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.