From the Courtyard - September 2013

From the

Courtyard

Issue 80

September 2013

Surely, not one of the preferred scouting activities, maintenance is essential for our Headquarters

and equipment to survive. Some however relish such hard work, and to them our Scout Group is eter-

nally grateful. Rover Scout Simon Gauci, writes about his summer’s experiences in this field.

When someone mentions maintenance, people usually think of complex, time consuming things such

as changing the oil in a car or painting a room. Maintenance is more than that, and it is also less – it is

simply an important part of using and caring for an object. More often than not, simply cleaning some-

thing will actually make it last longer and perform better. For example, if two identical cars are left,

one outside, and one in a garage, the one that's outside will matt faster unless it's cleaned. Cleaning

something is one of the best ways to maintain it as grime tends to attract humidity promoting oxidiza-

tion, larger fragments of dirt can even damage some pieces of machinery - if sand gets into a bearing it

will probably corrode because of all the scratches.

This summer my job was mainly cleaning boats. One of the most inter-

esting tasks I had, was two boat masts I had to check and clean. To do this job I

needed two very good pieces of equipment. A good Boatswain's Chair (a har-

ness with a bench built in) to prevent chafing, and a friend who is experienced

on a winch, ideally also with good hearing and patience – lots of patience.

Other than those two vital items, you can clean a mast with a bucket of water,

a hand brush and a can of WD 40. The parts you really have to look out for are

the electronic instruments at the top, stays and the shrouds – or, in land-

lubbers’ terms, the wires holding the mast up. Once you're up there it's actu-

ally a very pleasant experience. At about sixty-five feet up, it's quite a bird's

eye view. The problem with being so high up is that if a boat passes and pro-

duces a small wave, it gets amplified because of the height!

Another regular boat maintenance activity that I actually enjoy is check-

ing the hull for damages and scrubbing barnacles off the propeller. You can

spend the better part of half a day diving under the boat just to clean the prop, but hey, at least you're

in the water, keeping cool, and ultimately improving the boat’s performance. So it's a win - win situa-

tion! I don’t mean that all maintenance is fun – not at all. There are of course the tedious maintenance

tasks such as washing the deck after a day in the sun, but if you set your mind to it you can clean a fifty

-foot boat in about 20 min, soap and all.

You will probably need to dedicate some maintenance time to more or less everything you do

or own, be it a car or a pocket knife. This is no less true at scouts. Whether it’s a single rope, a tent, or

the whole of our headquarters, dedicating some time to taking care of equipment is vital to getting

the maximum use and performance out of it. It also makes things look good for longer so in the end,

maintenance is only really a hassle if you think of it as something boring and do not consider the end

results!

sac scouts

newsletter

From the Courtyard

feature of the month

Maintenance is Fun!

What’s on

12th October

Cubbie’s Bust

Ceremony

(HQ)

1st—3rd Nov

Bulwark Shield

Competition

(Gozo)

Issue 80

September 2013

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From the

Courtyard

Issue 80

September 2013 GSL’s note

Summer Camp

Sumer camp was a great success thanks to all leaders and members that attended. Needless to

say the dedication of our leaders is the foundation for a successful camp. I would like to thank

Camp Chief George Zammit Montebello and Timmy Zammit and Camp Cook Matthew Zarby

Zarb. Also we cannot forget to mention the QM Gabe Rizzo and other rovers. As you will appreci-

ate putting a camp of that scale is not easy. We would also like to thanks the parents and friends

that came for the fundraising BBQ on Friday 6th

.

Back to school

We would like to remind members that although most members are soon starting school, meet-

ings on Wednesdays shall be held anyway. It’s all about time management and with proper adap-

tation and planning members should manage to cope with meetings, homework and other inter-

ests.

