Mike Rodenberg organized what was a beautiful paddle. A few brief sprinkles did not ruin the trip. We saw many turtles, perhaps 8-10 great blue herons, and the usual belted kingfishers. The most unusual sight was a water snake right at the base of the take out ramp that I nearly stepped on. It swam away with a minnow in its mouth and was still for a while next to Marlene so we got a good look before it hid in the weeds. Early in the paddle I noticed I had an excess of water in my kayak. After wringing out my saturated sponge for the third time I thought "Hey, something's wrong!" (Duh) We don't even like to think of the possibility of a hole in out boats. An inspection at the lunch break found a 5 point star crack (like an asterisk). Marlene offered her duct tape which she had with her things. It worked and I had no leaking for the second half of the paddle.
Bob Fitch