Last of the Year.

 Back on the sea:

During the long and hot summer(very hot and very long), with crowded beaches, roads and car parks, I had avoided the coast.  Embalse de Negratin had been a more pleasant place for my type of quiet kayaking. My first trip back to the sea, since May 4th., was on Tuesday November 28th. when I took The Smart One to Villaricos:

There are four places at Villaricos where I can get on the water fairly easily with a kayak.   Because of a not entirely favourable weather forecast I opted for the one close to Chiringuito (beach bar) Las Brisas, where a reef of rocks, about 25 metres out from the shore, creates a calm patch between shore and reef in most sea conditions.  It doesn't take much of a 'lift' in the water to make getting afloat on a 'steep-to' beach a bit tricky, without getting wet.  Also, at this particular spot, it's only a short distance across sand from car park to shore.  The Smart One is light enough to carry that far without faffing around with a kayak trolley,

It wasn't a perfect morning.  I got on the water at 10:15 a.m., when just a light breeze, off the land, barely ruffled the water, but that wind soon picked up a little and backed to blow off the sea. A plan for a longish distance paddle, south along the coast, was abandoned in favour of a bit of dodging backwards and forwards between the two marinas at Villaricos. Running one way, with following wind and waves was very pleasant, punching back again, against those elements, was harder work.

Time on the water was 2 hrs. and distance paddled was 6.6 km.

To Isla Negra and beyond:

Next trip to the sea, again with The Smart One, was on December 23rd.  Another commitment kept me home on the Winter Solstice but I was on the water, at Punta Parda, the following day – the first full day of winter.  Nothing untoward in the weather forecast that day and sea condition near perfect for a long paddle.  Got on the water at 11:00 a.m. and conditions looked so good that I decided on a repeat of my paddle to Isla Negra (blog post 29/4/23) and, if all went well, to continue to the headland (Punta Cañón) a bit further on.  The town of San Juan de los Terreros is just around that headland.

Approaching Isla Negra.  The island on the horizon is Islote de San Juan de los Terreros – a long name for a little island!  A circumnavigation of that island is a future possibility, in the right conditions.

A view of the old part of San Juan de los Terreros as round Punta Cañón. Conditions were still very favourable when I reached Isla Negra, and it hadn't taken as long to get there as I had anticipated, so I had pressed on.

A nice vista of San Juan opened up when I cleared Punta Cañón.  The old part of the town on the right of the picture with the sprawl of more recent urbanization, along the shore, on the left.  It was now time to turn back.

Looking back from Punta Cañón. Conditions still very good, although a breeze did start to ruffle the water later, when Isla Negra (that dark lump) was well astern of me.

Back at Punta Parda, at the entrance to the bay. Not many people on the beach now, but hidden from view is a motor-home and camper-van city! Vehicles of all shapes, sizes, ages and conditions, owned by a variety of nationalities, mainly Northern Europeans, gathered here in Spain for the winter sun.

Time on the water this time was 2¼ hrs. and distance paddled was 7.8 km.

It's been a pretty good year for my quiet kayaking. A record year of 14 trips plus a new kayak, the Neris Smart 1, to play with. I'm still at two kayaks. That new kayak, and the possibilities that go with it, made my little Gumotex Twist 1 redundant – but it has a new good home, with family, in the U.K. The Twist  served me well, for 37 trips over 6 years.  .

Another Trio of Trips with The Twist

Wednesday December 21st. 2022 was the Winter Solstice and the weather was settled enough to celebrate it by taking The Twist kayak to Mojacar for a bit of a paddle.  Choice of venue was influenced a bit by the proximity of some shops for a last bit of Christmas shopping.

Got on the water at about 11:00 am in the bay behind the mole/breakwater in this picture, which is copied from a post card.  Conditions (gentle breeze and flat sea) were ideal to paddle southwards to a similar bay, behind a mole/breakwater, about 2 kilometres away.  

Didn't go ashore in this other bay.  Just stopped for a rest and to refuel - fig rolls today.  The sun was so warm and the sea & sky so blue it was difficult  to believe this was the day of the Winter Solstice.

Headed offshore a bit after leaving this bay and then took a direct route back to my start point - practicing keeping to a compass course.

Time on the water was 1½ hrs. and distance paddled was 5 kilometres.

Had success in the shops later with Christmas stocking fillers.

Saturday December 31 st. 2022.  The settled weather had continued, so I took The Twist to Punta Parda for a last paddle of the year.  This venue was influenced by my curiosity about groups of low shapes I had seen on the hazy horizon of the sea, straight out from the headland.  On my first visit here I assumed it was groups of fishing boats, perhaps working in pairs, on shoals where fishing was particularly good.  The next time I came it was too much of a coincidence that I could see the same, in the same places.  There are no islands out there, the shapes were all wrong for wind farms and it was stretching it too far to think I could see high points of the Algerian coast, 200 kilometres or more away.  So what was I seeing?  After kayaking I planned to take binoculars and a spotting scope up on the headland to find out.

Clear blue sky, no wind, glassy sea with just a slight swell - a perfect morning for a long paddle up the coast towards the port at Aguilas, in that hazy distance.  I went as far as that building on the near headland before turning back.  Time on the water this time was 2¼ hrs. and distance paddled was 6.5 kilometres.  Just one stop ashore for a leg-stretch.

There is a rough track part way up one of the headlands at the entrance to the bay.  The last bit was a bit of a scramble.  The horizon was too hazy to make out much with binoculars but my spotting scope solved the mystery - three separate groups of fish farms.

Each group consisted of several fish 'ponds', much like in this picture, linked to each other by walkways or bridges.  I lot of detail could be seen with the spotting scope.  There wasn't any boats in attendance, nor people on the farms, while I was looking.

Apparently seabream and seabass are raised in these 'ponds'.

Looking down on the bay from the headland - and along the coast where I had paddled this day.  I had reached the headland  just above that tiny little island (Isla Carna de los Novios)) in centre picture.  I had followed the coastline to get there and took a more direct route back, passing close to that island on the way.

I wasn't alone on the water.  I exchanged a few words with a German woman in an inflatable kayak, later a couple of hard shell kayaks passed at a distance and there was a paddle-boarder in the bay when I got back.

2023 started well with a trip to Villaricos on Wednesday January 4th.  Mild and settled weather still continued (and is still with us) and I took advantage of a day with a light offshore breeze to try out a kayak sail.  I had been waiting quite a while for the right conditions to do this.

Rigged and ready to go.

It had taken much practice to get the hang of folding this sail back into its circular retaining pouch.  Today I would find out if I could do the same from a sitting position!

We are sailing, we are sailing ......

It's tricky trying to get a decent photograph while juggling a camera, a paddle and the lines to trim the sail!

Can't say that sailing The Twist was a great success.  Yes, I sailed it - but in a zig-zag fashion.  I could hold a downwind course for a while, but then the kayak would take it upon itself to round up into the wind and collapse the sail.  A bit of frantic paddling would bring it back on course to refill the sail - only to have the same thing happen a few minutes later.  I think, with something as small as The Twist the sail needs to be mounted much nearer the bow - but then I wouldn't be able too reach the sail, from a sitting position, to collapse and fold it up.  And I've discovered I haven't mastered that bit yet!  Came back to shore with a mess of a springy sail trying to escape from the grip between my knees!  I think the sail might work better on a longer kayak.  Maybe I'll try the sail again when I get my new kayak and have got familiar with it.

Finished the morning with a bit of quiet paddling without the sail.  Time on the water was 2¼ hrs. and distance sailed and paddled was 4 kilometres.

 

   

December Kayaking

 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