was getting warmer on the water than I would have liked, so it was time to turn around and pootle back to Playa de Freila.

Back at the playa.  Getting the kayak onto its trolley and all the way up that concrete ramp to the car park looked daunting - but it wasn't too bad.  Just needed a few catch-yer-breath stops on the way.  It's a good trolley.

It had been nice to get back on the water again and I did see the first sunrise of autumn.  Hopefully there will be more days like this now that autumn is here.  Time on water was near enough 4 hours and I paddled about 11 kilometres.  No lunch breaks ashore on this trip so I didn't get to use the seat of my Eckla Beach-Rolly until back in the car park - where it was much appreciated after all that exercise.

P.S.  My Neris Valkure kayak is still for sale (blog post June 14 th. 2022).  Any plans to replace it with anything different are currently on hold. 

  

First Paddle of 2022

 I was late getting out with a kayak this year - and very late adding the trip to this blog.

Saturday April 16th. at 10:00 am and Embalse de Negratin was glassy calm with barely a breath of wind.  It was an ideal morning for an open water crossing from Playa de Freila to re-acquaint myself with the 'badlands' side of the reservoir.  The last time I did this was early in May 2017.  On reaching the other side I turned left and followed the shore towards the dam - much the same route as nearly five years ago.  However, as always, the shoreline looked totally different because the water level was much lower than that last visit.  When I got within sight of the dam I crossed back to the Playa de Freila side and meandered back, hugging the shoreline, to my starting point.  One of the highlights of this trip was coming across a terrapin which appeared to be as curious about me as I was about it.  On the few occasions I've seen terrapins on the shoreline of the reservoir they've 'plopped' into the water long before I get near them, never to reveal themselves again.  This little fella did 'plop' into the water but couldn't resist, it seemed, bobbing back up at intervals to see if I was still around.

I didn't expect the little terrapin to surface again quite so close to me.

A few photographs of the 'badlands' area:

On this trip I used my Gumotex Halibut kayak.  Time on the water was just short of 5 hrs. and total distance paddled was 10 kilometres.

My folding kayak is now for sale.

My Neris Valkure-1 folding kayak is now for sale.  Purchasing it in 2016 was a brilliant re-introduction to kayaking but for the sort of kayaking I do it is too sophisticated and hasn't had much use these past couple of years.

It is no longer with me in Spain.  Simon Bolze of Neris Water Sports U.K. (email: info@neris.co.uk ) at Reading is selling it on my behalf.