Out and About Again

Travel restrictions, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, kept me away from water deep enough to paddle a  kayak for several months.  However, when Spain's 'State of Alarm' came to an end in April, freedom of movement across regional and provincial borders was reinstated - and now The Twist is out and about again.  I've had a trio of little trips since then:

On Sunday May 2nd. I went to the Embalse de Negratin,  Got on the water at Playa de Freila and spent three hours quietly paddling along the shore, in and out of every inlet.  On my last visit, September 2020 (blog post 19/09/20), the water in the reservoir was very low but now it is back to where it was about this time last year.

Mid morning and I had stopped for a leg stretch.  That little cloud was the only one in the sky!  In the three hours on the water I paddled a total of  8.5 kilometres.

On Wednesday June 2nd. I went back to Playa de Freila for another three hours of quiet paddling, checking out all the inlets in the opposite direction to my previous visit.  Total distance paddled this time was 7.5 kilometres.  I think this will be my last visit to this reservoir until the autumn.  Even with an early start it is getting too hot to spend enough time on the water to justify travelling so far from home.

On Monday June 21st. - the Summer Solstice and the day after Fathers Day (U.K.).  I made a very early start and got to Villaricos beach to see the first sunrise of summer - but not early enough to see it from my kayak.

Here comes the sun!  The Summer Solstice had occurred just a few hours earlier.

A few minutes later the sun had cleared the horizon.  I was on the water not long after this.

1½ hours on the water and I paddled 3.5 kilometres - fueled by my own personal snack bars!  Pity a fog didn't come down so I could make use of a shiny new compass.  Thank you Fathers Day!
  
   

Embalse de Negratin Again.

   I took The Twist to Embalse de Negratin early yesterday morning.  With new outbreaks of COVID-19 occurring with disturbing regularity in many regions of Spain, and with fresh lock-downs imposed upon the worst hit areas, I thought I'd better squeeze in another quiet paddle before we got 'confined to barracks' ourselves.  I wouldn't normally have travelled to the reservoir in mid-summer, just for a couple of hours on the water, but the sea was very rough when we were at Mojácar on Tuesday and I could see no reason why it would have been any better yesterday.

   Reached Playa de Freila at 7:00 am and was on the water soon after 7:30 am.  This week I re-discovered a waterproof thermometer from my diving days, so I can tell you that air temperature was a pleasant 21°C  at that time of the morning and water temperature was 27°C, even at a depth of  a metre or so.

There's a new sign at the top of the concrete ramp at Playa de Freila.  Apparently, because of COVID-19, swimming from here is prohibited.  No mention of kayaking so I guessed it was O.K. for me to go on the water, as long as I didn't tip over and have to swim!  Obviously the absurdity of the ban is a contentious issue, as someone had tried to obliterate the notice by scratching  lines across the perspex with something sharp.  Can't say I really understand the reasoning behind this ban myself.


     I meandered along the shoreline, in and out of all the inlets, towards the dam for about an hour and then returned by a more direct route.  A gentle headwind was ruffling the surface of the water as I paddled back.  As I turned a headland into one inlet a grey heron took off and flapped lazily into the safety of woodland.   Very small wading birds were busily feeding along the edges, but they took little notice of me, just maintained a safe distance.  Once, without spotting it myself, I got unusually close to a duck, of some sort, which, startled, perhaps from slumber, leapt noisily into the air and disappeared.

At the head of one of the larger inlets was a narrow channel, more like a muddy ditch.  It led to a dry river bed that would feed the reservoir when/if there was rain in the winter.  This was as far as it went.

Turned around and looking back to open water.  This photo is deceptive.  The channel/ditch was much narrower than it looks here.  Where it necks, at centre picture, I could only just pass between the right hand side bank and a submerged tree.

Sticking out of the mud on one side of the channel was this boot sole.  I hoped there wasn't a toe bone behind the sole -  connected to a foot bone, connected to heel bone, connected to an ankle bone, connected to a leg bone ...... etc. etc. (as in the 'Dry Bones' lyrics).  I didn't check!








