After breakfast several of us worked on gear repairs. Don Fleming cut a piece out of a flexible cutting board and screwed it over the missing hatch cover. He didn’t think this was tough enough, so he started carving down a bear can lid to fit the porthole as a plug. Before that project was done, Doug Hamilton came back from a hike with an old plastic jerry-can. This thick material met with Don’s approval so he cut a circle out of the can and screwed I down with silicone calk for a final seal.
I washed the DEET, sunscreen and sweat off my burst dry-top gasket, then set it aside to dry during breakfast. In the foggy air it took hours to look dry. I stuck temporary duct tape patches on the inside to hold the lips of the break together. To my surprise the cheap tape stuck to the latex. I think cleaning it with an alcohol wipe had made this possible; I’m bringing more of those in my kit next trip. I cut a patch out of an old gasket and stuck it on the outside with rubber cement. The rubber cement rolled off the gasket too easily and my confidence in it sticking was low. I decided to leave the sticky duct tape on as a backup. [4 months later, the rubber cement is long gone but the duct tape is still holding!]
By the time these repairs were done it was noonish and there was talk of doing a short paddle. I decided to stay in camp, let the rubber cement cure, write in my journal (as you see) and read a book. We had seen one bear on the beach miles south of here so it was good to have at least one person stay in camp in case a bear came through.