I’m a dog person. Except when it comes to boats. With boats, I worry I might be a cat person.

Built nearly 25 years ago in Arichat, a small village on Isle Madame off Cape Breton Island in eastern Nova Scotia, the Rock Water is a stout craft and has served me well over the years. But my luck finally ran out last year, and it seemed everything was breaking down on a weekly basis. First was the demise of my fish finder, followed by my GPS/radar. Then the oil cooler went kaput. Next to die was the alternator.

The East End Classic invitational track meet, which was held under mostly sunny skies at East Hampton High School Saturday, has certainly grown: There were 853 athletes this time around from 28 schools.

While this spring’s buoyant East Hampton flag football team went winless, its head coach, Erin Gillott, and her assistant, Josh Brussell, were impressed by their players’ grit, and also by the fact — as was evident to anyone who saw them play — that the girls were having fun, which presumably ought to serve as a big draw when it comes to upping the sport’s numbers even further.