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The theme this year was Zelda because a crew member had wanted to do it for so many years. Troop 27 patrols found their clues in donut boxes and had to decode a passage leading them to the next station (standard treasure hunt).  From there there were many activities and stations planned for them. There was hawk-throwing and wood chopping, There was archery, and there was a cone event where the patrol had to lash a sail onto a pre-built catamaran and do a canoe course. There was fire building where patrols had to melt a poisonous goop (aka jello) to find their clue hidden inside. There was also a first aid station where the patrol assisted the wounded patrol leader to a witch hut where they received a healing potion, patrols also got to do bridge-building activities and grappling hooks. The end location was Mount. Madonna where the patrols and Venture crew spent the night and the next morning summited Mount. Madonna to an amazing view. According to Troop 27, it was a very successful treasure hunt and everyone had fun, the video this year with the bears was also spectacular with a great editing team.

By Julian

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On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th, Crew 27 embarked on a journey up north. We sojourned across California to the Sierras. We finally arrived at Dodge Ridge only to find that it was chock-a-block with skiers and the other snow-faring types, forcing us to head back down the mountain to find another spot off the road. Eventually, a location was found, the gear was unloaded, and the process of building shelters began. It was a bad snow year and only about a couple inches or so of snow covered the ground. We were forced to quarry out snow from far and wide to build up the snow for our shelters. When the shelters had been finished, night fell and we enjoyed our dehydrated meals before tucking ourselves into our sleeping bags to hopefully get a few hours of shut-eye. Unfortunately, the universe felt bad for not giving us any snow to build our shelters with and decided to dump a couple of feet on us overnight to make up for this deficit. Thankfully, most of the shelters survived, though some people got a rude awakening with a face full of snow around 5:00. In the morning, the snow turned to rain as the sun came up, and we were forced to leave before everyone got hypothermia. Though all the events seemed like they would ruin a trip, the Crew managed to make the most out of it and have a great time anyway. 

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In December, the Crew went to Coyote Point for a day of pioneering and pistol shooting. Prior to their reservation and scheduled shooting time, the Crew had a pioneering day in the park and constructed several rolling stars; a device that lashed together 8’ spars in the shape of a star and Crew members to walk on them across a field. The Crew learned how to construct shapes like squares, pentagons, hexagons, and octagons only using rope and wood. 

When the crew finished, they cleaned up and visited the Coyote Point  Rifle and Pistol Club.  We started the afternoon with a thorough safety briefing conducted by club members and then had an opportunity to visit the range and shoot with several different handguns including semi automatics, single and double action revolvers. The crew had lots of fun before heading to the group campground at Memorial Park. 

We arrived at Memorial Park after dark, but it was still early in the evening.  The Crew set up camp and cooked a delicious mac and cheese for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful campfire full of many songs before sleeping in the rain with the park to themselves. The woke in the morning to a bit of rain, yet carried on with our planned service project to help the park rangers pull French Broom and other several invasive species in the park for a few hours before heading home to the Congregational Church of the Peninsula.

By Dominic

On November 13th, Venture Crew members took a trip to Mt. Madonna State Park along with the Troop for a three-day camping trip. On the outing, we conducted a trail maintenance service project for the park, clearing and leveling trails near the Tan Oak Campground. We also worked on orienteering skills using the UTS Coordinate system to locate different landmarks in the park. The highlight was the giant carousel pioneering project we completed (shown to the left). This style was said to have been used during fairs and events in Medieval Europe. It could seat some of our smallest members for a few runs. Overall, it was a blast making, and the outing as a whole was great!

By Deniz

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On October 22, 2023, the crew, alongside adults from Boy Scout Troop 27, participated in a course to learn how to perform first aid in the backcountry. The course was run by Paratus Institute trainers who gave the group scenarios to work out and practice with. Some members of the group received their CPR certificates upon completing the CPR test and online training. Overall, the crew had a great time learning useful skills for when they go on future camp outs or hikes in the wilderness.

By Dominic

On October 6, 2023, Crew 27 set out to participate in a wilderness survival exercise in Harden Flat. Upon arriving late at night, we went to sleep to start the activity the next day.  Throughout the next 3 days, we built shelters that we slept in, learned multiple ways to start a fire, cooked an egg inside an onion, and many other ways to cook. We also went through a well planned search and rescue activity. One of the final things we did was learn many different ways to find food in the wilderness, including eating Pine Bacon. After all these fun activities, we made it back to the vehicles, and started on our 4 hour journey home filled with new knowledge.

By Zachery R

In September, the crew left from the Congregational Church of the Peninsula at 8:00 am to arrive at Mt. Mermon Adventures for a 9:45 reservation. The crew had a brief safety refresher and was sent to the course. After their adventures in the trees, the crew went to Arcangeli bakery, where they purchased world famous artichoke bread. The crew then left for some quality beach time at San Gregorio. The crew set up a net, kicked off their shoes, slapped on some sunscreen, and played some beach volleyball. That night, the crew slept over at Sam MacDonald Park. The next day was full of volleyball before returning safely to Congregational Church of the Peninsula.

By Dominic

Every year family camp is an absolute blast. This year was no different. We started out the morning with flag planting at Skylawn Memorial where we planted flags on top of graves of people who served in the military as well as emergency personnel. We then went to Brannan Island which was a really nice large campsite area. About 9-10 crew members attended along with a fair amount of the troop. We canoed, kayaked, build a pioneering structure (an archway in front of our campsite), and cooked yummy food. We did some stuff alongside the troop and some stuff by ourselves. The only downside to this outing was the earwigs that managed to follow us all home. Can’t wait until next year.

By Allie

Departing on Friday from the Congregational Church of Belmont the Crew headed to Boulder Creek Scout reservation for Camporee. Camporee is a council run event where different scout Troops and Crews come together to compete in different events. These events included match split, tomahawk throwing, whips, first aid scenarios, orienteering, giant clove hitch, and many more. After arriving on the first day, the Crew set up camp and had a campfire. The next day the competitions began. We hiked all over Boulder Creek to participate in the different events. After an exciting day we returned to camp for dinner. The next day was the award ceremony. Crew 27 took second place to the Woodies in Troop 27. The weekend finished off with a service project for the campsite. Then we packed up and headed home.

