It was one of the strangest patterns I have noticed on the surface of the Lake: a slowly drifting pattern of alternating swooshes of light. The swooshes were created by the paddles of a kayak.
When a boat moves through the water, it leaves various wakes. Familiar is the V-shaped pattern of waves that spread laterally. There is also a turbulent wake: churning water left by a propulsion system such as a propeller. The turbulent wake and the debris wake (such as oil) have little lateral spread and so leave a track along the boat’s path.
Unlike that of a powerboat, the turbulent wake of a kayak isn’t continuous. Rather, a paddle disturbs a small patch of water first on one side and then the other. Almost any wind will soon disrupt the delicate patterns, but on this occasion, breathless air and glassy water allowed the pattern to persist and catch both the sunlight and my eye.
The turbulent wake left by kayak paddles has been slightly distorted by a gentle current.
My wife and I paddle together, but sometimes several hundred yards apart as I stop to fish and she continues. It amazes me that I can still see the swirls and vortices of where her paddle blade has been minutes after. The same reason they make jets wait so long between departures. Vortices can be pretty stable.
John, right you are. However, what I found striking about this observation is that, in these exceedingly tranquil conditions, the pattern persisted for perhaps a half hour.