Last trips of 2024

My packraft and my two kayaks have each had an end of year outing. None of them had been out of their bags for months. Last time I used one was back in July (re. blog post 25/07/24) and after that it had been far too hot to spend time on the water, and then, come Autumn, a project to renew the roof on my shed/workshop took priority. As the end of the year loomed I felt it was time to give them an airing:

On Sat. Nov. 30th. I took my Gumotex Halibut kayak to Playa de Freila for bit of quiet paddling on the Negratin Reservoir. It was a very typical morning on Negratin; starting with a gentle breeze from the top of the reservoir, creating a bit of a chop on the water, then, as the sun rose higher in the sky, the breeze died away leaving the water mirror-like. By 2:00 p.m., when I was back on shore at Playa de Freila, the reflections on the water of the badlands on the opposite side were magnificent. Time on the water was 3½ hrs. and distance paddled 9.0 kilometres.

On Sun. Dec. 8th. I took my packraft to the coast. Conditions in open water were a bit uncomfortable for a packraft, so I stayed within the confines of the sheltered bay at Punta Parda. It was only the fourth time I had used my packraft and I'm still finding out its limitations. Was on the water for 1½ hrs. and covered 3.5 kilometres, in circuits of the bay.

On Sat. Dec. 21st. (the Winter Solstice) I was back at Punta Parda with my Neris Smart 1 kayak. Despite a bit of a swell on the sea, with added chop from a light wind, I was able to spend 2 hrs. paddling around the headland, outside of the bay, including passing around the little island  'Isla Cama de los Noviost' (see blog posts 28/11/22 and 29/4/23). Wouldn't have liked to have been out there in my packraft, but I have confidence in the The Smart One in such conditions. Distance paddled was 7.0 kilometres. 

Longer Distances

 I managed to get on the sea at Punta Parda on Tuesday April 25th.  Although sea conditions had been against me for quite a while the weather forecast looked promising for that day:  very light wind off the land well into the morning, picking up a bit from the southeast later.

Although I always refer to this destination as Punta Parda, which is the headland at the entrance to the bay, beach goers know it as Playa de Los Cocedores.

I got on the water at 10:15 am. The water in the bay was glassy calm and outside of the bay, in open water, apart from a gentle swell, it was nearly as calm. It looked a good morning to try out my new Neris Smart 1 (The Smart One) kayak over longer distances. One of the reasons for buying it was for covering much longer distances than was comfortable in The Twist.

Approximately 2.5 km. southwest of Punta Parda is a small island, Isla Negra. It's that dark lump, in front of light coloured cliffs, directly above the bow of my kayak. For a first longer distance paddle it seemed a good place to aim for. The island to the left is Islote de San Juan de los Terreros. A much larger island, about another 1.4 kilometres further on. A future destination perhaps.

Getting closer now. The headland behind the island is Punta el Cañón and the structure on the top is an historical artillery battery.

Nearly there. I can see why the island is named Isla Negra (Black Island).

Couldn't come all this way without doing a circumnavigation of the island. From this southeast side it appears that the island is split in two by a rocky channel which opens out to a shallow lagoon in the middle of the island.  A bolder person, in an older kayak, might attempt paddling through there – but perhaps only when the sea is very calm.

Now halfway around the island.

Completed the circumnavigation by going through this inside passage, between the island and the mainland. Had to take great care paddling through there as it was very shallow. Fortunately the water was clear enough to spot and avoid rocks which came close to the surface. My starting point is way back there in the hazy distance.

Halfway back, the breeze, as forecast, picked up a little, creating a welcomed bit of a chop on the water to paddle into. Previously I had only tried this kayak on flat water, so I wanted to see how it performed in slightly rougher conditions. It performed just fine.

Including a bit of pootling around in the bay at the start of this trip, and more pootling around at the end, total distance paddled was 7.4 kilometres and time on the water was 3 hrs. I might have stayed on the water longer but it was getting uncomfortably hot by early afternoon. Summer seems to have come extra early this year. On days like this I need to get on the water a bit earlier and perhaps limit my time there, to not much more than a couple of hours.

I was back at Punta Parda two days later, Thursday April 27th. Made an earlier start and was on the water at 09:00 am. Sea conditions, perhaps a tad more swell, were much the same as earlier in the week and weather forecast looked good.

Plan for this day was a slightly more ambitious paddle, a round trip to a marina (Puerto Deportivo Juan Montiel) on the outskirts of the city of Aguilas, about 4.0 kilometres to the northwest of Punta Parda.

Not long after leaving Punta Parda I passed quite close to Isla Cama de los Novios. An island I had visited last November (blog post 28/11/22) with The Twist. Still a long way to go to that marina!

A picture to prove that I did get to the marina! Half way, and half an hour into the trip, the distance still to paddle looked daunting but it had to be tried – and I'm glad I did. I now know what I can achieve in this new kayak. Would have liked time to go right into the marina and look at the yachts and boats but time was against me. Perhaps next time?

Halfway back. This is the point on the outward leg where I had those doubts! With the swell behind me, along with a breath of a breeze, this return journey was a bit quicker. Plus I took a more direct route back to Punta Parda – that lump nearly on the horizon on the far left. In The Twist I always felt vulnerable too far out in open water, however, now I know it's capabilities, I feel completely at ease out there in The Smart One.

Nearly back. Punta Parda as seen from well out at sea.  Distance covered this day was near enough 8.0 kilometres and time on the water was 2 hrs. The Smart One has met all expectations when it comes to longer distance sea paddling. There is scope to go further in cooler weather.

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.