By Miranda

Every year Crew 27 plans and runs a treasure hunt for Troop 27, a troop we work very closely with. Every year has a different theme and in turn has different styles of events that are run. This year our theme was Pirates so every event that was run had some aspect of that involved. Some examples of this was using canoes to retrieve a clue from a ship sitting in “bomb infested waters”, using compass skills to find oranges to cure diseases, or using a hand held telescope to look at and decipher signal flags up on a hill. The troop members travel to different parks in the bay area, this time mostly along highway 1. Due to the heavy rains we had previously the park we wanting to end at was closed so we ended it back at the Congregational Church of Belmont and had a chili dinner together. Overall, it was a lot of fun to plan and run and from what has come back from the troop, they all had a lot of fun too. Can’t wait to do it again next year!

By Allie

Right after the crew members got out of school, we began the trip up to the mountains. The purpose? To engage in the greatest sport known to man, skiing, of course. After an exhilarating car ride, we arrived at a cabin that belonged to one member’s family. We set up camp in the living room and quickly went to sleep in preparation for the day of fun that would follow. Early the next morning, the crew loaded up with their gear and made their way to Boreal. Upon arrival at the slopes, a grand day of jubilation and rivalry commenced as we zipped down the slopes and gained our footing in the snow. After a long day, we ate a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant and went back to the cabin for some board games. We skied the slope some more on the second day before having to head back home, concluding a great ski trip.

By Corey

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is a volunteer program that helps with disaster response, and in this instance Venture Crew 27 had the opportunity to be a part of the team that trains the team. The part we did was helping with the training of triage, or assessing the order in which to help people, as a “victim”.  All the “victims” were assigned a specific injury and got appropriate moulage to match, then spent the rest of the day acting out the injury for the CERT team members to assess. It was truly an interesting experience.

By Griffin

Venture Crew 27 returned to our recurring adventures in trail maintenance in our most recent service project at Wunderlich Park. With assistance from the preeminent park personality of Stu we geared up with McLeods and shovels to restore the trails from the damage inflicted on them by this year’s inordinate amount of rain. After a not insignificant amount moving and leveling we came to our great reward: scotch and/or french broom. At arriving at the boon of broom we weeded to our heart’s content, and the a little more, and left safe in the knowledge that we’d done something to help the community.

By Griffin

We left for the snow early in the morning, and after a drive to Dodge Ridge (a ski place in Stanislaus National Forest), we arrived by the side of the road where we camped. We spent a while bringing all of the various supplies up to the camping area and starting to make our snow shelters. We continued building the shelters for the rest of the day until it got dark. At this point, there was a lot of rain and snow coming down. Those who had finished their shelters built an eating area, and those of us who were still working to secure the shelters from the rain and snow attempted to finish their shelters before their bags got too wet from the pouring precipitation. It was dumping snow when we were eating together outside, and the wetness of our clothes made it very cold. Finally, we went back to our shelters go to sleep, but the continued rain and snow quickly caused further problems for many of us who had design flaws in our shelters (including mine). A few of our shelters suffered problems of the roofs not being sloped enough, so they began to fall in, and we had to get out of our sleeping bags and put on our soaked snow clothes to repair and redesign our shelters. The Troop had even worse problems with their shelters, so we had several people in Venture Crew going over to their area to help them. Eventually, we went to sleep, and we all survived the night. The next morning, we had to dig out our shelters and knock them down while packing up to leave quickly in the event that the snow got worse. The snow got worse, and we canceled all events in favor of bringing things down the mountain as fast as possible and quickly organizing and packing everything up, as the snow was projected to continue getting worse and worse. Finally, we got into the cars and left to come back home.

By Evan

V27, along with the troop, partied their way through the new year at St. Bartholomew’s Church in San Mateo! We had a surfeit of games, food and party tricks to keep us entertained, and we even got a game of Beer Cran Mango Pong going! (patent pending.) The Crew participated in the Troop’s Iron Chef cooking competition, and we rang in the new year at midnight while cooking a delicious meal that included Gnocchi with an artistinal tomato, garlic & onion sauce. Some of us even made it all the way through without crashing out in the early hours of the morning.

By Diego

The crew arrived early in the morning at Marlon Park for Scouting for Food. After drinking some coffee and eating some donuts the crew set out to collect nonperishable food from the surrounding neighborhoods. We went around politely knocking on doors and collected food on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank. We ended up acquiring loads of food for a great cause and had fun doing it.

After that, the crew drove down to Coyote Valley Sporting Clays to shot some shotguns. The crew split into three groups and with a guide went around to different ranges with several clay launchers, each with a unique parabola. Some shot the clay high but slow while others had the clay shoot across the range at high speeds. One had the clays bounce around on the ground to mimic rabbits and another shot from over your head. Once we got good enough they launched two clays at the same time and had shoot them both out of the air. Overall we had a great time really enjoyed ourselves out there.

By Corey

It was a fun night with many activities. It started at around 6:00, with some coming as early as 5:30 to set up.  The event was held outdoors, with everyone in attendance dressing up in Halloween costumes. Everyone attending brought an assortment of tasty treats: cookies, pies, cider, pasta, and much more. A covered table was set up with various craft supplies, mainly glow-in-the-dark sharpies and paint. Lots of time was spent painting gravestones, and doodling was done while enjoying the tasty food. For the main course, burgers and hot dogs were cooked up on a grill, with many sides and toppings. Later in the evening, time was spent singing karaoke together during that time, others played games like Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros on a projected screen. A game of Giant Chess was played, and both sides battled out with unwavering determination until the end of the night.

By Deniz

After our departure from Beresford Park at 8:30, the crew reached a park where we would learn how to windsurf. All the crew members shocked the instructors with our skill to properly raise, and use the sail properly after only having little to no experience. Multiple crew members were able to successfully turn their sail and board around without falling over by the end of the session. Crew members got a chance to not only play in the water but also learned new skills while having a big smile on their faces.

Once our session was over, we got cleaned up, dried off and ate lunch. Luckily, when we began to eat lunch, the wind started to get chilly and blow harder. The instructors were kind and let us sit in their wonderful back patch of grass. The crew had a lovely view of the water, the boats in the distance, the clouds above, the large mountains in the background, and the many birds that flew overhead.

After arriving at the Chabot Campground in Castro Valley, the crew played the game of Kubb. Kubb was exciting, as crew members took turns throwing wooden blocks attempting to knock down the other team’s wooden blocks. Sometimes, we got lucky, other times, we weren’t, but regardless, all the crew members built better friendships. In addition, the crew successfully used rope and wooden beams to build a ten minute tower. Although the tower didn’t take ten actual minutes, the tower represented the crew’s skill and demonstrated that we knew some impressive lashings.