    It was a nice quiet paddle, which gave me the opportunity to try new ideas about stowing 'stuff' in my tiny kayak.  I've become quite fond of The Twist, which was originally purchased just for fun and grabbed opportunities for a quick paddle.  Now I see it as something really versatile - a step above what are known as 'packrafts', which are becoming increasingly popular, and a step below a fully fledged inflatable kayak.  I think The Twist gives me the best of both worlds for simplicity and shortish paddles in good conditions.

This is a typical packraft.  They pack into a very small bundle, they are very lightweight and the fabric is amazingly tough - you can bounce down rapids in them, should you wish.  They are also quite  expensive.  You are unlikely to get one like this for under £1,000 - well over double the price of my faithful Gumotex Twist.  Even if I wanted one, which I don't, I'm not sure if I would like to be seen in something which looks as if it was bought in a beach shop.  Nor would I like carrying my 'stuff' so precariously.

Time on the water was just over 2 hours.  My GPS thingy recorded 3.5 kilometres paddled but the batteries ran out without my noticing, before I had reached shore, so I might have travelled a bit further than that.  Air temperature had increased to 27°C by the time I got off the water and was approaching 30°C by the time I left for home at 11:00 am.  Too much data?  I won't take the thermometer with me again! 

     

The Twist goes to Embalse de Negratin

Today Spain's State of Emergency and the resulting lockdowns, first imposed on March 14th. to combat the Coronavirus COVID-19, came to an end - it was also Fathers' Day.  Both being good excuses for a little treat, I took The Twist to Embalse de Negratin for an early morning, beat-the heat paddle.  There's no better 'social distancing' than paddling solo on a vast expanse of water!

I left home at 5:30 am, arriving at Freila beach just before 7:00 am - in time to see the first sunrise following the Summer Solstice of yesterday evening.  It was not a very spectacular sunrise, but still worth waiting for.

By the time I got on the water it was daylight.  The low sun created shadows emphasizing the folds and gullies in the rugged landscape on the other side of the reservoir.  This landscape looks its best in the early morning or late evening light.

There was a gentle breeze blowing down from the head of the reservoir, creating a steady procession of small waves.  The water was a lot smoother in the shelter of inlets.

That might appear to be a big slab of concrete - but it is natural, in a sort of unnatural looking way.

This is one of the longer inlets near the beach at Freila.  I'd been in here before - but due to the variations in water level these inlets always look different.  At the moment the capacity of reservoir is just below 50% of full.

As the sun got higher and hotter, these areas of deep shade in the inlets became very welcome.

Heading back towards my starting point after about 1½ hours on the water.  Feet up, sun on my back and a following wind - what more could an early morning kayaker ask for?  My return leg only took 30 mins. and I was off the water by 9:45 am.  An early start had been well worthwhile as the heat of the day was already building up.

This was a 'first'.  The first time I have used The Twist anywhere other than on the sea, for grabbed opportunities and beat-the-heat early morning paddles, like today.  Can't beat it for speed to get afloat - it inflates quickly and can be carried easily.  No trolley needed.  Rucksack of gear on back, lift and invert kayak onto head, pick up paddle - and go!  Simplicity itself.






There was no great purpose behind today's quiet paddle.  Just a little treat after many weeks of lockdown.  Most of the time I followed the shoreline at not much more than a paddle length.  Quiet kayaking at its best.

There was another 'first'.  For the first time since coming to Negratin I was able to get quite close to a group of wading birds, before they took off.  Black and white birds with long, spindly, red legs. which trailed behind them when they flew away.  I'm no ornithologist, but it seems, according to a bird book, highly likely they were Black-Winged Stilts, apparently common summer visitors in Spain.

Time on the water was 2 hours.  Total distance paddled was 5.3 kilometres.