Anniversary

On October 16th

our Group will be 97 years old. Our group was registered on October 16th

1916

and has been the Group with the longest running service. We never closed down, not even dur-

ing World War II and during the mid 1980s catholic school crisis. I think this is something we

should be proud of and it should also instill more dedication and commitment in our efforts to-

wards our centenary anniversary in three years time.

Forthcoming events

On October 12th

we shall be unveiling the bust of our former Group Scout Leader, John A. Mizzi

aka Cubbie.

First week of November (mid –term) – Bulwark Shield Competition for Scouts.

GSL’s note

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From the

Courtyard

Issue 80

September 2013 From the Pack

This year’s SAC Cub Summer Camp was held at Għajn Tuffieħa Campsite between Wednesday 4th

and Friday 6th

September. Cub Helper Julia Psaila gives us her account of her first Summer Camp

Experience...

04/09/13

At 9.30 am, the cubs arrived, fully equipped with bot-

tles of water, sleeping equipment and bags larger than

themselves!

They seemed to be quite excited about the whole

camping experience. Leaders asked for a number of

cubs to help them put up the tents and other chores.

After ‘fall-in’, Akela welcomed the cubs to Summer

Camp 2013 and gave a brief introduction what to ex-

pect at camp, rules, duties and activities etc. He ex-

plained the camp theme which was to be ‘Seashore

Adventures’. Afterwards, we took them for a campsite

tour, showing them out-of-bounds sections, the dining

shelter, the bathrooms, their tents, washing-up area

etc. The cubs then carried their belongings to their

tents and had time to settle in and look around.

The first activity of the day was water games. The games included a water-balloon toss, a traditional wa-

ter-balloon fight, and a game the cubs had to come up with themselves which included water balloons.

After lunch, we prepared for the coloured sand craft.

For this we needed rough paper, coloured chalk, dis-

posable plates, glass jars with lid and half a plate of

salt per cub. Each six was placed at a separate table

and I gave them a brief introduction on the sand craft,

explaining that rubbing coloured chalk onto salt

makes coloured salt (‘sand’) for layering into jars. The

cubs seemed to like the idea, and some of them de-

cided to experiment to create original colours by mix-

ing. There were also a few cubs who decided to shake

the jar once it was full to create multi-coloured sand-

filled jars.

When everything was cleaned up, everyone was sent

to prepare for the beach. The leaders had to ensure

that the cubs kept safe in the sea and refrained from throwing sand at each other. They played water vol-

ley ball and a game called ‘Shark and Minnows’. The cubs particularly enjoyed themselves throwing water

at each other and the leaders. There were a few cubs who asked me to pick them up and throw them in

the water, but I sent them to Rama because I’m not strong enough! Eventually, they played in the sand,

creating sculptures, digging holes and burying each other in the sand. They also had a Beach Scavenger

Hunt and they ran off in their sixes, clutching the instructions and finding what was needed, including sea-

shells, things that float and other items.

Back at the campsite, the cubs and leaders showered and dressed and got ready for dinner. Afterwards,

we accompanied the cubs to wash their mess tins and cutlery and helped them to use the dishcloths.

By this time, there were a few cubs crying, insisting that they were homesick. We tried our best to cheer

them up by explaining that there is no reason to “miss mummy” because camping is fun!

The next and last activity of the day was a short 2 hour, night hike. The cubs had to get their hi-viz vests,

torches, water bottle and wear walking shoes. Since the game called ‘lighthouse’ was such a success dur-

ing the last night hike, the leaders decided to allow them to play one round. Afterwards, I gave them a

brief introduction about constellations and Rama showed us two constellations, the Big Dipper and Cas-

Cub Camp—Seashore Adventures

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From the

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Issue 80

September 2013 From the Pack

siopeia. As time passed, the cubs were tired out and

started clamouring to go back to the campsite to sleep.

When we finally arrived back at the campsite, the cubs

went off to get ready to sleep. Akela and the sixers had a

short ‘sixer’s meeting’, where the sixers discussed the day’s

activities, feelings and ideas. Lights out (for the cubs) was

at 11.30pm. Cheers to our first night camping!