Further, once we had set up camp, we cooked delicious pesto noodles and chicken. One of the crew members might have gone a little crazy with the chicken cooking, in which when the noodles had been eaten up, there was still plenty of chicken to go around. The crew had a wonderful time cooking and shared funny jokes and stories with some lights.

One crew member built a fire that was both warm and bright. Once the light had faded away, the crew got an extremely great chance to look up at the night sky and view the Moon, and some planets. Using our equipment, and help from our adult leaders and astronomy expert, the crew got to view the night sky with its beauty. This was an amazing opportunity to see things that normally wouldn’t be as obvious.

After we woke up from our cold sleeping bags the next morning, we made large fluffy chocolate and blueberry pancakes. One pancake was the size of a frying pan! We got our dishes cleaned and sorted, packed up our gear, and went to project management and axe throwing. This portion of the outing was a good opportunity and experience to go learn about what it takes to lead a good project using steps such as what materials you need, what kind of communication you need, and many other important life skills that the scouts could use in their future lives. The crew also got a chance to throw both tomahawks and large wood cutting sized axes. Many of the larger scouts successfully landed the huge axes deep into the wooden target.

Overall, the crew got an amazing chance to go on an amazing outing that showed that the scouts knew their skills, learned some more, and got to have fun all within 48 hours.

By Dominic

After arriving at Camp Lotus on a smokey morning, we set off on the American River in three rafts: two with crew members and one with the adults. After bumping through some class II rapids, we stopped on the shore for lunch and continued through the first class III rapids. The rafting was exhilarating and exciting during the rapids, and tranquil during calm periods.

After rafting, we went to Beals Point campground and proceeded to cook, clean, and get ready for the night.  While camping, we tried some weird cooking techniques, such as skewered eggs, cookies above coal, and cinnamon bread on wooden rods. The skewered eggs did not cook evenly if  when we were able to skewer the eggs without them cracking, which is not a trivial task. After experimenting with cooking the cinnamon bread, we found that buttering after wrapping the stick with the bread worked well for flavor and texture along with cooking the bread on the stove. The bread was good, as well as the cookies, though they were slightly burnt on the bottom as they were too close to the coals.

We then practiced our lashing skills by building a merry-go-round out of rope and wood that held up for the initial test but fell to the side upon more testing. We learned that we need to tighten and reinforce our lashings with more windings, especially for the center tripod, as they were the point of failure. Overall, we had a lot of time to chat, bond, and learn various rafting and cooking skills.

By Liam

V27, alongside older scouts from the Troop set off on a trip down the Sacramento river. We gained experience controlling watercraft through just over fifty miles of river, including plentiful whitewater. We greatly enjoyed the opportunity to travel down this section of river, bonding all along the way.  This run of the Sacramento further developed the skills and bonds of our Crew.

By Andrew

On a misty Saturday morning, the crew headed to the Phoenix Garden in San Mateo to help with weed control and garden maintenance. A few of us focused on laying out the cardboard and raking, while some of us shoveled piles of mulch into wheelbarrows and transported it to the orchard area. It was very fun finding creative ways to run a wheelbarrow across the garden, but also very nice to return to the Phoenix Garden after doing my Eagle project there.

Thanks to Erik Frydenlund and Jacob Gottesman for coming to assist the crew with this project!

By Katie

Aqua trek in the Verdon Gorge, bike tour around Castellane, cave exploring (Via Souterrata), kayaking in the lower Verdon Gorge, windsurfing on the Mediterranean, sailing on the Med. with a stop to snorkel, swim and kayak. Visited Troglodyte Caves in Villecroze, the Rhone American Cemetery, the Baume Obscure cave, Chapel Notre-Dame de Gratemoine in Seranon, Sénanque Abbey, Pont du Gard, Avignon and Pope’s Palace Did a special tour of a French Coast Guard station, road the cable car up Mount Faron in Toulon and visited the World War II museum there. Spent an evening with French scouts.

Itinerary (PDF)
Narrative

V27 in combo with the Troop planted flags on veteran’s graves for memorial day! In a short matter of hours we had covered most of the cemetery in American flags. While camping at Millerton Lake, we ate good food, sampled a desert contest and provided lifeguards for a troop swimcheck. We also had time to go kayaking and canoeing.  We taught songs at a campfire and practiced the ones we plan to use in France!

By Diego

In the morning hours of the day, the crew set out to Castle Rock State Park for a much anticipated climbing outing. Three experienced climbing school instructors helped us get proper gear on, and led us up to the climbing rock. We attempted multiple courses set up on the rock. They were all challenging, but were great fun to figure out how to reach the top. Many crew members enjoyed figuring out how to position themselves to get around a protruding rock shelf, and to find the sturdiest foot and hand holds that they could push themselves higher. 

We also had great fun climbing all together into caves that were a part of the large climbing rock. There were some interesting holes in the side of the caves that we could look out of and even watch each other climb past. Overall, the climbing outing was challenging physically for many, but it was a great amount of challenge that left us with much satisfaction.

By Katie

Camporee is an event that occurs once a year to test scouts of various troops in activities that use their skills as scouts. The scouts participate in their patrols to accomplish tasks that require both teamwork and individual prowess, including lashing a chair to carry a member of the patrol, archery, shooting, and knot expertise. The day after the action the event runners, composed of adult leaders from the attending troops, announce the best performers of each event as well as in other categories such as teamwork and scout spirit. The entire excursion is a great time for all involved and an opportunity to utilize the skills that scouting teaches in fun and interesting ways.

By Griffin 

By Arthur

The Klondike Derby is the annual two day long snow excursion that is attended by both Venture crew members and Troop Twenty-Seven scouts, and be it cold, frigid, chilly, or all of the before, it’s always a blast. The first day of the trip was spent setting up camp. Once we arrived, we packed our equipment onto sleds and hiked them up to a suitable campsite. Then, after probing for snow deep enough, we took to saws and shovels to dig out and build up shelters out of icy blocks, which were topped with tarps. This shelter housed our personal gear and, at night, ourselves. With our constructions strong, we were then able to experience day two. The second day was dedicated to various snow and skill related activities, such as a sled race and snowball throwing, as well as other more standard scout tasks. After lunch on the second day we filled in our shelters, packed our things, and left.

