When one mentions scouting, the first outdoors activity that normally springs to mind is camping. In fact, the Stella Maris College Scout Group which forms part of The Scout Association of Malta, regularly organises both Group and Sectional camps, allowing its members to achieve the scouting objectives in a fun and challenging way. Whilst the Group’s members tend to have more free time during the summer scholastic holidays, the hot weather associated with this season makes activities such as camping more challenging to organise. The Venture Unit, therefore, decided to shift their August camp from land to sea, where they built and lived on a wooden raft anchored at sea for a few days.
Although the Group had already done something similar in the past, this year’s raft was redesigned and built from scratch by the Venture Scouts themselves. With the assistance of the Group’s leaders, the scouts spent the past weeks preparing the raft’s components and also practiced assembling it on land. They then came up with a programme of activities and menu for the duration of the activity.
After obtaining the necessary permits, the scouts took to Exiles Bay in Sliema, where they assembled the raft and pitched a ridge tent on it. After towing it out to a predetermined location outside the swimmer zones, it was then anchored there between the 4th and 7th August, proudly flying the Malta, Venture Unit and Camp flags for all to see. On this raft, the Ventures not only cooked, ate and slept, but also used it as their base for various sea-related activities, such as canoeing, fishing, snorkelling, swimming, sea games and a canoe tug-of-war.
As the Venture Scout motto states, our youth should “Look Wide”, thinking outside of the box and exploring all possibilities. They should not limit themselves to what they already know, but strive to learn new things and accept new challenges and responsibilities. This camp with a difference was in keeping with this motto, since it was both a learning and an adventurous experience for the Group’s members. After all, as Lord Baden Powell (the founder of Scouting) once said, “life without adventure would be deadly dull”!
The Stella Maris College Scout Group would like to thank the Ports and Yachting Directorate staff at Transport Malta, the Sliema Local Council, the 1st Sliema Scout Group, and members of the Ghaqda Dilettanti tas-Sajd Sliema for their support in making this event possible.