P.S. That is not my little van parked in front of them all!
Have just passed Punta del Río and can see the mouth of the Río Almanzora - usually dry but sometimes, after heavy rain in the mountains, it can be a proper river.
Saturday, 29 February 2020
A Leap for The Twist
A Leap Day actually! With a coastal weather forecast looking favourable for kayaking, it seemed a good opportunity to make use of this extra day in the year. So I took The Twist to Villaricos this morning and paddled south along the coast, towards Vera Playa and Garrucha - a stretch of the coast I hadn't previously covered.
A 'porta-village' on a beach at Villaricos. I have observed that despite the plethora of nice quiet accessible beaches and coves in the province of Almeria, some motor-home owners, particularly those with fancy 'rigs' (as they might be called in the U.S.A.), have a 'herding' instinct! There will be quite a mixture of nationalities in this group - mainly retirees escaping the winter climate of their respective Northern European countries.
P.S. That is not my little van parked in front of them all!
Hazy, cool and just the gentlest of breezes when I started out.
Have just passed Punta del Río and can see the mouth of the Río Almanzora - usually dry but sometimes, after heavy rain in the mountains, it can be a proper river.
The sea doesn't get much calmer than this. Those two ships are probably anchored, waiting to enter the port of Garrucha to load gypsum.
The haze cleared later. Just passing Punta de los Hornícos. - even this far from shore the water is quite shallow in this area. I could see the seabed quite clearly and could have got out and walked in some places.
The motor-homes were more scattered along this stretch of shore just past Punta de los Hornícos. The wooded area is named El Marqués
11.30 a.m. Back at my starting point just outside the southern marina at Villaricos. Time on the water just a tad under 2 hours. Distance paddled: 5.25 kilometres - fuelled by diluted lime juice (against scurvy!) and fig rolls. It will be another four years (and weather permitting) before I can kayak on this day of the year again!
P.S. That is not my little van parked in front of them all!
Have just passed Punta del Río and can see the mouth of the Río Almanzora - usually dry but sometimes, after heavy rain in the mountains, it can be a proper river.
Wednesday, 12 February 2020
A Third Outing for The Halibut
I took The Halibut to Embalse de Negratin yesterday - only the third time I have used it. At present the water in the reservoir is very low, so I launched from the concrete slipway at Playa de Freila - because access to the water is difficult elsewhere, until the water level rises again.
It's a long way down to that water!
Other than wanting to give The Halibut an 'airing', and try out a trolley I had made for it, there was no great purpose behind this trip. I just took advantage of a very pleasant February day to enjoy a bit of quiet, lazy, pootling around - for which The Halibut is just perfect. Here are a few pictures from the trip :-
An occasional cool breeze ruffled the water as a reminder that, although it may be spring-like weather, winter is still here.
Stopped here to stretch my legs and do a bit of litter-picking - collected quite a few discarded plastic and glass bottles for disposal later.
A stop for lunch before returning to tackle the slipway at Playa de Freila.
Now for the hard part - getting the loaded kayak back up that slipway! Fortunately the new trolley handled it well - but the manpower behind it needed a couple of catch-your-breath stops on the way up!
The Halibut is a bit too heavy and awkward to carry it far single-handed. This is the trolley which makes life easier.
Time on the water was 3½ hrs. and total distance paddled was 7.5 kilometres.
Other than wanting to give The Halibut an 'airing', and try out a trolley I had made for it, there was no great purpose behind this trip. I just took advantage of a very pleasant February day to enjoy a bit of quiet, lazy, pootling around - for which The Halibut is just perfect. Here are a few pictures from the trip :-
A stop for lunch before returning to tackle the slipway at Playa de Freila.
Time on the water was 3½ hrs. and total distance paddled was 7.5 kilometres.
Saturday, 18 January 2020
The Last and the First
'The Last and the First' being the last time I went kayaking in 2019 and the first time in 2020.