By Griffin

The goal for the Dunes Beach Service Project was to uproot invasive plants and allow native plants to regrow there instead. We helped do this by uprooting the invasive plants and setting down cardboard on the ground and shoveling mulch on top of the cardboard. This makes it so that invasive plants can’t grow back and the area’s natural plants can. The project was really fun and with the large group that we had, we were able to get all the work done and even did a little extra. Now plants will be planted in the mulch we spread out and the area can grow into a beautiful landscape for people and animals to enjoy.

By Perry

By Evan

It was a crisp, chilly morning when We arrived at Coyote Point Range. We took an hour-long class indoors learning the basics of owning, operating, and maintaining handguns, then went off to the range. The next few hours where spent letting lead fly and comparing our accuracies. Before we knew it we where cleaning up the many shells on floor, and after thanking our instructors, two of which had strong ties to the crew, we headed home.

By Kheo

For the Ropes Course outing, we went to Mount Hermon Adventures. Upon arrival, we ate lunch and threw frisbees. We quickly got suited up with our gear and began the course. We participated in a three-tiered ropes course that weaved throughout the redwood canopy. The course consisted of many components of varying difficulty like wobbly wooden platforms, rolling logs, swinging monkey bars, and a Zipline. We started at the bottom and made our way through the course through the different elements. There were so many paths you could take there never was much waiting. As we got higher, the elements became more complex and at the end of the second tier, we latched onto a zipline that spanned the valley. After that, we headed to the third part, which consisted of the most challenging components. We all finished without any mishaps and went home exhausted but with smiles on our faces. This was an enjoyable outing for sure. 

By Corey

During this outing we focused our time on the first day building an obstacle course for use the following morning. We spent our evening at the Troop 27 hosted campfire program. We were able to use the obstacle-filled rope course and bridge for a local Cub Scout den’s bridging ceremony the next day to graduate over to Troop 27. Shortly following the ceremony we lashed together makeshift watercraft made from spars, water jugs, and trash bags to use in the pool that was located near the campsite. People enjoyed building the watercraft and testing them out in the pool.

By Gavin

Each year the crew always does a halloween party. This year included food, karaoke, big chess and checkers, and gaming. The most fun part of the party, and of any activity, is the time we all get to spend together. Each year we always have so much fun and we plan on doing it again in the years to come.

By Allie

After some crew members finished the Wilderness First Aid course at Twin Pines Park, we got together and left directly for our campsite. After arriving, everyone pitched in to make a delicious biscuits and gravy for dinner. For dessert we ate a Dutch oven cooked peach cobbler. Everyone spent a relaxing evening talking with friends under the stars. In the morning, we packed up, ate a hearty breakfast, and per a member’s suggestion, went geocaching. After searching around the campsite and leaving behind our own contributions, we started our hike up San Bruno mountain. After hiking through the mist and cold wind we found gorgeous views and a few more geocaches. Finally we descended back down the mountain and drove home.

By Kheo

After taking an online course in order to prepare themselves, members of Crew 27 spent a day doing practical hands-on activities and scenarios to earn their Wilderness First Aid certification.  From bandaging to lifts to simulated accidents and illnesses, everyone learned a lot.

 By Pat

During this skills outing, we focused on structure building and unusual cooking skills. The structures we ended up making included an archway that we could drive a van through and a teeter-totter bridge that we could walk across. For the cooking, we used strange methods for dinner, breakfast, and lunch.

For dinner, we used an improvised oven made of aluminum trays, metal hangers, and a metal rack all taped together to bake meatloaf. We also cooked biscuits in an improvised cake pan Dutch Oven, and used the leftover coals and aluminum foil to cook banana boats for dessert. For breakfast, we had so-called “hobo eggs,” which are cooked in a bacon-lined paper bag over coals. We finished breakfast off with coffee cakes baked in box ovens. For lunch, we cooked cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped hotdogs using marshmallow sticks. Man, even writing this is making me hungry! The food was just so good and interesting this outing.

Another activity we did was play around with PVC versions of didgeridoos, which are a type of wind instrument originally created by the Aborigines in Australia using ant-hollowed tree trunks. Our plastic versions allowed us to create our own lengths and try out the different sounds you can create with length and blowing techniques.

By Emma

This August, we went on a rafting outing on the south fork of the American River. We had a lot of fun going down the class III rapids, and some scouts go to guide the rafts for a bit. We also swam down a rapid. The next day we did some phone-based orienteering and learned to use UTM and basic wilderness phone use. We then played a game where teams would go out and find landmarks noting down the UTM coordinates. Afterward, we swapped coordinates and found the landmarks. Overall we all loved learning new skills and had fun hanging out both in the evening and morning.

By Jochem

Hiking in Black Dragon Canyon; expedition canoeing on the Green River for four days; kayaking on the Colorado River;  hiking to Kanarra Falls; whitewater rafting on the Lower Truckee River; visits to Hickison Petroglyphs, the Northern Nevada Railroad Museum, Rhyolite ghost town, Goldwell open air museum, and the South Tufa area on Mono Lake.

Intinerary (PDF)

Narrative

On Memorial Day Weekend the Crew embarked on our annual Family Camp. We started by planting flags on the graves of those who served our country before driving to Clear Lake State Park where we set up camp. The next day was spent almost entirely on the water learning kayaking skills, teaching canoeing, and paddling. Back at the campsite, we had dinner followed by a campfire with the Troop, and a fun-filled evening of games. On Monday we were able to go for one last paddle and see all of the amazing wildlife present at one of the oldest lakes in California. All and all it was a fun-filled weekend and great for anyone who loves being on the water! 

By Callie

For the kayak trailer build day about six scouts were in attendance, along with about eight adults. The scouts worked on measuring the canoes’ dimensions to make sure they could fit into the trailer, while still allowing the trailer to be as slim as possible. The scouts also worked on painting the trailer’s wooden boards white. The scouts and adults then began to assemble the bottom frame of the trailer by using power tools and precise measurements. Finally, lunch was delicious pizza from Round Table and brownies brought by Mr. Gruber.

