Author Afloat

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This morning started off beautifully and stayed that way. This afternoon is still beautiful but getting warmer. Still not yet what I call hot. Earlier this morning, I inflated the kayak and paddled out onto the lake. I traveled from the cove our campsite is on to the next one around the point to meet a friend. This is looking back out of that cove toward the main body of the lake. My cove is to the left. We paddled out until we reached the point where the bed of the river that was dammed to make the lake, and the abandoned railroad bed that runs beside it were visible on my friend's fish finder. It is one of the deepest areas of the lake near our campground at 37 feet/12ish meters. Had this been a spring-fed NH mountain lake instead of a murky NC impound lake, we might have been able to see the old railbed. Alas, visibility in this lake is limited. Only 3 to 4 feet or about 1 meter. It was while we were discussing how the lake was formed and the things that wound up submerged that I discovered the left chamber was once again leaking air. A check of the patch showed it wasn't the culprit. Evidently, there is a tiny leak somewhere I cannot find on dry land. It only seems to activate when I'm in the kayak on the water. So, I paddled back to my campsite. No problem making it there. Then, I sat just offshore trying to detect the point of the leak. My friend tried, too, from his vantage point a few feet away in his kayak. We saw no bubbles and heard no air hissing, but the chamber continued to soften. Finally, I pulled the kayak out of the lake and up to my camper where I refilled the chamber and listened for escaping air. None came from the area of the patch. None came from the valve. None seemed to be coming from anywhere. Yet, an hour later, the air pressure in the chamber had dropped. I guess it's back to the garage and soapy water when I get home. In the meantime, since it does hold enough air for an hour or so on the water, I'll still enjoy some shorter paddles while I'm here.