[Rhodes22-list] Boy Scout Camping/Paddling Trip

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Hi Scott,

COVID-19 has complicated everything about operating and recruiting for a Boy Scout program. Our troop met virtually on-line via Zoom for a year and then outside with masks and temperature checks.  We haven’t car pooled to events in a year and a half.  I thought the Chemistry merit badge via Zoom.  Although it’s far from ideal, we’ve managed to hold onto youth and even recruited a few new youth.  Maybe, there aren’t too many other alternatives for youth.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
ASM TT767, Midland, MI

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 21, 2021, at 3:57 PM, Scott Andrews via Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:
> 
> That’s awesome Roger, our troop has always been very small and the boys only took water sports for the merit badge. We haven’t had any cross over scouts since before the virus started. 
> Hope you have a great time!
> Scott & Rebecca 
> 86’ Rhodes22 Pantalaimon 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Aug 21, 2021, at 12:53 PM, Frank Goldsmith <goldsmith.cf at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Good for you for giving those boys an introduction to paddling, Roger.  I used to teach rowing at a Boy Scout camp in North Carolina, and I still go swamp canoeing every year with my buddies, so I’m a big proponent of learning the skills of self-propelled water travel.  
>> 
>> Frank
>> 
>> Frank Goldsmith
>> S/V Mary Bess (Rhodes 22 1985/2001)
>> Fairview, NC
>> Lake Keowee, SC
>> 
>>>> On Aug 21, 2021, at 12:34 PM, ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi All,
>>> 
>>> Attached are a couple of photos of my other water toys all ready to go and play.  Next weekend, my Boy Scout Troop is going on a weekend camping/paddling trip to Cooke Dam Pond ( i.e. the lake created by Cooke Dam on the Au Sable River) in the NE lower peninsula.  We have 4 new crossover Webelos Scouts that can’t swim very well yet.  So, we can’t just turn them loose in a canoe or kayak.  In order to give them a paddling experience, I plan to put these 4 Webelos in PFD’s with canoe paddles, one in each corner, sitting on the inflation tubes of my RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat).  I will sit on the seat in the middle with my rowing oars.  With 5 of us paddling, we should have no trouble keeping up.  Although, it may be tough to go in a straight line until we learn to work together!  The RIB is rated at > 1400 lbs load.  With all the floatation around the perimeter, the RIB is so stable; that, it’s almost impossible to flip over.  Plus, we have the Honda outboard if things go crooked.  I will, of course, have a rescue throw bag.
>>> 
>>> I’ve never travelled with this configuration of watercraft before.  It’s not bad on the expressway, although side winds affect it quite a bit.
>>> 
>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>> 
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