# Inflation

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Posted by LeviLovR on August 23, 2022 at 13:21:55

Rain was forecast for yesterday afternoon and evening as the storms that had been drenching some of our western states made their way across the country towards the east coast. The prediction was for showers and downpours and sure enough clouds started rolling in in the late afternoon and I decided to head for the lake in the hopes that I would get drenched in one of the downpours and be able to going swimming in the rain as well. Any rain we received would be welcome due to our current drought situation. So I donned my favorite "swim suit" consisting of brown boots which are on their last legs, a pair of vintage Lee jeans (they look and feel great wet or dry but especially when wet), brown leather belt, light blue denim shirt, navy tie with yellow polka dots, blue denim suit coat and off white straw cowboy hat and headed out.

At the lake I assumed my usual position of sitting on the big rock next to the dock and watched as some dark angry looking clouds spread across the sky. The few swimmers on the beach picked up their stuff and left but like a mother bird on her nest I clung to my rock in anticipation of the downpour I hoped would come.

At the lake you never know exactly what will happen when it comes to storms. Sometimes it's a deluge, sometimes they dissipate and disappear. sometimes they simply circle around and you can see it's raining elsewhere but not on you. So I sat and waited. Eventually I could see what looked like fog spreading across the lake. It totally obliterated the opposite shoreline and kept advancing towards me like an army marching to meet its foe in battle. I felt small drops hit my hand. I heard tiny pings on my hand and small dark dots formed on the sleeves of my coat. Gradually the rain came down harder, but it wasn't the soaking, drenching rain I had wished for. It passed quickly leaving me half wet. Only the front side of me was wet but not the back. It was disappointing but clearly the storm was not over. The next episode might be that longed for super soaker I so desired. But the storm teased and taunted me instead. It would rain but the drops were large and spread out and far apart - just enough so that you could say it was raining. Eventually two different men pulled into the otherwise empty parking lot and walked down the dock checking the depth of the shallow water. I explained to them that the water was extremely low and most boaters had been having trouble unloading and loading their boats. The first guy had a small boat and figured he could get it in. The second man had a large boat that he needed to pull out of the water for a few days for repairs and it was obvious that he couldn't do it at this ramp. He was extremely disappointed as his camp was just around the corner from the dock and now he had to look for another spot. But he was glad he had checked it out first before getting stuck.

Then a young man pulled in and parked his truck at the end of the dock. He pulled a large bundle out of the back of the truck and carried it down to the end of the dock. I thought it was an inflatible raft or zodiac. He returned to the truck and got an air pump and a back pack and took those to the end of the dock as well. He was very friendly and talkative. He was not at all perturbed when I waded out into the water in all my clothes and dunked myself so I could get completely soaked as the rain was clearly not going to finish the job. I stood in the water next to the dock while he stood on the dock and started pumping air into his craft.

It turned out that this vessel was not what I expected - at all. I had seen inflatable kayaks and canoes before but this was actually a boat with a squared off back end complete with a rudder. It wasn't made of rubber either. Instead it was constructed from a heavy material very similar to styrofoam. It was quite hard. I told him I had seen some girls who had inflatable paddle boards made of the same material at the ramp and had even seen two men who had a motorized paddle board that rises up out of the water so it looks like you are floating on air instead of water. Then this weekend there were two guys who were out there on motorized kites with paddle boards underneath. The young man said he had tried the kites before but said they were difficult to steer and control - especially if it was windy. He had not tried the paddleboard but had seen them and thought they looked like tremendous fun and would be much easier to steer.

He explained that he had bought his boat on line. He had been looking for something and just happened to run across this. This was his second time using it. He had taken it to the ocean the day before and it was covered with salt and sand. I helped him lift it off the dock we turned it over in the water and gave it a good rinse and then lifted it back up on the dock so he could finish assembling it. He remained on the dock and never actually got in the water himself. The boat was heavier than I had imagined it would be.

While we were talking and he was putting the boat together I dunked myself several times. He never said a word about my wet clothes. The water was beautiful! Of course he was fully clothed too, and while he hadn't got in the water yet he was about to paddle off with the risk of getting soaked by impending downpours that might come at any second. He had no rain gear with him that I could see. I stood waist deep in the water enjoying my wet jeans and clothes and watched him attach the inflatable seat and other small pieces to the boat. I think he told me the assembly time was supposed to be 13 minutes and he thought he would be lucky if he could do it in 25. Of course we both agreed he would be able to do it faster once he developed a routine and knew exactly what he was doing. Finally it was all assembled and we lifted it off the dock and set it in the water. He asked me if I would hold onto it while he ran back to the truck with the case that it came in. No problem. He returned with oars. I asked him how long it took to deflate and he replied it was actually faster than the time it took to inflate it. I held the boat steady while he climbed in and watched as he paddled away. Finally I turned and took one final dip before returning to my rock to drip off before getting in the car and driving home. Heavier rain would come later in the night - of course!

I really enjoyed talking with this young man and I think he enjoyed talking with me and appreciated the small amount of aid I was able to give him. It was certainly an interesting procedure to watch and I was intrigued. I would have liked to have been there when he disassembled it all and packed it back in its case.

This type of inflation I really enjoyed!

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