Twisting in Garrucha Harbour

   Been back on the water with my Twist today.  Open water sea conditions, due to a run of days with fresh onshore winds, haven't been ideal for me lately, but I thought it would be nice and sheltered in Garrucha harbour  for a pootle around - and it was.

   There aren't any suitable places within the harbour to launch a kayak, so I started from a sheltered stretch of beach just outside the entrance.  The sun was just coming up as I parked on Garrucha seafront and unpacked.  An early start enabled me to get on the water by 8 o'clock - and off again before the sun was too hot.

0730h and the sun's up - just.

0800h and Garrucha beach is pretty deserted as I get onto the water. 

Also pretty deserted in the fishermen's part of the port,

Behind these boats is a covered area for drying and mending nets.

Maritime rescue vessel.

The commercial part of the port was busier.

   The Dutch cargo ship "Moezelborg" arrived while I was there.  I watched the tugs nudging her into a berth to load gypsum.  A variety of cargoes used to be shipped out of Garrucha, now it is almost wholly gypsum.  A constant stream of heavy lorries bring it to the dockside from a mine inland.

Space here for another ship.

Onwards to the pleasure craft marina.

Among all the plastic boats was just one traditional looking craft.

Heavy lifting rig to launch and recover very big boats.

Office of the Garrucha port authority.

Leaving the harbour and heading back to the beach.

0930h and a few people on the beach now.

Aquatic play area.

Looking back at the port of Garrucha - been and seen it all.

The Second Outing of 'The Twist'.

   I took my Gumotex Twist inflatable kayak down to the coast early this morning.  A little beach, just outside the entrance to a small harbour at Villaricos, looked promising as a launching place.  Villaricos has two little harbours, one at each end of its seafront promenade.  I was by the southern one.

   The problem of carrying a camera and other bits of 'stuff' in this little kayak has been resolved  .......... bought a buoyancy-aid jacket which has pockets.  Here's a few photos from this mornings trip :-

Good morning world ........

........  it looks a nice place for a quiet paddle.

Early morning dippers (people, not birds).

Preparing to enter the harbour.

Going in.

Inside the harbour.

Fancy a trip in a glass-bottomed boat? 

About to leave the harbour.

Going out.

Open water

Dodging rocky outcrops.

And there are plenty of rocky outcrops to dodge around.

Heading back to the beach (that's our trusty little van all alone there).

Ready to pack it all away again.

This was a good place for a peaceful little bimble on the briny!

   In a few days time this bit of coast won't be so peaceful.  The 2017 Villaricos Dreambeach music festival starts soon.  As I drove away on the coast road, I saw the big stages going up along the shore, car parking being marked out, camping areas prepared and hundreds of porta-loos being unloaded.  Thousands of young people (mainly) will be soon be arriving for six days of dancing and jiggling to that chest-hurting beat of electronic music.  Bless 'em!

Beating the Heat

   The purchase of a lightweight, single-seat, inflatable kayak (see My Kayaks and My Kayaks Photo Gallery pages) has enabled me to get back on the water again for quiet paddles ........ just for short periods.

   Early yesterday morning I had a trial run with it.  Left home just before 7 o'clock and was on the water, on Garrucha sea-front, a few minutes past 8.  Unloading, inflating and carrying down to the water took about 15 minutes, which is a lot, lot quicker than with my folding kayak.  I was off the water and heading home again before the day got uncomfortably hot.

   On the water, despite its small size, the Twist performed well.  It was comfortable, rode reassuringly easily over swells and can turn on a sixpence.  It does yaw a bit when paddled hard, which is only to be expected of a kayak only 2.6 metres long (even shorter waterline length), but, with my quiet paddling ethos, that is inconsequential.  Although not a contender to my Valkure 1 folding kayak, the Twist looks as if it will be a fun craft for any opportunity of a quick paddle.

   Sorry there aren't any photos of the maiden voyage.  The Twist does not have a secure, dry cockpit like that of its predecessor.  Stowage of a camera needs a bit of thought.

Not Such a Quiet Paddle on Embalse de Negratin.

   Actually, yesterday's paddle did start and finish quietly, but the bit in the middle wasn't what was expected.  The weather forecast for the area seemed reasonable - temperature not too high and just a bit of wind from the north-west, which should have made the north side of the reservoir, under the steep cliffs of the badlands, sheltered.  The plan was to cross the reservoir from Playa de Freila, delve into a couple of large inlets directly opposite the Playa and then pootle eastwards along the badlands shore to the next big inlet.  Explore that inlet and then cross back to the south side and head straight back to the start point and lunch - sounded simple!

   In the inlets there was a fresh breeze funneling down the ravines and gullies but it didn't spoil quiet paddling and, if anything. made it even more pleasant by keeping the temperature down.  So, all went well until  emerging from the shelter of the last big inlet and finding that the wind had chosen to ignore the forecasters!  It had backed round to the south-west, so it was blowing directly up the reservoir from the dam, and had freshened considerably.  The open water crossing now looked tricky with closely spaced waves and deep troughs in between, and some waves were breaking.  Running with the wind and waves was fine, but I didn't want to go that way, nosing into the waves was doable but wet, but I don't 'do' wet these days and in any case I didn't want to go that way either.  I wanted to cross more or less at right angles - which really didn't look so feasible.  The only option was to retrace my route, plugging away into the wind while hugging the shoreline, where there was a bit of shelter from that wind, in the hope that conditions at my original crossing point (which at least is one of the narrowest points of the reservoir) would be better - and my luck was in.  By the time I reached the shelter of a big inlet opposite Playa de Freila, and had a leg stretch walk ashore, the wind had abated and shifted and any thoughts of spending hours trapped on the wrong side the water quickly dissolved, and the crossing back to my lunch box was just fine.

Here is a collection of photos from yesterday's paddle along what is most probably the most rugged bit of the badlands of Embalse de Negratin :-

   Cliff falls are evidently common, as you can see by the pile of debris at the foot of the cliff in the above photograph.  Vertical cracks further along the cliff face show where the next great chunks might break away.

Ready to cross back to Playa de Freila - and lunch.

   Unless we get some really cool spells, there's unlikely to be any more paddling on Embalse de Negratin until the autumn.  To beat the heat it would be necessary to be on the water soon after sunrise and off and packed up again by mid-morning.  That would mean leaving home at some unearthly hour of the morning, middle of the night even!  Today the temperature at our home was well above 30°C in the shade by mid morning - and temperatures can be even worse further inland.  And it is going to get much hotter yet!