I paddled my Folbot Aleut today for the second time. Assembly went quicker and better. I paddled off the beach, into an inlet over a 1-2' tide rip. I was pleased with performance, though for any bigger waves I would want a spray skirt. I noticed while paddling that some parts of the deck repelled water, beads ran off. Other parts became wet. I felt the inside, wet too. At the narrow part of the inlet, the current is strong: 3-4 knots. It was behind me, but I turned around to test whether I could stem it, I could. I paddled into the back of the harbor, seeing swans and herons, talking to a girl and dogs on the beach. On my way back out, it took several minutes of hard padding to get out over the fastest current, gaining only inches per stroke. In the wider part of the inlet, teens were adventurously jumping from the fishing pier, 10-12 feet to not very deep water. Ahh, youth. I had stopped partway to pump with my new kayak pump, my butt was in water. I did notice earlier that when carving a turn or leaning to test stability, water seeped through the deck. I wasn't worried. After clearing the fishing pier, I went back through the rip. The boat seemed to be taking water faster now. Looking back, I saw the stern deck submerged. Troubled, I paddled faster. No good, the next wave swamped the boat. I had just studied the "Cowboy Recovery", which I thought of as standard before learning the name. My problem was that the boat was awash, floating with the cockpit just at the surface, even with me swimming next to it. I tried to swim out of the inlet, the current pushed me back in. Reversing course, I swam the boat into the inlet toward the fishing pier. A fisherman and a motor boater offered assistance, I declined. Not out of pride, out of caution. I could not trust the motor boat or the fire volunteers to save the boat without destroying it, or possibly harming me. I swam the boat to a gravel beach, where the diving teens helped me haul it up. Somewhere along the way, I took a divot out of my right index finger. Lessons learned: Always use float bags. Test capsize recovery on any new (to me) boat. Had I been unable to beach the boat, I would have left it and swam ashore. When I got home, I had a drink. Any suggestions on waterproofing the deck? Camp type spray?
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