05/09/13

We woke up at 6am and could already hear the scouts and cubs speaking amongst themselves. The lead-

ers were still asleep in their tent, apart from a few early-risers. The Scout Leader and a few ventures car-

ried huge speakers across the campsite and placed them close to the leaders’ tents to play loud music.

The cubs danced along, while the leaders ran out sleepily, wondering what was going on.

After ‘fall-in’, I was asked to send the cubs, six by six, to queue up for breakfast. Once all the cubs went to

queue up for breakfast, we went to the Dining Shelter to keep an eye on the cubs inside. Afterwards, we

accompanied the cubs to wash up. Once the dining shelter was clean, it was time for ‘Inspection’. The

cubs had to get out all their belongings from the tent and we leaders had to ‘inspect’ or check that the

cubs have everything in order, such as soiled clothes in separate plastic bags, no food rotting in their bags,

that they have spare batteries, dry socks, enough bottles of water, etc.

The weather was getting cloudier and plans for water games were dropped because it was windy. Instead,

the cubs played games such as Kingy, Leap-frog and football, supervised by Akela. Daniela and I were

asked to help with packing lunch for the Aquarium visit.

The cubs were soon ready to leave, and

while driving to the Aquarium situated in

Qawra, it started to rain. Little did we

know about the storm and problems going

on at the Għajn Tuffieħa Campsite. The

visit to the Aquarium was pleasant, and

the decor and special effects were amaz-

ing. We admired several unusual sea crea-

tures including sea dragons, lobsters, sea-

horses, clown-fish, cat-fish and sharks, just

to name a few. We also saw shark eggs.

The colours of the coral and fish were very

bright and beautiful. My favourite part of

the visit was the walk-through tunnel,

where you walk in a tunnel surrounded by

water with creatures swimming above

your head.

After a visit to the souvenir shop, the cubs ate their packed lunch. While we were at the Aquarium, the

Scouts were battling against the storm that was causing chaos at the campsite. It was a relief that the

cubs were safe and dry indoors at the time.

On our return, the weather seemed to improve. It was decided to attempt the planned ‘cookout’. The

cubs were taken to a grassy area to search for kindling and wood. The cubs then placed the pieces of

wood in a pagoda on top of the kindling. Chil arrived with trays of garlic bread wrapped in foil and placed

two loafs on each metal grid. Next came chicken kebabs, sausages and carrot kebabs. The cubs took turns

Daniela Sutton, Cub Helper

Throughout this experience, we felt that children,

in their special way, gave us a lot more than we

could give them. Despite the different family

backgrounds, social standing and the abilities,

each child was a gem that needed

attention. They helped us come close to

becoming people for others. Overall, we both

found camping a very positive experience which

helped us both grow in person by becoming more

responsible and respectful.

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Issue 80

September 2013 From the Pack

ensuring that the kebabs and garlic bread were cooking properly. What a nice meal!

Once the food was cooked and eaten, everything was cleared away. According to several weather reports,

a storm was predicted for the night, so lights-out was earlier than usual, at around 10pm. Before they

were sent to bed, Akela and Hati hid torches around the campsite and the cubs were encouraged to find

them. After 3 rounds of ‘Find the torch’, we prepared a short constellation quiz to test the cubs’ knowl-

edge on what had been explained the night before.

06/09/13

Today was the cubs’ last day at camp,

and after breakfast we set off to the

beach. The beach was not so crowded,

probably due to the storm. As always, on

visits to the beach, leaders had to be

alert to ensure the cubs’ safety, even

while in shallow water. The cubs played

games, including beach volley. We also

held a sand sculpture competition to cre-

ate sea creatures using sand. The cubs

were quite creative and each six came up

with different sea creatures including sea

-dragons, sharks and clownfish. When

the 20 minutes were up, the leaders had

to check out the five sea creatures and

decide on the winning six. The cubs were

enjoying themselves so much at the

beach that it was decided to stay longer.

