2013 Canoeing Trip

The troop wrapped up its all Lake Sonoma month with a float trip to the Broken Bridge group campsite.  It has been some time since the troop did a water based outing and it's about time!  Aquatic outings are a core part of any scouting experience.  Every summer camp has a waterfront and it's always well attended. Who doesn't like rowing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and swimming?  Boy Scouts don't have to wait till summer to enjoy this fun though.  They can plan an outing any time during the year, and so we did.  This year we tried to make our trip late enough in the spring to insure good weather but early enough to avoid the crush of boaters that lay siege to Lake Sonoma all summer.  We were successful (by one day)!

First off, we have to thank a bunch of people for making this outing happen.  There were a lot of moving parts!  We had to borrow four of the canoes from the Coast Guard Training Center.  The Keelty family brought their family canoe and transported three of the canoes we used.  Mr. Bell brought his motorboat and camped with the group even though his son was staffing the OA Ordeal at Camp Navarro. The Latrells and the Lococos drove up and back.  Finally Mr. Frazee and Ms. Lara went as additional adult leaders which allowed the troop to split the group for the trips to and from the campsite.  As I said, a lot of moving parts.

The outing started well with the group forming up and loading in good order and the trip to the lake held no surprises.  Then the real work began.  The canoes, life jackets, paddles and troop camping gear all had to be unloaded and then reloaded into Mr. Bell's boat when it was floated.  Then several of the leaders ran the motorboat to the site, unloaded the gear and ran back.  When the motorboat was back, everyone embarked and took off.  Predictably, the motorboat beat the canoes by a large margin even after taking several detours.

When everyone was together, the troop set up its camp and then had the afternoon to enjoy the water.  Mr. Bell gave several rides to groups of leaders and scouts while the canoes were busy on the water the whole afternoon.  The lake was fairly peaceful too.  This early in the season, there were only a handful of fishermen, a sailboat and a pair of wake boarders.

When the groups returned to camp there was an edible surprise for everyone.  At the New Scout Outing three weeks earlier, the Army unit at the other group campsite donated a case of MRE's for the scouts to try out.  Each tenting pair got to share one of the meals.  The reactions were everything from "Yummy" to "Nasty" depending on which meal they picked.  Then the real dinner commenced.  Afterwards, we had one of the best campfires of the year.

The next morning we were awoken at dawn by about a dozen bass boats streaking across the lake on the way to their favorite fishing holes.  The troop woke, packed and had breakfast.  With such an early start, we had time for a little training.  the senior scouts all picked a tree in camp and trained the junior scouts on the native plants in their area.

Then the canoe contingent took off while the boat contingent loaded the troop gear.  Despite the head start, the motorboat beat the canoes back by a large margin.  When they did arrive, the canoe crew unloaded the boat and sent it back for the rest of the troop.  We loaded everything and left.

On the way out, we began to realize how lucky we had been on our scheduling.  The warm weekend temperatures had brought the ski boats out!  While we only had a few boats to share the lake with on Saturday, as we drove out on Sunday, we were passed by a nonstop stream of boaters heading to the lake!

Participants:  Brian B. Andrew, Angelo, Andreas, Sean, Ben, Donte, Devon, Jeff, John-Robert, Owen, Joseph, Bryce, Carl

Leaders: Mr. Bell, Ms. Lara, Mr. Frazee, Mr. Polkinghorn

Lessons Learned:  Everyone loves water outings.  The outhouses at the camp are dark.  Falcons Nest campsite has a well marked trail to it while Broken Bridge does not.  MRE's can be great, or not.  Everyone wants to canoe and swim.  Early spring is fishing season.