The last of 2019 was a return visit to Villaricos, on the morning of November 26th. To take a closer look at those nice little bays mentioned in my previous blog post. The Spanish met office, which I usually rely on, gave marginal conditions for a quiet paddle, but two others were more optimistic. So it was a bit of gamble if I could get afloat there, or go seeking somewhere more sheltered. Wind and water conditions weren't perfect when I got there, but I was able to get afloat comfortably in the shelter of a bay, and once clear of exposed outcrops of rock paddling was easy enough in deeper water. I had to give exposed rocks a wide berth as the choppy conditions made it difficult to see what else might be lurking just below the surface. However, an hour later, after a bit of rock-dodging and a longer paddle along the coast, the wind freshened and I opted to get ashore while it was still easy to do so. This bit of shoreline is named the 'Playa La Dolores' and is worthy of another visit, in better conditions ...... and I'll stick to using the Spanish met office forecasts in future!
Time on the water was just a bit over an hour, and distance paddled was 3.2 kilometres.
There seems to be a bit of confusion over the name of this beach (playa). A road signpost reads 'Playa La Dolores' but a noticeboard on the beach reads 'CALA LA DOLORES'. A cala being a cove or inlet - and that term is used for the names of most stretches on this bit of coast. However, most maps refer to 'Playa La Dolores', so I am going to stick with that for this blog.
The first of 2020 was another visit to the Playa La Dolores' on the morning of January 15th. - in much better conditions. AS I drove down to the beach at 10:00 am I could see that the sea was glassy-calm and the low sun was starting to break through a hazy sky. I was on the water by 10:30 and heading south towards Villaricos to take a look at Cala de la Esperanzo.
Cala de la Esperanzo from the sea, with the northernmost houses of Villaricos in the background.
A headland at Cala de la Esperanzo. With an interesting variety of inclined layers of rock - and the look of a resting elephant. The water was so clear and calm that any rocks rising to just below the surface were visible and could be avoided.
Looking back along Cala de la Esperanzo. Taken, later in the morning, from a little car park and viewing point on a headland.
Next up, was a return for a closer look at rocks in the vicinity of Playa La Dolores. Despite the very calm sea and the clear water, I did gently scrape over submerged rocks a couple of times. Later I checked the underside of The Twist - no evidence at all of contact with rocks was found. Not a scratch, scuff or scrape. Which is reassuring for me and testimony to the toughness of the material (Hypalon) which Gumotex choose to use for their inflatable craft.
Stopped to weigh up whether to go and dodge among this group of rocks with shallow water between them. With such calm, clear water there seemed little risk - and only once did I scrape over an unnoticed obstacle.
Jagged, or what! Wouldn't like to be anywhere near this one in a rough sea!
There was quite a variety of sea-birds around and on the rocks. Mostly wary of an old guy in a red kayak - but this group allowed me to drift quite close, before taking off with squawks, screeches and a flurry of wings. Later I was able to follow a cormorant on the water, as it repeatedly dived in search of a meal. Unless cormorants can devour their catch underwater I didn't witness the bird having any success.
Looking along Playa La Dolores. Taken, later in the morning, from that little car park on a headland. The green buildings in the distance are part of a chemical works. Beyond them is Cala de la Cueva and Cala de la Invencible. The beach of Playa La Dolores is all shingle and small stones - in varying shades of dark grey, stopping at the water's edge. Then shallow water with a rock bottom stretches quite a way out to sea.
From Playa La Dolores I set out on a longer paddle - past the chemical works, past Cala de la Cuevas and nearly to the end of Cala de la Invencible, where ruins remain on the hillside of buildings associated with the long gone mining operations which once dominated this bit of the coast.
Looking back along the the beach at Cala de la Invencible. This beach, with pale coloured sand and shingle, is much fresher and cleaner looking than Playa La Dolores. Those are more of the chemical work's buildings on the skyline - the low drone of pumps and other machinery coming from there is a bit intrusive.