Back at the campsite, it was time for the

cubs’ gun-showers. Bagheera picked a

few cubs at a time and showered off the

sand with a hose pipe. I helped with dry-

ing up. Once all the cubs were clean and

dressed, they were sent to their tents to

start packing up and preparing for in-

spection. The cubs needed help folding

their sleeping bags, which turned out to

be very tiring! I helped with the rest of

the packing by rolling up ground mats

and helping to fold clothes.

Activities that remained to complete on

the third day were proficiency badge work, a Seashore Adventure Treasure Hunt and helping in the prepa-

rations for the parents’ BBQ and Campfire.

Before camp, each cub had to choose a proficiency badge (Local Historian, Musician Badge, Explorer,

Weather Lore or Sportsman) and present the requirements such as information and charts to the leaders.

Hati and I were assigned the Local Historian badge. The cubs had to speak about any local historical site

that they had visited and present a chart. The projects presented for this badge were about Old Maltese

Railway Stations, ‘il-Barakka ta’ Fuq’ and ‘Għar Dalam’. All three presentations were interesting and I en-

joyed listening to the cubs eagerly explaining their projects. They all did very well and deservingly re-

ceived their Local Historian Badge.

We then held the Seashore Adventure Treasure Hunt. We were each given papers stapled together with a

challenge on each page - 8 challenges in total. Since there were not enough leaders, Akela asked me to

take up 2 challenges, which included filling the blanks and substituting letters for symbols to figure out a

sentence. We also had to find a hiding place and wait until the cubs found us. My hiding place was a

6

From the

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Issue 80

September 2013 From the Pack

shady spot on a rubble wall under a few trees and I could see the campsite and the cubs running around

from where I sat. Once the third challenge was completed by all the sixes, I started preparing for the sev-

enth challenge. By the time all the challenges were completed, it was nearly time for the guests to arrive

for the BBQ and campfire.

Families and friends are always invited to the Għajn Tuffieħa campsite for a fun evening, including deli-

cious barbequed food followed by performances by all SAC members, including the cubs. The perform-

ances, held in the glow of a huge, warm fire, included stunts, sketches and traditional scouting songs. The

cubs were especially excited to perform before their mums and dads. When the final song was sung, I was

helped to carry my many belongings to the car. Summer Camp was over!

Since this was my first camping experience, I was unsure of what to expect and thought I would have a

hard time. However, it turned out to be an activity through which I earned hands-on experience in leader-

ship and teamwork. I arrived home exhausted, but with no regrets. All I can say is that supervising around

30 cubs is hard work! Yet, all in all, Summer Camp was amazing .....

Julia Psaila

Pack Helper

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From the

Courtyard

Issue 80

September 2013 From the Unit

Being involved as helpers in other sections as well as having summer jobs, the Venture Unit barely had a

minute for themselves during Summer Camp. Nonetheless they made the best out of what free time they

had to complete a long awaiting project; the Rope Bridge. Venture Albert Galea tells us how this dream

became a success.

The highlight activity of our Summer Camp

programme was the building of a rope bridge.

This was a bridge that we were going to build

from scratch at camp by first cutting up

planks from wood which was originally to be

used as fuel for campfire, and then after drill-

ing holes on either side of them, weaving a

rope through the holes to create a Native

American style rope bridge.

The work for this had begun long before camp

was opened though. Liam Curmi De Gray was

tasked with taking the all-important measure-

ments for our planned contraption. Since the

gap between the planned start points of the

bridge looked to be around 7 to 9 metres

wide, Liam saw it fit to go to Ghajn Tuffieha and take with him only a 5 metre measuring tape. This obvi-

ously meant that to get a proper measurement he had to take a dip in the still cold ocean, much to his

own annoyance.

