Camping, canoeing and orienteering on Skull Island

BRISTOL – “Be prepared” is the motto of Scouting America. It has been the focus for years, and the Scouts live it by earning badges for outdoor skills, crafts, cooking, hiking, swimming, and canoeing, among other things.

New Hampshire’s Boy Scouts of America Daniel Webster Council sees many enthusiastic adults volunteer their time, ideas, and energy to improve the scouting experience. A dedicated staff of five volunteers from the council’s aquatic committee supervised activities for a recent Scout experience weekend on Newfound Lake in Bristol.

It all started when aquatic member Michael Rounds had an idea for a canoeing event open to any New Hampshire Boy Scout who wished to attend. Fellow aquatic committee member Bob LaFlamme of Moultonborough got involved and thought adding an orienteering component to the weekend would be fun.

“We wanted to canoe to an island – in this case, Cliff Island on Newfound Lake,” said LaFlamme. “The Scouts and their leaders (mostly dads) would canoe to the island and camp out for the weekend, starting on Friday, May 31.”

Given the name Canoe-O-Ree, the weekend was a take on a jamboree, which scouts do now and then, gathering in groups and making new friends while doing fun activities. The big event for the Canoe-O-Ree weekend of May 31 to June 2 was an orienteering challenge where the scouts used a map and compass to find control points set up around the park’s waterfront. This tested their map and compass skills as well as their canoeing skills. It was a successful event, with the top teams finding nine out of 11 controls in the one-hour time limit.

LaFlamme said, “We had other skills that the scouts worked on, like fire building, hanging a bear bag, knot tying, and a geocache hidden for scouts to find.”

The scouts were tasked with finding the control points, which were well-marked and easy to locate. They used a map and compass, which satisfied one of the scout ranks upon completing the requirement. If a scout had already achieved the requirement, the orienteering was useful added practice.

Among the troops that attended the weekend event were about five boys from Hollis, Dover Troop #180 with seven boys and Moultonborough’s Troop 142. A total of approximately 18 boys aged 11-to-16 attended.

“Troop 142 from Moultonborough had some scouts with little experience in canoeing,” said LaFlamme. “They practiced canoe skills leading up to the Canoe-O-Ree. All scouts must pass a certification for swimming, proving they can swim 100 yards. There is also a rule that whenever a scout is in a boat, they must wear a life jacket. Safety is a big part of the scouting program.”

Gathering at Wellington State Park in Bristol, the scouts unloaded their canoes – some borrowed and some owned – and prepared to head to Cliff Island.

Wellington State Park has a beach located on the shores of Newfound Lake.

“Everyone arrived by 6:30 p.m. on Friday,” said LaFlamme.

Unfortunately, the day brought strong north wind to the beach area with waves and white caps. There were concerns about the group going onto the larger part of the lake to reach the island for the weekend campout.

“However, the park staff allowed us to launch from the beach instead,” said LaFlamme.

Scouts and leaders took off with two paddlers per canoe, and soon, the group reached Cliff Island for a weekend of fun in the great outdoors.

During the weekend, the scouts slept in tents, cooked on Coleman stoves and around a campfire, and spent the evenings singing, telling stories, and performing skits.

As part of the orienteering focus for the campout, the scout leaders changed the name Cliff Island to Skull Island for the weekend. This made reading the maps and compasses for the orienteering part of the event take on a treasure-hunting theme for the scouts.

Orienteering allowed the boys to learn and practice navigational skills and “challenged them to add to their life skills because someday they will be adults and move on from the scouting program,” LaFlamme said.

A closing ceremony on Sunday morning ended the weekend, with everyone paddling back in their canoes to the boat launch to load up and leave before noon on June 2.

While LaFlamme said the council is waiting for the final feedback sheets from the scout leaders, he knows the Moultonborough Troop, for example, was very happy and excited to have participated.

“The leaders felt the kids did an excellent job,” he said. “The scouts were anxious to complete their canoeing badge, and the Canoe-O-Ree helped them practice achieving that goal.”

Due to the skills learned by the scouts and the fun they had paddling by canoe to camp, cook out and do orienteering on Skull Island, LaFlamme said the hope is to do a Canoe-O-Ree again next year. Once the word gets out among the troops, it is anticipated the event will become even bigger in years to come.