It was a lengthy paddle back to where I had started from. At times light breezes ruffled the surface of the water. It had been a very pleasant first bit of quiet paddling to start the new year. Time on the water was two hours and the total distance (according to my GPS thingy) was about 8 kilometres.
The last of 2019 was a return visit to Villaricos, on the morning of November 26th. To take a closer look at those nice little bays mentioned in my previous blog post. The Spanish met office, which I usually rely on, gave marginal conditions for a quiet paddle, but two others were more optimistic. So it was a bit of gamble if I could get afloat there, or go seeking somewhere more sheltered. Wind and water conditions weren't perfect when I got there, but I was able to get afloat comfortably in the shelter of a bay, and once clear of exposed outcrops of rock paddling was easy enough in deeper water. I had to give exposed rocks a wide berth as the choppy conditions made it difficult to see what else might be lurking just below the surface. However, an hour later, after a bit of rock-dodging and a longer paddle along the coast, the wind freshened and I opted to get ashore while it was still easy to do so. This bit of shoreline is named the 'Playa La Dolores' and is worthy of another visit, in better conditions ...... and I'll stick to using the Spanish met office forecasts in future!
Time on the water was just a bit over an hour, and distance paddled was 3.2 kilometres.
There seems to be a bit of confusion over the name of this beach (playa). A road signpost reads 'Playa La Dolores' but a noticeboard on the beach reads 'CALA LA DOLORES'. A cala being a cove or inlet - and that term is used for the names of most stretches on this bit of coast. However, most maps refer to 'Playa La Dolores', so I am going to stick with that for this blog.
The first of 2020 was another visit to the Playa La Dolores' on the morning of January 15th. - in much better conditions. AS I drove down to the beach at 10:00 am I could see that the sea was glassy-calm and the low sun was starting to break through a hazy sky. I was on the water by 10:30 and heading south towards Villaricos to take a look at Cala de la Esperanzo.
 |
| Playa La Dolores ...... looking good. |
Next up, was a return for a closer look at rocks in the vicinity of Playa La Dolores. Despite the very calm sea and the clear water, I did gently scrape over submerged rocks a couple of times. Later I checked the underside of The Twist - no evidence at all of contact with rocks was found. Not a scratch, scuff or scrape. Which is reassuring for me and testimony to the toughness of the material (Hypalon) which Gumotex choose to use for their inflatable craft.
Stopped to weigh up whether to go and dodge among this group of rocks with shallow water between them. With such calm, clear water there seemed little risk - and only once did I scrape over an unnoticed obstacle.
It was a lengthy paddle back to where I had started from. At times light breezes ruffled the surface of the water. It had been a very pleasant first bit of quiet paddling to start the new year. Time on the water was two hours and the total distance (according to my GPS thingy) was about 8 kilometres.
Friday, 27 September 2019
Pootling Arround at Villaricos
It was very quiet on the seafront at this time of the morning.
Also very peaceful here. Just one elderly chap, wearing a big straw hat, was quietly preparing a modest small boat to go fishing. Later I saw him chugging out to sea trailing a fishing line. We waved to each other - as one should on such a nice morning.
The gentlest of winds had now died away to nothing. Although I went into this marina, to mooch around, I wasn't there long. A harbour official came to the end of one of the jetties and called to me ...... it transpired that I shouldn't be in there. The marina, or harbour, is for permit holders only. So I apologized and paddled out again. No more marina mooching at Villaricos for me!
Before surrendering to the heat of the morning I paddled a bit further up the coast, away from the main seafront. It's a rocky bit of coastline but I saw a couple of nice little bays where it night be possible to launch a kayak from on a future visit.
Long time since I saw a sea as calm as this. Time on the water was about 1½ hours and distance paddled was just short of 4 kilometres.
It might be nearly the end of September, and autumn may have just started, but it was still pretty hot in the sun by 10.00am.
