paddling with a camera

I started late afternoon at I-25 highway (frontage road) and paddled upstream. The river channel was overgrown with bushes in some narrow places. More trees went down. There was an additional portage over a small logjam. However, both barbed wire fences were washout by the high flow, so I really couldn't complain about obstacles.

The heels of my feet worn out holes at the kayak bottom through three layers of kevlar to the very gelcoat. In one of these footprints a small pinhole was just created, perhaps, during one of my portages. Obviously, I have been working hard with my legs taking advantage of the tiller bar steering systems. I am sure that I had often some sand at the kayak floor. Something difficult to avoid when paddling my local rivers and creeks with numerous portages or walking through sandbars.

I had noticed these marks from my heels before, but, had not checked them any closer. I didn't really expect to go through kevlar layers.

With a piece of duct tape put outside of the hull I managed to paddle down river without taking any water. It was nice evening with a great light for photography just before sunset. Now, it's time to do repairs and maintenance to my kayak. What concerns me is that these footmarks are not symmetrical. A twisted seat or a twisted paddler?

Related posts:

• 03/28/2005 Big Thompson River ?
• 04/07/2005 Paddling and Exploring the Big Thompson River below Loveland, Colorado
• 04/11/2005 Big Thompson River from I-25 to Hillsboro Dam
• 04/20/2005 Paddling Upstream Can Be Faster than Downstream - Hail Storm on the Big Thompson
• 04/26/2005 Big Thompson River with a New Pentax Optio WP Camera
• 07/06/2005 Back to Big T with Sisson Nucleus