Friday, October 15, 2010

Day 7

Yesterday I had four limes in my bag.  I peeled one and threw it into my breakfast and learned that limes taste bad.  I threw the rest out.*
Last night I pulled into a marina and got permission to leave my boat there.  No problem.  I would need to wait until 9:00 the next morning though for someone to open the secure gate so that I could get back to my kayak and leave.
I would never do anything like jump over a fence to make an earlier launch then 9:00.  (There will soon be posted a picture of the fence I jumped over for this purpose.)
Last night I slept on a beach from which I could see my boat, it looks like I'm going to get used to sleeping on the beach and getting my boat from a marina the next morning.



Oct 15th Day 7:
I made a pot of lentils and rice on a bench at the marina (41.845269,3.127383).   Ate half for breakfast and put the other half into my Nalgene bottle and tied it into my cockpit.  Organized my stuff, got into my boat, and began my paddle for the day.  I had hoped to make it to Roses where I would meet Pigeon.
I began paddling on water that was only a little rougher then yesterday.  A continuation of the same beautiful coast line.  (I managed to take just a few pictures before my camera battery went dead again.  There must be something wrong with it.  Pictures will be up sooner or later.)
As the day went on a northern wind picked up and the water got a little rougher.  I found a beautiful cove.  Two sides with the high cliffs frequent in the area and one with a steep incline that was full of trees and a small old stone house.  There was water coming out of the rocks near the cottage.  I ate half my lunch while sitting in my boat and enjoyed the calm water and the fine location.
After that the wind picked up and my attention was distracted from the scenery by the worsening, yet still tolerable conditions.
In order to stay out of the wind I tried paddling in many of the small bays and inlets along the way.  While they protected me from the swells, at times they were extremely choppy, with sudden forces of water pushing me one way or another.  Or simply dropping me from a height.  I had to skull at least twice to remain stable.
By early afternoon (41.972764,3.230152) I realized I would need to get off the water sooner rather then later, the next marina was in Estartit, the other side of the bay.  Rather then taking a straight line I stayed close to the shore hoping the bay would protect me from some of the wind and waves.  It did, but not until I was fairly close to the marina.
As I saw some breaking waves around me I reflected on my previous experience and recalled something I had read about taking waves in the face.
In the end I only got hit by two, and they weren't as bad as those from the previous day.  The first I took head on, ducking my face close to my bow and bringing my paddle alongside the length of the boat.  The other I took on the side and was able to recover from it with a quick skull as I fell off the backside.
At about 3:00 I pulled into the marina (42.051444,3.205884) and the people who run it were extremely welcoming and helpful about letting me leave it there over shabbat.  The man in charge thought my journey was so cool that he took my picture in order to publish in the marina's news letter.  There aren't even any fences I'll have to jump over.
It looks like I'll be spending my shabbat here in  Estartit.

* Ignore this part.  He’s babbling. ~ ed.

4 comments:

  1. remember that waves bounce off cliffs. and youre safer paddling far from shore to be sure that waves dont push you into cliffs

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  2. I take care not to get pushed into the cliffs. I need to compromise the dangers of being near shore with the dangers of being far from shore, and my need to make headway.

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  3. I threw the lime into my spaghetti before I cooked it. I hoped it would add a nice flavor.

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  4. Lime juice has its place. Blueberry pie filling, for example.

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