Thursday, 19 September 2019
Back to Embalse de Negratin
In spite of a severe storm, which tracked down the east coast of Spain last week, leaving flooding and destruction (even a few fatalities) in its wake, Monday of this week looked a good day to take a kayak to Embalse de Negratín.
Here are a few photos from that trip. It was a repeat of the area of the reservoir that I covered on June 11th. [Blog post 12/06/19] ....... Playa de Freila to the Torre de Maruq (Moorish watchtower), nipping into all the inlets on the way, and a direct paddle back again. However, it did all look very different this time, as the water level was even lower; the lowest I've ever seen it. Shame that the storm didn't get far enough inland to help top up the reservoir. As usual I was on the water early in the morning.
Many more tree stumps and roots had now been exposed along the edge of the reservoir. Here are some examples of the more sculptural looking ones:
This was a coffee break stop at the limit of my trip - on the same headland as the Torre de Maruq. So far it had been perfect kayaking weather but strong winds were forecast for the afternoon. So time to turn back.
This inlet is where the Barranco de los Hornos runs into the reservoir. A Barranco being gully or ravine, generally with a watercourse in the bottom. The watercourse will be dry most of the year, but wet weather can change that.
Just after I got back on the water I heard the mellow sound of bells and a herd of goats appeared. Goats are inquisitive animals and large numbers lined up on a ridge to look down on me. Some came down to the water for a drink. They didn't all wear bells, so I guess it is only the 'lead goats' who have that privilege. I didn't see the goat-man or goat-women, but I've no doubt that he or she saw me. Even in the most remote of places you never know who may be watching you!
As I headed back to Playa de Freila I I saw this part submerged tree. Over the last couple of years I have passed this way several times without seeing it. It just shows how much the water level has dropped - and is a reminder of what can be lurking just below the water. I couldn't resist moving in for a close look, That is Jabalcón mountain in the distance.
I got back to the Playa at about 1:15pm. Time on the water was nearly 4 hours and the total distance paddled, at a leisurely pace, and with a couple of coffee breaks ashore, was 6 kilometres. If the wind that was forecast for the afternoon did come, it was much later in the afternoon, after I had packed up and gone.
Here are a few photos from that trip. It was a repeat of the area of the reservoir that I covered on June 11th. [Blog post 12/06/19] ....... Playa de Freila to the Torre de Maruq (Moorish watchtower), nipping into all the inlets on the way, and a direct paddle back again. However, it did all look very different this time, as the water level was even lower; the lowest I've ever seen it. Shame that the storm didn't get far enough inland to help top up the reservoir. As usual I was on the water early in the morning.
I got back to the Playa at about 1:15pm. Time on the water was nearly 4 hours and the total distance paddled, at a leisurely pace, and with a couple of coffee breaks ashore, was 6 kilometres. If the wind that was forecast for the afternoon did come, it was much later in the afternoon, after I had packed up and gone.
Friday, 28 June 2019
Catching Up.
A run of days of light onshore winds made it possible to get down to the coast twice this week - to catch up with some kayaking that I'd been deprived of by weeks of fickle weather in the winter and spring. Both trips were early morning starts, to beat the heat, with The Twist (my inflatable kayak) which was bought solely for short paddles on the sea in the summer.
On both occasions I was afloat by about 0730h., back on the shore about 0930h. and home again before the hottest part of the day.
On Monday I went to Garrucha, paddled the full length of the seafront, entered the harbour and mooched around in there for a while before retracing my route back again. A bit of an easterly swell hitting the beach made getting afloat a bit tricky - but was achieved without mishap. I was not so lucky landing on my return! Fortunately, at that time of the morning, there weren't too many people around to witness some floundering around at the waters edge. According to my GPS thingy I had paddled about 5 kilometres.
Only one big ship was in the harbour - the Oslo Wave 2 (registered in Singapore) was loading gypsum. This vessel, a general cargo ship of 12993 gross tonnage, had docked in the early hours of that morning - amazing what one can find out by just Googling the name of a ship.
