Water skiing on Kayuta Lake

FINALLY.  A chance to go water skiing on Kayuta Lake.

For two weeks in the summer, the Camp Mohawk Valley Waterski School comes to Kayuta Lake. Run by the Serth family, the school is a "summer camp where kids can come and have a fun filled week of learning how to waterski".  The students are then invited to participate in the Camp Mohawk Valley Exhibition Squad Water Ski Show featuring the X-Squad which is held on the last weekend of the ski school.

After getting the nerve to ask Joe Serth for a ski lesson, I came to the dock ready for my adventure. Joe advised me of the danger of the sport and asked only one question.  "Do you downhill ski?" I do. But that did not make it any easier.

First attempt to get up using the boom, a pole attached to the center of the boat which extends out over its side, was a total failure.

With Joe behind me, holding me up most of the time,  I was able to stand up on the skis on our next run.  For over 3 minutes, we were actually water skiing.  Until he let go.  He must have gotten tired. LOL.

Joe helped me up again the next time.  And when he let go, I finally made it on my own. What an exhilarating, scary 20 seconds.  Felt really proud of myself.








After another session with Joe the following week, I felt like there is yet hope that I will be able to
learn how to waterski.  Thanks, Joe.

Paddling on Limekiln Lake

Another opportunity to use our Sea Eagle inflatable kayak.


When we first visited Limekiln Lake Campground, we just went hiking but vowed to return to paddle on the lake.  It took us two years to return, but here we are.

Limekiln Lake, with a surface area of 457 acres is almost the same size as our own Kayuta Lake (461 acres) but more compact, it's widest diameter being 2 1/2 miles.

It was quite warm but thankfully, some clouds provided a little relief from the heat making for a very enjoyable paddle.  Through the clear water, we could see the rocky bottom of the lake, at least close to the shore.  No wonder there were many swimmers on the beach as well by the numerous waterfront campsites.

With 3 1/2 miles of shoreline, we had no plan to circle the whole lake. From the swimming beach area, we paddled until we almost reached the lake's easternmost shore which appears to be beyond the campground's border, there being a number of private camps around.

The lake was pretty quiet considering that the campground's 271 campsites were almost all occupied. Paddling was such a joy, sharing the lake mostly with  kayakers, some canoers and only 1 jet ski and a motorboat.

The day became even more memorable by these two loons, the first we have sighted this season.

Paddling on Seventh Lake

On one of our carefree days in Kayuta, we drove an hour to the town of Inlet towards Seventh Lake, the second largest lake on the Fulton Chain.  On a previous trip to Eight Lake, we saw that the campground has a dock on Seventh Lake but there did not seem to be an easy way to park and we would have had to pay an entrance fee to go there.  Instead, we opted to just use the fishing access site off Route 28.





It had a parking lot that could easily accommodate more than 10 cars at a time.  At the end of the parking lot was a building whch could have served as restrooms in the past but now, there are only 2 porta potties in front of it which thankfully were quiet clean.

Google Map of Seventh Lake;
Goff Island seen southwest of fishing access

Since the major part of the lake was towards the west, we headed off that way.  It was cloudy, the UV index 0, with 0 chance of precipitation, our ideal time to paddle.  Even though the wind was relatively calm, with only a few motor boats on the lake, the water was still a little bit choppy.  With the lake's average depth of 40 feet, maximum of 87 feet, we did not feel comfortable venturing too far away from the shores in our inflatable kayak.




With an area of 851 acres and an 11-mile shoreline, we knew we could only see a fraction of the lake with Goff Island as a good turn around point.  As we skirted the island, we could see the rocky bottom which accounted for the clarity of the water.  So unlike the murky bottom of Kayuta Lake. The island is forested and mostly uninhabited.  We saw about 2 dwellings at the western end of the island. The island was known by different names in the past but according to Adirondackalmanack.com, the current one was in honor of Isaac C. Goff who bought 4 acres of the island in 1898.  The remaining 11 acres remained state land.

Going northeast of the fishing access site, the lake became narrower with a small island in the middle of the channel.  Boats can dock on the island where picnics are allowed but no camping.






We circled around the island in a counterclockwise direction.  We noticed the lake was fairly

Google Earth photo 

shallow around the island particularly on its northern border.  The channel there was strewn with logs sticking out of a sandbar, our kayak touched bottom a few times.  We had to back out and try different routes before we finally made it through.  A google earth photo later revealed just how shallow that area was.

After the boat ride ended, we had our picnic lunch while waiting for our kayak to dry.  Later on, we discovered a trail starting from the end of the parking lot. This led to several picnic and swimming areas.

Not a bad place to return for some more paddling and picnic.