‘Twas another hot sunny day at camp… with great wind. At Rest  Hour we had the first of three heats to qualify for the Wayne Peck Sailing Regatta. My camper partner sailed like a champ (I only crewed) and we won our heat. Leon went down to defeat in his heat just before dinner, apparently due to a false start. I heard all about this at dinner with the Point Smalls, who also told me some of them went on their first  water trail (swimming on horseback) today…… Tonight was our annual Point Small cooking class, which means 27 Point Smalls cooked dinner in my cabin under my tutelage. We made shrimps in garlic and lemon sauce, Greek salad, pasta with home made pesto and steaks. While we were eating, two Point Smalls (and their counsellor) in pirate costumes regaled me with stories of their dress up Wayne Peck heat – and Leon’s racing start downfall…. At dinner in the dining hall (yes, we made it there for announcements, and a good thing that was thanks to how entertaining they were, as per usual), the trippers did a mind-boggling skit. With Kelsey, the Head Tripper, reciting poetic paeans to the wilderness on the microphone, each tripper entered the dining hall in costume, all of them portraying a different theme, and each offering a speciality three-day canoe trip in that theme. There was Survival Man all decked out in survival gear offering a survivalist trip, Guru Man in  the garb of India with a yoga  mat, offering a meditation and yoga trip retreat, Adventure Man offering a whitewater trip, Wanderer offering a meander in the wilderness… and kids were invited to sign up for any trip that interested them… They swarmed the very artsy craftsy sign-up sheets after dinner….Also at dinner a great Mexican Fiesta skit for a staff event at 11 pm… And three witches advertising running a Harry Potter activity for the Juniors tonight….

After dinner I had the honour and the pleasure of doing a 1st class canoe test. The Senior Boy doing the test paddled like a champ. He’s been working on this award for two summers non-stop – and he passed! It was particularly joyous to see about 30 of his friends watch the test, and cheer wildly when he passed… During that test I saw two kids doing their timed swim for Bronze Medallion, with counsellors cheering them on… and another camper working with one boy on kayak manoeuvres… And a camp van pulling a trailer loading up a bunch of kayaks for the whitewater kayak day trip tomorrow. Busy place, oodles of smiles, moon rising now over Teepee Lake.