Whilst Liam was shoveling profanities onto his choice of measuring equipment, David Pace had been

tasked with buying the amount of rope required for the build. So after patrolling half-way around the

world of Maltese Rope shops, he finally found and obtained 40 metres of natural fibre rope (for an added

feel of realism to the look of the bridge) for a reasonably cheap price. And that meant that we were all set

for camp!

The activity itself was planned for Thursday 5th

September, so on the day before we began to cut our

wooden planks down to size for the bridge and to drill the holes through which we would weave our rope.

It was down to Luke Maistre, Andrew Zammit Montebello, Albert Galea and Matthew Zammit (more com-

monly known as “Meli” around the group) to fulfill this task. After several hours of laying planks out,

measuring, using power tools and producing a

higher amount of noise than an orchestra, we

were finished with our job. Hence we stacked

all the planks in a group, covered them and

left them for the night with all of us brimming

with excitement for the never before tried

bridge.

Come Friday, we were finally setting off with

our materials to the build site. We had been

delayed by the previous day’s weather but

now we were all raring to go. As soon as we

arrived, the first order of the day was to as-

semble a rudimentary shelter from the sun

using a plastic sheet and a couple of ropes.

Once this had been accomplished we all

started weaving rope through each of the 65

planks methodically. Having had to restart the weaving 3 or 4 times due to us not getting the weaving

pattern right and after banishing David into the shade because he got himself heat-stroke, we had com-

pleted the rope bridge. All that was left was to tie it to the two ends of the gap we were to bridge across

Bridging the Gap

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Issue 80

September 2013

and, more importantly, to eat lunch.

By the time lunch had been consumed, what seemed like

the whole of the Rabat Scout Group had arrived to swim

and generally make noise at the inlet. Once David had en-

gaged in diplomatic attempts with their leader, and their

scouts had made room for our contraption, we began to lug

it over the narrow passageway towards the gap. Once it

was in place on the shore-side of the gap, Albert, Jamie and

Meli dived into the blue ocean and swam to the other side

holding a rope that was attached to the end of the bridge.

Once we were on the other-side of the gap and in place to

pull, David started to inch the bridge forward until it was

suspended half way across in the air held from both sides

by us. The general worry that we all shared was whether

we had measured the gap correctly and made the bridge

long enough, but these worries were put to rest as the

bridge made its way across the air-space between our two

berth points. As the bridge ended its journey across the

gap, Ventures on both sides began tying knots frantically so

the bridge could be held only by ropes, and not by us.

Twenty minutes of panicked pulling and tying, we thought

that the bridge was sturdy enough for one of us to go

across on it.

After a group photo, the first person to attempt crossing was the notoriously injury-prone Albert.

As he got ready to cross to shore via the bridge, everybody stopped to watch. By everybody I literally do

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September 2013

mean everybody…Ventures, Rabat Scouts, a

couple of locals and even the Rabat Scout

Group dog had sensed that something was in

the offing and stopped what he was doing.

Albert began to inch forward, then took a

step onto the bridge, and then another. He

was now balancing on the bridge itself. Tak-

ing small steps, he trickled forward when sud-

denly there was a sharp tearing sound from

where Albert had just left. With his heart-

rate suddenly jumping up, Albert took a

heavy step forward but since he had now ar-

rived at the halfway point, the bridge sagged

downwards due to his weight and stopped

painstakingly close to the water. Continuing

on though, Albert made it across without

ending up in the water. He was in fact the only one to manage this feat as everyone else who traversed

across, at one point or another fell into the water. After we had all attempted to cross, we started to ex-

periment with the bridge, to the point that all 5 of us were sitting or standing on the bridge (now half into

the water).

