Seamanship 2017

This year the Scout's Seamanship competition was organized by our very own Scouters, along with members from other Troops in the district.

Held at the Navy Base in Simonstown over the weekend of 1 - 3 September, the event did not disappoint. See more from our Assistant Troop Scouter, Wayne Pellew and Scout Robyn B of the A Team, below:

"This year 1st Muizenberg entered 2 teams into the Seamanship competition, an A Team and a B Team. The B Team were tasked with gaining experience while the A Team had to actively compete.

Day 1: All the teams arrived at the Naval Base at 19h30 where they were assessed on the spot. Uniforms were inspected, registration forms had to be completed and handed in, and each Patrol was given three competitive STAs (spare time activities) to make, while two Scouts had to undertake a navigation exam.

Day 2: In the morning the Scouts were greeted with a boat inspection of all safety and boating equipment. They sailed seven races out at sea where both A and B Team capsized, but bounced back to finish somewhere in the middle. This was followed by a cooking competition, where they had to make a three course meal while still continuing with their STAs.

Final day: The B Team bounced back in the sailing race and caught up with the competition. This gave the rest of the competitors a bit of a fright, including our A Team! Rowing was followed by a navigation practical race to Long Beach and back again.

The competition was tough but valuable skills were learned and everyone had a lot of fun!"

ATS Wayne Pellew

"Seamanship, to say the least, was a blast! Sailing on the ocean with strong winds and huge swells was extremely different to our little vlei.

My crew consisted of five members; Dylan as PL, Nathan as APL, Mika, Hannah and of course, me.

We arrived on Friday night and immediately got started with our Spare Time Activities. We had to create a knotting board, a morse transmitter, and had the impossible task of carving an oar. That last one did not go as well as we wanted. It was really difficult as the wood was so thick.

On Saturday morning we were up at 6am, making pancakes and getting ready for the day ahead of us. We stepped outside into the chilly breeze and took in the salty sea air. The water was absolutely freezing and we nearly froze when our boat capsized! We were actually knocked over by our OWN boat which the B team was sailing.

Overall it was an amazing adventure full of fond memories that we will cherish all our lives. Thank guys, I couldn't have asked for a better team to share the experience with."

Scout Robyn B

1st Muizenberg performed very well and came third overall. Thanks to Wayne and Robyn for their valuable feedback and to the rest of the Scouters and Scouts for all their hard work. You make us proud!