Heya John. Yes, salt water. Glad you asked, I just knew I'd forget some little tidbit of important information....

: Hey Kurt,

: It looks like it might have been a chemical reaction. Was it SALT
: water that penetrated the wood? Maybe salt residue(?) I'm
: curious to learn about this, too.

: I wonder if you could replicate it on a scrap piece of wood.

: Now it's a "feature" on your kayak, in Microsoft-speak.

: John