I've seen the sit-on-tops...always have heard them called "sit upons." A friend of mine has one of those and one day we were going (with a group) to Upper Goose Pond in MA...turned out to be anything BUT a pond...but rather a large body of water with several very impressive houses along it's shore, a channel and then it opened up into an uninhabited space....long story short, I thought for sure she was in trouble with her sit-upon as the water was choppy and later the wind picked up and it was downright rough water but she was just fine...ok...wet...but fine! Of course, we were all soaked..LOL!

And seal lions? harbor seals? Dang!!! The biggest creature I've run into are some big ugly carp! I'm always on the lookout for herons and eagles which are pretty big too but nothing in comparison to what you've seen! Do they pay much attention to your boat? I can get close enough to Canadian Geese to touch them (when they are swimming) unless they have babies and then they are a bit more cautious. Oh...wait...I have seen a few beavers too...one came running out of the woods once and made such a big splash and so much noise that I thought it was a bear (had only seen a flash of brown fur).   

Cool beans.

Michelle