While I was mooching around, a Danish yacht (a large, sleek, fancy looking, plastic thing) left the visitor's berth and headed out to sea, passing near me. The youngish, fit-looking crew of bronzed Nordic yachtsmen showed little interest in an old guy in a tiny inflatable kayak - so I didn't wish them 'bon voyage', as I would have done if they hadn't ignored me.
On Wednesday I went to Mojácar. There was still that easterly swell, so I went to a spot on the seafront where I was certain I could get afloat, and ashore again, without mishap. In a little bay, created behind a stone and concrete mole, there is almost always calm water, whatever the sea is like on the seaward side of the mole. A pleasant couple of hours was spent paddling both ways along the shoreline. There was very little wind when I set off but that freshened later, giving me an opportunity to practice using the drogue I always take with me. It was very restful drifting slowly, held head to wind, along the coast with the drogue deployed. The only mishap on this trip was the loss of a sun hat when I gust of wind whipped it off my head. Despite frantic attempts to fish it out of the water I eventually had to watch it spiralling down into the depths. Should have worn the one with the chinstrap! Another 5 kilometres was covered in this occasion.
Yesterday, when in a newsagents in Albox, I spotted a postcard, an aerial view, of the exact place where I had paddled on Wednesday :-
The seaward corner of that little bay, just behind the mole, is a perfect spot for getting afloat when it is difficult to do so on an open beach.
The last time I took my kayak to this spot was Thursday September 7th. 2017. Several more photos of this place are on the blog of that date.
On both occasions I was afloat by about 0730h., back on the shore about 0930h. and home again before the hottest part of the day.
On Monday I went to Garrucha, paddled the full length of the seafront, entered the harbour and mooched around in there for a while before retracing my route back again. A bit of an easterly swell hitting the beach made getting afloat a bit tricky - but was achieved without mishap. I was not so lucky landing on my return! Fortunately, at that time of the morning, there weren't too many people around to witness some floundering around at the waters edge. According to my GPS thingy I had paddled about 5 kilometres.
Only one big ship was in the harbour - the Oslo Wave 2 (registered in Singapore) was loading gypsum. This vessel, a general cargo ship of 12993 gross tonnage, had docked in the early hours of that morning - amazing what one can find out by just Googling the name of a ship.
While I was mooching around, a Danish yacht (a large, sleek, fancy looking, plastic thing) left the visitor's berth and headed out to sea, passing near me. The youngish, fit-looking crew of bronzed Nordic yachtsmen showed little interest in an old guy in a tiny inflatable kayak - so I didn't wish them 'bon voyage', as I would have done if they hadn't ignored me.
On Wednesday I went to Mojácar. There was still that easterly swell, so I went to a spot on the seafront where I was certain I could get afloat, and ashore again, without mishap. In a little bay, created behind a stone and concrete mole, there is almost always calm water, whatever the sea is like on the seaward side of the mole. A pleasant couple of hours was spent paddling both ways along the shoreline. There was very little wind when I set off but that freshened later, giving me an opportunity to practice using the drogue I always take with me. It was very restful drifting slowly, held head to wind, along the coast with the drogue deployed. The only mishap on this trip was the loss of a sun hat when I gust of wind whipped it off my head. Despite frantic attempts to fish it out of the water I eventually had to watch it spiralling down into the depths. Should have worn the one with the chinstrap! Another 5 kilometres was covered in this occasion.
Yesterday, when in a newsagents in Albox, I spotted a postcard, an aerial view, of the exact place where I had paddled on Wednesday :-
The seaward corner of that little bay, just behind the mole, is a perfect spot for getting afloat when it is difficult to do so on an open beach.
The last time I took my kayak to this spot was Thursday September 7th. 2017. Several more photos of this place are on the blog of that date.
