"Improvise," said the man at the kayak store. It was the third stop in a fruitless afternoon of seeking a replacement part. The day before I had taken out my kayak on the first adventure of this year's winter in the Keys. When I returned I discovered the black rubber stopper in the drainage hole was practically rotted through.I bought the cheap kayak seven years ago at Kmart, but I discovered they don't have replacement parts. My second stop was Home Depot which stocks a wide variety of black rubber stoppers, but the ones with a handle to pull the stopper out were too large. That was the same problem with the replacement parts for the better quality boats at the kayak store.
So I decided to take the clerk's advice. Back in Michigan I have a daisy bottle stopper that would probably do the trick. I was in Dollar Tree to make some other purchases so I looked for a bottle stopper. No luck. I was roaming the store trying to find something else that would work, when I spotted a pacifier.
"Baaaa" my son used to call it. For most of his first two years "Baaa" could satisfy every need. Hunger. Fear. Loneliness. We lost Baaa once when we were traveling. The baby cried so much we went from store to store looking for the special Nuk brand. Finally we found one and my son was instantly satisfied.
Could Baaaa satisfy a disgruntled kayak?
Perfect fit, and the color even matches!
