Arnau Micheo is one of the instructors at TGNautica Kayak, and the person in charge of managing our Kayak baptism. He welcomes us punctually at ‘Miracle’ beach properly equipped: cap, sunglasses, thermal shirt, swimsuit and suitable footwear. Judging by the colour of his skin, I can tell there is such a thing as kayak-tan.
Since we are looking forward to getting started with it, we help him out with getting all the equipment out of the trailer parked right next to the beach, and we get cracking at it. His first instructions are on how to actually get in, and then behave once inside the kayak, how to take the blades (not paddles, he underlines), how ‘to blade’, so to speak, how to go aboard and ashore… General attention and silence reveal it will be the first time ever for most of the people. Next, we seal the waterproof bags containing our breakfast and towel, and jump into the open sea with the help of Arnau.
We get in with clumsiness and stress, but we all have to learn. Despite this, we all make it to the first buoys. Step by step, we become familiar with the kayak and really make those blades spin, still far from the style the ‘Duracell Bunny’ taught us. The excursion takes us all along the coastline; we can admire the statue of ‘Sant Magí’ and the entrance of the cave it is kept in, and which is brought back, year after year, by scuba divers due to the Festa major petita (local festivity after the saint’s name). And little by little, just like that, we get to ‘Arrabassada’ beach where we make a sort of ‘pit stop’. We soon realise of how much more complicated disembarking is, compared to actual boarding, or at least, in this case. Waves speed up our kayaks and we haven’t managed the breaking system just yet.
Thanks God it is a lovely morning and the water is calm; that really makes everything easier. I was told that kayaking when there is groundswell and headwind is very difficult. The weather conditions we’ve come across are simply unbeatable though. Thus, hours just fly by and by the time our training is finished, we can’t wait to give it another go. As promised, there is indeed a second chapter.
We meet Arnau a week later, at ‘La Móra’. This time though, given the fact that we are a few more people, he is joined by another instructor: Gerard. Some automatisms are already working, and so everyone starts with a little more confidence. Arnau guides us along the coast towards Tarragona. Views from the sea are simply astonishing, so kayaking within this framework, with no hassle or worries, really does cool us off. At a certain point, and right before we arrive at the ‘Cala Fonda’ beach (or Waikiki), we enter a small cave previously home of a natural mussel-bed. Today though, not even the mussels’ ashes remain. The only things stuck in the rocks are a few strawberry anemones, these ones not suitable for eating though. We turn round by the ‘Cala Fonda’, and head back towards the ‘Castell de Tamarit’ beach. Sitting in out kayak, we can see people walking along the round path, swimming at the several coves existing, fishing, doing sport…
The arrival of a dozen kayaks at the small ‘Castell de Tamarit’ cove does not go unnoticed, and some of the calm sunbathers start asking about these TGNautica Kayac trips; future customers. The company organizes group excursions from ‘La Móra’ to Tamarit, or around Tarragona and ‘Cap de Salou’, from ‘Ametlla de Mar’ to the ‘Ampolla’, and others.
Text: Ivan Rodon i Tenas (@irodon)
Translation Artur Santos (@artur_1983)
Photo: Arnau Micheo and Ivan Rodon
Services information
Telephone number: (0034) 618 218 070
Email address: kayak@tgnautica.com
Web site: www.tgnautica.com/kayak
