‘The courage of those Beavers was nothing short of impressive’

Ladybird

The Beavers welcomed the start of the new scouting term with a series of evenings up at Pinsent. The highlight of these was undoubtedly crate stacking. Under a threatening early evening sky, the Beavers were harnessed and helmeted before, three at a time, testing their balance and their nerve in front of their friends.

Essentially, crate stacking is the act of placing one crate on top of another while a climber remains on the topmost crate without overbalancing and falling off. Obviously, our Beavers were secured safely, via their harnesses, to an overhead rope but nonetheless this was an exercise that required confidence in bucket-loads. However they all did themselves – and each other – proud. Everyone had a go and there were some extremely impressive crate stacks. Obviously, falling off them, or kicking them over, was half of the fun.

With many thanks from the Beavers to all the adults who made this exercise possible!

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“It was my first time sailing. We had a nice time at the weekend. I learned how to sail Wayfarers and Picos with instructors who made it fun. I would go again next year!” Alistair

Sunday morning’s crew, although up and ready for the day at a similar time, was noticeably less lively than the previous day – at least at first. Demonstrating advanced skills, various boats became involved in a new form of naval warfare based on water pistols and buckets of water until everyone was wide awake.

“It was a fun experience to go to. The instructors were very good as they took you through your paces and if you were more advanced they would put you in a boat for more able sailors. I would definitely do it again and would like to try a Pico next time. PS – the power safety boat was excellent as it could go very fast!” Edward

The centre’s highly qualified instructors impressed us with their enthusiasm and their ability to cater for our group’s wide range of skills and experience – and all at the cost of only £25 per person. We are already making plans for a repeat visit next year: get ready to book your place soon…..