I’ve made some dreadful decisions in the heat. Once welded a hull in Seville in August wearing jeans. Another time I tried to sleep inside a zipped bivvy with three mozzies and a gas stove. But that Saturday on Buendía—me, Glenn, and Rafa—takes the flan.
The sun was mean. Not cheeky, not “ooh grab a cold beer” hot. I mean properly vengeful, like it had a grudge. You could see the shimmer off the water like it was laughing at us.
Glenn turns up with what he calls “the deluxe kit.” It’s a crusty old fridge, a travel kettle that belonged in a museum, and a 40-metre extension lead with frayed bits that spark if you so much as look at it wrong. “Power base,” he calls it. I called it a slow-motion fire hazard.
He plugs it all into the camper, proud as punch, and by lunchtime the fridge is panting like an asthmatic pug and the kettle’s blown its fuse. He starts sweating. Not from the heat—he’s realised his sausages are starting to cook inside the fridge.
“You need to go solar,” I told him, already hiding under the bait umbrella. “Proper job. No more guessing games with electrics.” After some moping and two beers, he gave in and started scrolling.
That’s when I pointed him to a solar panel installer I’d bookmarked after my own battery fiasco last year. Spanish firm, no BS, actually answers the phone. Told him if he wants to fish like a king and not a bloke with toasted bacon in his pants, start there.
Rafa, meanwhile, is arguing with his bait boat again—it’s stuck in a reed patch. Claims the fish will “sense the banana-flavoured boilies.” The only thing sensing anything is my skin turning the colour of a tomato left on a dashboard.
We caught one between us. A stubborn mirror carp that felt more like an apology from the lake than a victory. It flopped once, glared at us, then sulked in the net while Glenn tried to photograph it without sweating onto his phone.
Best part? Around 5:30, there was this five-minute silence. Like the whole embalse held its breath. No birds. No boats. Just stillness. Peace. Then Glenn knocked over the frying pan and burnt his sock.
So yeah. Lessons:
- Shade is non-negotiable.
- Don’t trust vintage extension leads.
- Get yourself a decent solar panel installer before your fridge becomes a microwave.
We’re back next weekend. Glenn says he’s going full solar by then. I’ll believe it when I see him make a cup of tea without electrocuting a tree.
