Captain Pike's Ship Log II

Chapter 3 -- An Idea Refined

The next time he was home, it didn't take long rummaging around in the garage to find his old Boy Scout trappings, including the vulcanized bag. To this bag he attached a short rope with a Velcro strap. He decided to bring along a collection of camping gear that he had amassed over the years.

Once back at the University, his first thought after unpacking was to go straight to the pool. In his room, he placed his essential swim gear into the vulcanized duffel bag and began his walk across campus to the pool. In the locker room, he donned his suit and placed his day clothing, including his wallet along with his meager toiletries into his new invention. As he passed through the cold shower on his way into the pool area, he was so excited he had to check his pace -- he felt like a little kid on his birthday. There were only two people at the end lanes, this was great as he did not want to draw undue attention to himself. He sat in a lane with his feet dangling in the water and attached the Velcro strap around his waist. The nylon rope had been cut to the precise length, allowing the bag to trail along in the water behind him just beyond his toes. He lowered his goggles and slunk into the pool. The bag floated oddly in the lane with him, he was delighted. As he first pushed off and glided a few seconds before he began to kick and start his freestyle crawl, he couldn't feel the rope or bag at all. He paused in mid-stroke, arm extended, and looked back under his arm pit to verify that his apparatus was still in tow. Seeing the bag skimming across the water nearly caused him to laugh underwater. This was a great idea. He swam a full 2 miles, all his belongings bobbing happily in his wake. "Now," he thought, "let's see somebody try to steal my stuff!" Changing up after the swim pointed out one flaw in his design: the drawstring which seals the opening of his new swim along bag hadn't been completely adequate to keep out all the water. However, given the amount of time he'd spent swimming, it was reassuring to see how little water had actually leaked in.

Walking from the pool, his mind was filled with new possibilities. When he got to his room, Anthony fashioned a locking clamp draw tight using a piece of camping gear. This was a cinch added just below the normal closure in the bag. Using this device, one could make a loop arbitrarily tight simply by closing the lever which was pre-adjusted for a fixed diameter. The spring semester was coming to an end. This brought up a new possibility for swimming in the ocean. Turning it over in his mind, he realized his new system would be even better this summer. He had always liked swimming in the ocean, but again, there was always the gnawing consideration of having left his belongings on a beach towel for anyone to pilfer. Now, it seemed as though he'd be able to swim in the ocean for as long as he wanted -- really work on his endurance.