Saturday 22nd June started off bright, sunny and warm, perfect for a day of raft building and then getting on the water to see how the rafts hold together.
Scouts from Colbury, Lyndhurst, Testwood, Eling and Copythorne gathered at Eling Sea Scouts and, after an initial briefing, set about building their rafts. Scouts demonstrated various knot and lashing skills. Different designs of rafts were tried out and built.
After lunch, the rafts were launched on the Lake. Scouts were asked to perform a series of tasks with their rafts – standing up, man overboard and recovery, paddling out to a marker buoy and back, switching positions on your raft. There were races against other rafts. Scouts were assessed throughout the day on their teamwork and skills demonstrated with points being awarded for successfully completing the various tasks.
Lots of smiles and laughter all round. Some raft designs initially held together well, others not so much. There were barrels and paddles floating on the lake and Scouts demonstrating their swimming abilities. Scouts were keen to rebuild their rafts and get back out on the water for the next task.
The final results at the end of the day were:
| Unicorn (Colbury) | 87 points |
| Dragonfly (Lyndhurst) | 85 points |
| Chicken nuggets. (Copythorne) | 80 points |
| Team Snow (Testwood) | 78 points |
| Team Daisy (Testwood) | 75 points |
| Barney the dinosaur (Copythorne) | 73 points |
| Team Butt (Testwood) | 73 points |
| Big Barrels Boat (Copythorne) | 72 points |
| TOEF (Eling) | 72 points |
| Rafting Winners (Eling) | 70 points |
| Horse (Colbury) | 61 points |
Well done Unicorn (Colbury) on coming away with the Rafting Trophy. Well done to everyone who took part. Thank you Simon and Barry for being the judges on the day. Thank you Eling, especially Lisa, for organising and planning.
David McKeeman, ASL, Eling Sea Scouts