Raccoons are kind of cute... as long as they're not on board your boat, rummaging through your food bins. I've had them raid campsites before, but I think this is the first time we've been boarded by the clever little critters.

Boats, unlike cars, rarely go where you point them. This is, of course, old news to anyone who voyages under sail; likewise for those who navigate in coastal areas with strong currents. Those of us with small, fast powerboats tend not to care about this quirk once we leave the dock- how much of an effect can a light breeze have on a 20-plus-knot boat?

Quite a bit, in fact. The "lubber's loop", the course that's sailed when cross-track error is ignored, gets all of us in a bit of trouble now and then.

The weeds are really, really bad this year. The folks at Zero to Cruising have commented a few times on how thick the weed mats in Collins Bay are- some of their weeds have even trapped birds. And on the Rideau this weekend, we rarely made it more than a minute or two without getting a weed ball of some kind wrapped around the prop.