The Axes and Ethics event was a combination of an Ethics training led by Jared in the morning and ax throwing in the afternoon. In the Ethics training, we discussed a couple of topics. We discussed the solution for the chemical pollution of a lake versus local jobs and if cops should be allowed to have second jobs. We broke out into two groups of four and half the group argued one side while the other half took opposite side. After that, we would agree to find an ethical solution. We then met up as a whole group to share our conclusions. After the Ethical Controversies, we did some ax throwing with four different types of axes that were a lot of fun to try out. Overall the day was a lot of fun.

By Corey

The Crew got to do some more expedition canoeing during this outing. Upon arrival at the boat launch, we loaded up the canoes with all the gear we needed for the trip, and then canoed five and a half miles into our campsite on the other side of the lake. After a quick camp setup, we enjoyed a lot of free time before our dinner, throwing frisbees, playing chess, and more. After dinner, we enjoyed a nice campfire, stargazing, and each other’s company. The next morning, we packed up and canoed back out, having a little fun experimenting with “unique” paddling techniques. Overall, it was a really chill and fun outing, and a great learning opportunity to get more experience with expedition canoeing.

By Jared

Normally, we thank the Church for their support on Scout Sunday by hosting a Pancake Breakfast and then participating in a service with the Church pastor. This year, we were not able to host the breakfast for COVID reasons, but we were able to attend the service over Zoom.

The service focused on the idea of living and loving like Jesus. After some thankful speeches to the church from our members, a Bible verse (John 5: 2-9) was read detailing a time that Jesus helped a sick man who had been neglected by others for 38 years. The pastor connected this idea of caring about and helping others to modern people currently suffering. She also connected this behavior to the moral code upheld by Scouts who follow the Scout Oath and Law. It was a lovely service to attend, with a message of caring and hope that people need during this time of extreme separation from others.

By Emma

As all of our members know, Crew 27 loves to participate in service projects. Here is one that we did at Edgewood Park. We did some trail maintenance to help protect the trails from erosion. Whenever it rains the water tends to flow right down the middle of the trail. What we did to help prevent this is we use McLeods to dig a trench along the side of the trail so that when it does rain, the water will flow to the side and down the trench rather than the trail. It was a lot of fun working on this project because we were helping a much-loved park and we did it together which is always fun.

by Allie

This year, the Crew, and some invited older scouts from the troop, got to go on the Arctic Wolf training. Arctic Wolf is a snow survival skill training that focuses on surviving in the snow, search and rescue, avalanche awareness, and more. The group got up early and departed from the church at 8 am. Upon arriving in the mountains by the snow, we unloaded gear and backpacked almost a mile on snowshoes (with some of us dragging polk sleds too!) to our campsite. Once we arrived at our “campsite” (aka an open snowy field off of the main trail), we set to work on building our snow shelters. This involved stomping down snow, then cutting condensed bricks out of the snow with saws and shovels, and stacking the bricks around an area to build our shelters. After the tiring work of building our shelters, we settled down for dinner and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning (thankfully without a midnight wake-up call to do a hasty search in the dark) to pack and tear down our shelters (of course with light-hearted jokes about how we were spending Valentine’s Day freezing in the cold with our friends). We then broke into groups of 6-7 to do the different “stations” of activities. These included learning how to build a hasty shelter in the snow with only a tarp within fifteen minutes, how to build fires on the snow, how to use avalanche probes and beacons, how to recognize the danger zones for avalanches, how to rescue an immobile person off of a slope with a z-rig and burrito wrap, and how to conduct a hasty search in the snow.

After a morning of going through stations, we finished packing our gear and headed back out towards the car. Funnily enough, we ended up doing a larger-scale hasty search for one of our adult leaders due to them accidentally dropping a hat by the trail, leading the group to think there was another training exercise. Overall, it was a great outing; we got to learn a lot of cool skills and we got to spend time together with our friends which is always a party.

By Jared 

Troop 27 recently went on a canoe trip to Bair Island that ended up being a bit too difficult for them. So the Crew decided to try it with the more experienced scouts at a later date. When we went out on the water it was a fairly calm day and the weather was beautiful. We started our nine mile journey on a timeline because we had to cross certain marks by a specific time, due to the tides and flow restrictors. Soon after crossing those marks we had some time to leisurely paddle along until we got to our next mark. By the afternoon the wind had gotten a bit stronger but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. Overall, the Crew had tons of fun canoeing the corkscrew even if the wind wasn’t on our side the entire time.

By Allie

By Emma

The theme this year was Oregon Trail.  The Crew arrived at Beresford Park at 7:00 AM, 45 minutes before the troop arrived. After setting up the starting event, the crew split up into separate groups to prepare locations before the troop got there. The events set up all tested various scout skills, including first aid, lashings, knots, teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership.

By Kheo

In the Venturing program, there are several major awards that one can earn. The one that we focus on the most is Ranger, the high-adventure, outdoor-focused award, and one of the requirements for it is to plan, organize, and carry out a significant conservation project. As part of my journey towards Ranger, I worked with Ethan from the State Parks resource team at Half Moon Bay State Beach to do this project. We worked together to set up the logistics for the project (organizing time & date, setting a workday schedule, and getting mulch & tools to the worksite). I organized a group of crew youth and adults (as well as non-crew youth and adults) to prepare and bring cardboard to the project.

My conservation project was to continue what Callie started and sheet mulch the rest of the open area (couple hundred square feet) as well as weeding some of the invasive species in the area. The goal of this project was to help protect the native plants in the area, to remove and prevent the growth of invasive species. In the future, people will revisit the area to plant more native plants in the area, but the mulch protects the native plants currently in the area by maintaining more nutrients in the soil.

Due to the work that Callie had already done in clearing the area, we were able to get to mulching right away: laying down cardboard and piling six inches of mulch over it. I lead the volunteers to form teams that efficiently and effectively did each task. In three hours, we were able to mulch over all the cardboard we had. After that, smaller teams worked on weeding other areas and removing dead plants. We were then able to mulch over another neighboring area (without cardboard) as well.  

Overall, it was a great experience. The rangers overseeing the project were very impressed with our work and were asking us to come back again to help! While the larger project still isn’t finished, we were able to make a lot of progress on it in the four hours we worked with twenty-one workers and were only limited by the resources we had to continue mulching. It was a great way to escape into the outdoors and really make an impact somewhere that needs it. I can’t wait to see the entire area be finished after another conservation project!

By Jared

We arrived at Beresford Park, sat down on the grass, and got to work! The Senior crew members taught the younger ones on various leadership topics by combining both lectures and activities. We learned about the stages of leadership development, the types of leadership, and much more. 

