Activity Write-Ups

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

On Saturday, October 24, we were lucky to be able to attend an in-person Halloween Party in Doc Aden’s backyard. In case you don’t know, his backyard is absolutely insane, in a good way! During the party we participated in safe and fun activities such as pumpkin carving, giant chess, wall climbing, and table tennis. We also brought Covid friendly snacks to share. There were some interesting costumes, including a pineapple and a bush with a gas mask. We all had a great time!

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

Learning and practicing swift water rescue techniques, canoeing the Stanislaus River including a class II rapid, river kayaking in the Trinity River, white water rafting in the Trinity River, hiking in Lassen National Park, Subway Cave, Burney Falls, setting up and doing a prussic climb, hiking in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, exploring sea caves in kayaks off the Mendocino coast, B Bryan Perserve.

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