Wednesday, 12 June 2019
At Last
At last, for the first time this year, I have managed to get out on the water with my folding kayak for a 'proper' paddle.
I did get out with my small inflatable kayak (The Twist) one fine Saturday morning back in February (Feb. 9th.), but that was just for an hour or so pootling around in Garrucha harbour. Ever since then fickle weather, on the coast and at Embalse de Negratin, has kept me off the water. Whenever I looked ahead at a day which appeared good for kayaking, the weather forecast changed at the last minute and strong winds, from the worst possible directions, put paid to any plans.
However, yesterday, everything looked promising for an early morning start at Embalse de Negratin. There was a last minute change in the forecast, but very high winds weren't predicted until late in the day. I planned to be off the water long before then. So I arrived at Playa de Freila at 7.00am and was all set up and on the water by 8.45am. Breakfast had to wait until I was afloat. The water level in the reservoir was much lower than when I was last here, so I expected the various inlets along the shoreline towards the dam to look very different.
Just a gentle headwind at the start. A fresh N.W. wind was forecast for the morning, coming over the top of those high 'badlands' in the distance. I had banked on it being a lighter wind at water level.
I didn't recognize this inlet at all from a previous trip along this bit of shoreline.
Sun bleached and weather-worn dead trees, stumps, roots and bushes were quite a feature of this trip. Some were quite sculptural. I could see mystical figures or creatures in all of them .... perhaps I shouldn't give my imagination free rein!
Some rock outcrops were quite nice also.
I stopped here for a leg-stretch and a comfort stop ..... also to try getting out of the kayak when fitted with the spray-deck which was supplied with it. Until now I'd never felt the use for it .... but on this occasion I thought I would try it out and see how I managed getting in and out of a much reduced cockpit size. Getting in had been O.K. but I thought I would try getting out again somewhere private, rather than embarrass myself when I got back to Playa de Freila and found an audience there! Luckily I managed just fine, as there was quite a few people around on the shore when I did get back.
I got as far as the Torre de Maruq, the remains of an ancient Moorish lookout tower last visited on May 19th. 2017, before turning back at around 11.00am. It was getting uncomfortably hot on the water by then. The outward leg of this trip, dipping in and out of all the inlets, had taken just over two hours
As I made my way back to Playa de Freila the wind died away completely, leaving the water quite mirror-like. However, this didn't last and the weather forecasters were eventually proved correct. As I packed up to leave for home the wind came back with force ...... and created a nasty chop on the water with flecks of white where wave tops were collapsing. Just as well I had made an early start.
My straight-line return leg to Playa de Freila took just 45 minutes. The cafe-bar, which was closed when I set off, in the car park at the top of the slipway, was now open and quite busy.
Time on the water for this quiet paddle was approximately 3 hours and the total distance paddled, according to my GPS thingy, was 6.95 kilometres. All in all, a very nice morning on the water - it was good to finally get afloat again.
I did get out with my small inflatable kayak (The Twist) one fine Saturday morning back in February (Feb. 9th.), but that was just for an hour or so pootling around in Garrucha harbour. Ever since then fickle weather, on the coast and at Embalse de Negratin, has kept me off the water. Whenever I looked ahead at a day which appeared good for kayaking, the weather forecast changed at the last minute and strong winds, from the worst possible directions, put paid to any plans.
However, yesterday, everything looked promising for an early morning start at Embalse de Negratin. There was a last minute change in the forecast, but very high winds weren't predicted until late in the day. I planned to be off the water long before then. So I arrived at Playa de Freila at 7.00am and was all set up and on the water by 8.45am. Breakfast had to wait until I was afloat. The water level in the reservoir was much lower than when I was last here, so I expected the various inlets along the shoreline towards the dam to look very different.
Time on the water for this quiet paddle was approximately 3 hours and the total distance paddled, according to my GPS thingy, was 6.95 kilometres. All in all, a very nice morning on the water - it was good to finally get afloat again.
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