By Kheo

Traditionally the Crew 27 Court of Honors are held in tandem with Troop 27’s in the confines of Wesley Hall, but because of Covid-19 this year we held our own individual one outdoors in Foster City. We had the changing of the Crew Officers, awarding of ranks and achievements, and the newly established Crew roast session. Despite its name it was less of a roast and more of a sharing of stories made among Crew members over the years, embarrassing and heartwarming ones alike. We also had the addition of the Crew pom-poms that were used to share our excitement in people’s achievements and want to hear stories. All in all the Crew Court of Honor was a fantastic success despite the many setbacks we’ve had in trying to get this event since the pandemic started.

By Khai

We recently took a trip up to Tomales Bay to see the bioluminescence in the water. It was late at night so it was dark outside and every movement that was made in the water caused the water to light up with this beautiful light blue/green color. The more movement you made the brighter the color was. It was absolutely gorgeous. Overall, this was one of the best experiences I personally have ever had.

By Allie

Running down the lower section of the south fork of the American River was so much fun! We started the day by playing some Kubb on a field next to the boat launch point where the rafting company was setting up. After that, we got on the rafts and went down the river. There were many fun rapids (lots of 2+ and 3s), and we made the trip more fun with singing, splashing, swimming, riddles, and even learned a new technique on how to get back into a raft using a backflip! (even though none of us were successful, it was still super cool). Overall, it was great to get on the water after being stuck inside for a while, and it was a great trip!

By Jared

On Saturday morning the crew went to Foster City at California Windsurfing, on Shell blvd. Despite its name they provided us with not windsurfing equipment but materials for Stand Up Paddleboarding (aka SUPing). All of us were out on the water exploring the waterways for about an hour with mild winds and moderate temperatures, very good conditions for the outing. The group was split about half and half with people that had experienced SUPing and those who didn’t, and in the end three people ended up falling in, not all on only one occasion. We had a blast experimenting how to kayak on stand up paddleboards and eventually went back to the dock when our time was up. Overall we had a great time and would likely go back if given the chance.

By Khai

Itinerary (PDF)
Narrative

Throughout our time in the Crew, we have the opportunity to work on advancement on two different award tracks. On the path to Ranger, a high-level outdoor award, one of eight core requirements is to organize and carry out a significant conservation project. As one of my last steps towards Ranger, I organized my conservation project with the State Parks resource team at Half Moon Bay State Beach. I coordinated with their project organizer to find a time and a date, as well as to inform my Crew of the service opportunity and the project guidelines. 

My project was to clear and sheet mulch an area near the parking lot at Venice State Beach to stop the spread of hemlock, an invasive plant. Before the project, I needed each participant to collect 100 square feet of cardboard to bring. On the day of the project, we spent the first two and a half hours clearing the area by raking the previously weed-whacked hemlock and then digging to remove the majority of the roots. The remainder of the time was spent laying down cardboard and covering it with 4-6 inches of mulch. 

While my project did not complete the entire area, we were able to begin work that will eventually end with planting of natives in the location during the rainy season. Despite the limited number of people who were allowed to work on my project due to COVID restrictions, we had a fantastic day and are hoping to go back to work on the same area for someone else’s conservation project in the future!

By Callie

After being stuck inside for a while, we were all excited to get out of the house, and especially to help get our new canoe trailers ready. The 27 Family recently acquired new canoe trailers, and there was a series of work parties to get them ready for use. We spent hours painting the new trailers, cleaning & repairing canoes, stenciling on new logos, and adjusting tie-down ropes. It was an amazing experience to see each other in person again, especially because we were working on something meaningful, even if we couldn’t come within 6 feet of each other. This was a super fun project, and we’re excited to take the new trailers down to the water!

By Jared

Despite the Shelter In Place order, Crew 27 remains very active during this time. We have transitioned all of our meetings to Zoom and are using this time to do trainings and other presentations. We just completed Time Management Training, which is required for advancement, and have heard presentations on topics such as whitewater rescue and horsemanship. While we all are missing camping and cannot wait to get back outside, Zoom meetings have been a great way to continue staying connected and to keep developing our skills!

By Callie

Every year, we go to Skylawn Cemetery and honor military members by planting American flags above their headstones.This year, BSA cancelled this annual tradition out of safety concerns during the current pandemic. With many precautions, we managed to let many people who had originally wanted to plant the flags do so along with their families. We did this out of a sense of duty and respect, as well as after fully considering and ensuring the safety of our specific circumstances. Troop and Crew 27, together with family and friends, visited Skylawn Cemetery on the 23rd of May and planted flags. We met there at 8am and finished decorating the entire cemetery by 10:30. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and even though the event was different than usual, it was still a very moving and worthwhile activity. We followed strict social distancing guidelines and stayed in household groups the entire time.

By Emma

On Scout Sunday, the Venture Crew hosted the annual V27 Pancake Breakfast to raise money for Super Trip 2020 Oregon. Friendly and cheerful crew members welcomed people and served delicious food made by amazing chefs. Many people, from the church community and troop community, came and kindly donated in support of the crew, helping raise about 3000 dollars! The pancake breakfast was a great time where the troop families and churchgoers could talk and enjoy a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausages, and eggs together.

Following the pancake breakfast was the Scout Sunday service. Some Crew members spoke during the service, speaking about the Venture Crew and adding in their experiences. Scout Sunday was a very nice event to reflect on our experiences in the Crew and show our appreciation for the support of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church community.

By Katie

On a beautiful Saturday morning, the crew went out to Sharp Park in Pacifica to participate in a beach clean-up, removing trash and cigarette butts from the beach and surrounding area. It was a great experience to be cleaning up the environment while having a fun time outside with friends.

After the beach clean-up, we went back to Pat’s place to do some planning for our annual Treasure Hunt coming soon and later went to go ice skating at Ice Oasis in the Bridgepoint Shopping Center. We spent two hours skating and falling there, and it was a super fun experience.

By Jared

This weekend we went to Tahoe for the annual Klondike Derby. When we arrived the first day we decided that there wasn’t enough snow to build shelters. Instead we spent the day building a kitchen area, preparing for the events the next day and spending time together.

When we woke up the following day it was raining but thankfully it turned into a beautiful snow. We started the morning with a Scouts Own before we helped set up the events and then went around to compete. Some of our favorite events were ptarmigan (slingshots), tie up the dogs (knots – bowline, sheetbend, two half hitches, timber hitch, clove hitch), gear rescue (grappling hook toss), and the sled race. Even though there wasn’t a bunch of snow we still had a fantastic time and can’t wait to go back again next year!

