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.