Eventually though after much messing about, we had to dis-

assemble everything (minus 4 now broken planks) and head

off back to the campsite to lend a hand for the night’s

campfire. Jamie, Andrew and Ian proceeded to carry up all

the ropes, plastic, food related utensils and any other mis-

cellaneous items. This left David, Albert and Meli to carry

the still assembled rope bridge across the countryside, over

the beach and up the hill to the campsite. It took them at

least half an hour to get to the road and even then they

decided that the contraption was too heavy to carry up in

its rolled up state. Hence we opened it up and proceeded to

pull a 9 metre long structure made with only wood and

rope, up the hill. Having avoided pick-ups, cars and police-

men, we made it into the campsite, dead tired and craving

a cold shower.

As a side-note, the bridge is still rolled up and is currently

residing in the Mousehole. Maybe sometime soon it will

see the light of day once more. Who knows…

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From the

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Issue 80

September 2013 From the Crew

Brand new Rover Liam Curmi de Gray writes to us from Mistra Bay where a Fundraising service activity

was organized for St. Martin’s School.

The biggest challenge of the day was the first thing to do,

waking up early so that by 7am all the Rovers would be at

HQ! the reason being that by 7:30am the truck would come

and we would be ready for it. Being the first to arrive, and

battling with teachers cars so they won’t block the passage

to load the truck, I waited for the other Rovers to arrive.

Eventually everyone came just 5 minutes before the truck

arrived, however it was evident that battling morning with-

out any assistance of coffee became quite a challenge for a

few Rovers. As we loaded the truck which was double the

size of what we use for camp, the average amount of serra-

tizzi and barrels was divided into 5 groups with extras just in

case.

The trip to Mistra bay was a joyful ride with lots of time to spare as the two people who went up with the

truck had enough time to unload it until the arrival of the other Rovers and the students. As the truck de-

parted we had a moment of “Pre Laughing” which consisted of telling jokes to each other, trying to find a

way to pass the time and not fall asleep(some resorted to sparring with the paddles) whilst sharing coffee

resources (which didn’t last long thanks to the 3 caffeine addicts). Upon the arrival of the St. Martin’s stu-

dents they were split up into different groups, George ZM gave an introduction on today’s activity using a

makeshift raft showing the students what they were going to build and hopefully not drowning. During

this talk our lovely QM Gabriel was already giving out equal amounts of barrels, serratizzi and ropes to

each group.

Each team of students was assigned

a Rover supervisor, whereas George

and Gabriel where the overall super-

visors looking around at each and

every group. A minor greeting to the

students was given by each supervi-

sor allocated within that specific

group in the hope that they would

guide them well enough for the

ropes to not get untied as soon as

they hit the water. A quick tutorial

showing the students the basic knots

they were going to use followed and

off they started building their sur-

vival rafts. Being the scouts of Saint

Aloysius that we are, we have the

habit of finishing quickly with a slight

efficiency in our work. But seeing

that we could only guide and slightly

help out, our quick trademark re-

mained yet the efficiency lacked.

Finishing the raft first is only a small part of the challenge, the other and most important task is to keep it

afloat without it disassembling. The first group to head in the water was Luke’s group of students and not

shortly after it already started disassembling followed by Dylan’s group twice and Liam’s once. Eventually

all rafts kept hold in the water after some tweaking and the students were enjoying them. The sheer num-

St. Martin’s School Rafting Activity

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September 2013

ber of students sitting on the rafts and trying to

balance on them, meant that most of the seratizzi

were touching the water due to the huge mass on

them. Because of the current, the rafts were drift-

ing far away from shore so the Rovers jumped in

the water to bring them back close to land and start

disassembling them.

As everything returned safely and still in one piece

(including the students!!), everything was placed to-

gether and in order. The students waved goodbye

and thanked all of us for a wonderful activity. The

truck was re loaded and unloaded again back at HQ

where everything was placed back except the ropes

which had to be cleaned from the sea water and hung to dry off. While at HQ, the lot of us where suffer-

ing from a bit of heatstroke and were laughing manically. Nonetheless it was a very fun activity that we

were all glad to have taken part in.

From the Crew