By Callie

Every year we go to a nursing home were we group together and sing Christmas songs for the residents there. They love it when we come and sing and we love to go and sing for them. It’s a lot of fun to spend an hour singing Christmas songs for people who love to hear us sing no matter how we think we sound. It’s definitely something we like to do every year.

By Allie

After working on a service project for the King’s Mountain Archers the prior weekend, the crew returned to do some shooting. The archery course was a long trail with a series of targets. It was a fun experience with great instruction and guidance from Mike Anderson (from KMA) and Mr. Ammenti. It was a nice hike as well!

After the archery session, the crew headed down to Joseph D. Grant County Park by San Jose to camp and do some skillbuilding. Throughout the afternoon, we reviewed and learned lots of useful knots and lashings. We then used those skills to construct a bridge. We had delicious beef stew and salad for dinner, and finished the night with chocolate fondue for dessert and a campfire. We celebrated Khai’s birthday as well.

The next morning, two crew members (Jared and Khai) helped set up an orienteering hike around the park. We learned important orienteering skills, like the importance of thumbing a map, and embarked on the hike. We ended the outing with learning new ways to construct first aid stretchers and a Z-rig. Overall, it was a fun weekend with lots of learning experiences and bonding time in the crew!

By Katie

On Saturday, the crew went to King’s Mountain Archery to help out with a service project. We had lots of fun taking apart and moving the hay and components holding up the targets and rotating the targets and line to face a different direction. Afterwards, we were all applauded four our effective teamwork and efficiency by the people from the archery range who lead us to complete the task. Overall it was an excellent way to spend our weekend and help a group in our community.

By Cameron

We went to one of our Venture leaders’ house for a party. Everyone was dressed up and we completed several activities over the night. First we made pizzas to cook, while we watched a movie, then we moved on to hanging doughnut rings and bobbing for apples. After that we played more games with one another, including a mummy wrap competition. Overall it was a great experience and a good way to nurture our camaraderie and team spirit.

By Khai

After completing the Wilderness First Aid course, we visited Mount Hermon to do ziplining and a ropes course. The zipline course was a series of ziplines across different trees which was a thrilling rush of adrenaline. Flying through the forest high above the ground was an amazing experience and lots of fun. The ropes course was a series of escalating challenges made up of platforms suspended in the air in between trees. We got to explore three levels of difficulty with different challenges that engaged us in different ways. We also got to improve our teamwork by doing a challenge where we had to guide a blind person across a bridge filled with holes, and it was a lot of fun. Overall, we had a very good time at Mount Hermon and we can’t wait to be back!

By Jared

By Emma

On Friday night the Troop and Crew came together to celebrate all the accomplishments of the last six months. We ate a delicious potluck dinner, and watched videos of both Troop Summer Camp and the Crew Super Trip with family and friends before setting up for the ceremony. Many of the Troop and Crew youth were honored with new ranks and additional awards. Outgoing officers were acknowledged and leadership was transferred for the new term. It was a fun and rewarding night for all!

By Callie

By Luis

We had a fun evening of games and bonding. We played Break the Internet, where everyone plays a game off of their phone, and we get to make funny comments on theoretical social media posts. We later played Uno, and part of the crew played Dungeons and Dragons. Thanks to an entertaining dungeon master, the people who were not playing really enjoyed listening to the game from afar, and only getting snippets of what was happening, even though it was out of context. This event was a lot of fun, and most of the people who went were interested in doing something similar in the future.

By Cameron

We learned more about leadership and what it takes to be a great leader thanks to Mr Frydenlund and Mrs Terman. We watched a slideshow then did a couple activities including making a plan from a leader’s point of view. One of us also brought cookies. I learned that to be a great leader some things you need to keep in mind is to always lead and not to step in when you think you are more skilled than one of your workers, a leader’s priority is to lead, and that you should always thank your workers after the project to boost morale and to just be a nice person.

By Amelia

Crew members and older scouts in the troop participated in a wilderness survival training over Labor Day weekend. This training has been done in the past but not in a while. We learned how to build a shelter; cook food over hot coals without utensils; how to perform a search and rescue; how to identify plants and which ones we can and can’t eat, especially in the area that we live. We learned how to eat cattails, acorns, and pine needles in a pine needle tea. Almost everyone who went really enjoyed the weekend and learned a lot and would like to do this training again to take in more of the information.

By Allie

By Jared

Itinerary (PDF)
Narrative

After going to Skyline for grave decorating, we went to Clear Lake to do a two-night three-day camping trip. While the campsite was nice and spacious, the water level had risen significantly, which had created stagnant pools of water. This lead to a massive amount of mosquitos which made the outing more painful than normal. Over the course of the trip, we worked on fire building, canoeing skills, and dutch oven cooking to prepare us for what we would do on super trip. The final night we held our traditional flag burning and Mexican style dinner. After that, we packed up and went home.

By Khai

Many from Venture Crew 27 and from Troop 27 came to help plant flags to honor all who died in military service and were given graves in Skylawn Cemetery. The helpers were given donuts and juice in the beginning of the day to help wake us up. We gathered at the top of a hill, and Mr. F gave a blunt, beautiful, and downright patriotic speech on freedom and who thought it was worth fighting and dying for, including the soldiers of D Day and the service of those in WW2. We went around in teams of 2, with one person with a screwdriver to get a hole in the ground and the other with a bundle of flags to place in the hole. We went down the rows and searched for military signs, and regardless of where that soldier came from, they received a flag of remembrance. We covered the entire area fairly quickly, and those leaving for Fam. Camp right after were well on time. It was a good service, and I highly recommend all who can to go and give a few hours in remembrance for those who gave everything. 

By Emma

The Hillsdale United Methodist Church has been supporting Troop and Crew 27 for a long time, providing a place for us to meet as well as a location to store some of our supplies. This was our annual service day to give back to them and help them with repairs that they need help with. The crew helped with removing an old tree, cleaning out doorways, filling in a pothole, and many more jobs.

By Jared

The Crew got together on Saturday to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Venture Crew 27! We started with Bingo and the questions quizzed you on Crew trivia and encouraged mingling, so new and old Crew members could get to know each other. The room was decorated with shirts from all the Super Trips and photo albums from all past Crew outings so everyone could see more of the Crew’s history. There was a giant chess set and a Crew favorite game – Kube – outside. Everyone gathered to talk and enjoy themselves, and it was so much fun to catch up with the former Crew members again. We ended the evening by singing songs together, and finally Vespers. Everyone had such a good time and enjoyed each others company so much that we’re already thinking about the 25th anniversary party for the Crew!

By Callie

Our visit started with a tour of the Pampanito, a World War II submarine. The guides were entertaining and informative. Afterwards we settled into our berths and had dinner. Everyone enjoyed playing games in the Officer’s Mess. The next morning we cleaned up and went out on the dock for breakfast.

By Pat

Every year we plan and execute a treasure hunt for the Boy Scouts. This year it was Minecraft themed. It was so much fun to plan because we got to throw all of our creative ideas together and form one massive plan of fun and adventure. Seeing how it all worked out in the end was pretty exciting too. Can’t wait to plan next years treasure hunt! Hope it will be as much of a blast as this years!

By Allie

The crew got to go into the forest of redwoods to enjoy fun activities high in the trees on a rainy Saturday morning. There were two activities, a ropes course, as well as a zip lining course.

The zip lining course was spread across multiple cool trees including the highest one in the forest as well as the oldest one in the forest (that was known). There were fun challenges to go faster and hang off the edge of the platform. Everyone who went had a good time and it was a fun activity that was a step outside of their comfort zone.

The ropes course was a super fun way for us to challenge ourselves up in the trees. We walked across swaying bridges, swung on cargo nets, and balanced on thin wires. Some of the obstacles were really challenging but we encouraged each one another and helped each other take steps out of our comfort zones. Overall it was an amazing day for all, and we’re already looking forward to going back!

By Jared and Callie

On Scout Sunday the Venture Crew hosted our annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser and it was as good as ever. Plenty of people attended and enjoyed the complimentary pancakes, toppings, sausages, and scrambled eggs our lovely chefs provided and Crew members served with a smile. Quite a few donated, and some reminisced on their own or a family member’s amazing experience in our program. It was a heartwarming, delicious time and let both current and former Scout families meet and talk for a relaxing, happy and fulfilling breakfast.

By Emma

After arriving and meeting up at the church, we packed into cars and drove up to Dodge Ridge for this year’s Klondike derby. This year our crew and troop had our own Klondike outside of the usual council run outing because the council could not reserve the usual place at Cisco Grove. However, with the help of the numerous helpful adult leaders in the crew and the troop, we could pull together a similar event to what the council has done in the past. When we arrived at the site we unpacked our equipment and hiked up through the snow to the site and made snow shelters to sleep in for the night. After doing that we had a hot dinner and slept in the shelters we had made. The next day we competed in many Klondike based events ranging from spear throwing to tobacco spitting (not real tobacco obviously, we were provided with licorice). After the events were over, we broke down the shelters we had made and packed out, as well as visiting an In-and-Out for dinner.

By Khai

After spending an evening caroling at a Nursing Facility, the crew decided to do something fun the next day and went ice skating at the Ice Oasis in the Bridgepoint Shopping Center. The skill level of everyone was wildly different, but it was fun anyway. Some had taken lessons before, and some were stepping onto the ice for the first time in their life! Some members tried super cool tricks(emphasis on tried) and some did their best to just stay on their feet. An upcoming crew member, Amelia came to join in, and even the crew advisor, Pat, got on the ice. It was two hours of chaotic fun.

By Jared

After spending an evening caroling at a Nursing Facility, the crew decided to do something fun the next day and went ice skating at the Ice Oasis in the Bridgepoint Shopping Center. The skill level of everyone was wildly different, but it was fun anyway. Some had taken lessons before, and some were stepping onto the ice for the first time in their life! Some members tried super cool tricks(emphasis on tried) and some did their best to just stay on their feet. An upcoming crew member, Amelia came to join in, and even the crew advisor, Pat, got on the ice. It was two hours of chaotic fun.

By Luis

We did a time management training to learn how to better manage our time and to stop procrastinating. It was a lot of fun to work with our peers and learn together. It was also very informational. If we had a chance to do this again, and maybe have the youth lead, it would definitely be a good idea.

By Allie

In spite of the rain, Crew 27 came out to help set up the Pacific Skyline Council Christmas tree lot, which is a fund raiser for our council. We did the major part of unloading approx. 800 trees from the truck and set up rows of baby trees, 6 footers, and 7 footers. Not to mention building a ton to stands.

By Pat

On Nov. 17, some of us from the crew took the Introduction to Leadership Skills Course held in our Advisor’s house. We learned about different ways to help direct and encourage groups to work together. We also had team-building exercises, including building as tall a tower as possible from certain materials. We learned about the 5 Ps (Perfect Planning Prevents  Poor Performance) and were taught about the basics of proper goals and motivations using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based) method. We demonstrated that we understood how to delegate tasks to make the most of our time, and observed what practicing as a team can do for performance. It was a fun, team-building learning activity, one I would praise highly to anyone wanting to learn anything about leadership, whether or not you consider yourself a leader.

By Emma

Cave exploring was filled with amazing and new excitements. Going into a dark and deep cave filled with sparkling rocks that were hundreds of years old. Crouching down to half your size to enter to the next room was only half the fun. Crystals hanging off the ceiling making amazing shapes and shadows was the best part. Afterwards we camped at Lake Camarancho.

By Skyler

On September, 29 the crew went paddle boarding in Foster City. The crew took an hour-long class and learned some cool new fun outdoor water skills! The crew learned how to stand, sit, and get back on the board after falling in. Overall we had a splash-tastic time!

By Maddy

On September 22, the crew went on an archery outing at Kings Mountain archery range, practicing archery skills at several distances on an archery trail that they had at the location. After spending several hours there, we went to a seaside campsite (Manresa State Beach) to spend the night and set up camp. After we settled in, we all headed down to the beach and spent time playing games or relaxing by the shore. While it was cold and windy, there was much fun to be had. We had dinner after, and had a quick lesson on fire building, the various types as well as the scenarios they could be used in. Some of us decided that a night walk on a beach was in order and walked for a time on the blustery coast, and walked until it got a little too cold to be comfortable. The next morning we had a brief lesson on splicing and demonstrated that we could splice our own ropes, and proceeded to pack up and head home.

By Khai