Sea Scouts are a part of the

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

movement, with a particular emphasis on boating and other water-based activities on the sea, rivers or lakes (canoeing, rafting, scuba, sailboarding). Sea Scouts can provide a chance to sail, cruise on boats, learn navigation, learn how to work on engines and compete in

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wat ...

s. Sea Scouts often have distinctive uniforms. In some countries or Scout organizations, Sea Scouting is a program just for older Scouts.

History

The Boy Scouts Association in Britain, 1914-1918 Q19966

One of the earliest records of "Sea Scouts" is in ''Chums'' magazine which refers to "Sea Scouts" as early as July 1909. These Sea Scouts were part of the Chums Scouts and British Boy Scouts. Also in the ''Chums'' magazine, the British Boys Naval Brigade, later National Naval Cadets, were subtitled 'Scouts of the Sea' from the 14 July 1909 edition and, from the 28 July 1909 edition, 'Sea Scouts of the Empire'. The British Boy Scouts and an original company of The National Naval Cadets were both headquartered in Battersea, London and the 'boys' weekly newspaper ''Chums'' was the official journal of both. The National Naval Cadets affiliated with the British Boy Scouts as part of its Sea Scouts. Later, Sea Scouts were introduced within the Baden-Powell Boy Scouts organization. In the first edition of ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extens ...

'',

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the worl ...

mentioned that "A Scout should be able to manage a boat, to bring it properly alongside a ship or pier....". In December 1908, the first Seamanship badge was issued as one of the first 'Efficiency' badges. A camp for Scouts was held at

Bucklers Hard Buckler's Hard is a hamlet on the banks of the Beaulieu River in the English county of Hampshire. With its Georgian cottages running down to the river, Buckler's Hard is part of the Beaulieu Estate. The hamlet is some south of the village ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

in August 1909 at which boating activities were a focus. In 1911, Baden-Powell wrote the booklet ''Sea Scouting for Boys''. Warington Baden-Powell wrote ''Sea Scouting and Seamanship for Boys'' in 1912, with a foreword by Robert Baden-Powell. A special uniform for Sea Scouts was approved in 1910 and, in 1912, the name "Sea Scouts" was officially adopted within Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts Association. Sea Scouting found its way to the rest of the world. In many organizations a Sea Scout troop or group has a special name, in the Boy Scouts of America it is called a ship.

Around the world

Eurosea seminars

Eurosea is the seminar for Sea Scouting/Guiding in the

European Scout Region The European Scout Region is one of six geographical subdivisions of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a satellite office in Brussels, Belgium. Structure Members The European Scout Region co ...

which take place every two or three years. The aims and objectives are to enable national associations to share ideas and experiences on how to develop Sea Scouting/Guiding or water-based programs in general. Participants are members of national or regional teams responsible for Sea Scouting/Guiding or developing water-based programs and representatives from associations interested in introducing Sea Scouting/Guiding. *Eurosea 1, 1985:

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Greece *Eurosea 2, 1988: Harderhaven, Netherlands *Eurosea 3, 1992: Vässarö, Sweden *Eurosea 4, 1994: London, United Kingdom *Eurosea 5, 1997:

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway *Eurosea 6, 2000:

Olsztynek Olsztynek (german: Hohenstein in Ostpreußen) is a town in northern Poland, in Olsztyn County, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Olsztynek. It is part of the historic region of Masuria. Geography Ol ...

, Poland *Eurosea 7, 2003: São Jacinto, Aveiro, Portugal *Eurosea 8, 2006: Korpo, Finland *Eurosea 9, 2008: Larch Hill, Ireland *Eurosea 10, 2010:

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabitants. The city is known worldwid ...

, Czech Republic *Eurosea 11, 2012:

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark *Eurosea 12, 2014:

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium *Eurosea 13, 2016: Puck, Poland *Eurosea 14, 2018:

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain *Eurosea 15, 2022:

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, Greece

Loss of vessels

*4 August 1912 – eight Boy Scouts from the 2nd Walworth (Dulwich Mission) group and another boy drowned in capsize of a cutter off Leysdown, Kent, England. The boat was carrying twenty-three Scouts from

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies nort ...

to a camp at Leysdown. *27 October 1913 – three Scouts and an assistant leader drowned and eleven Scouts were saved when the ketch ''Mirror'' was hit by the steamer ''Hogarth'' (1231 tons) while tacking across the river. ''Mirror'' had been a gift of the ''Daily Mirror'' newspaper to the Scouts. *In August 1950 – all ten Scouts on board were killed when the ''Wangle III'', owned by 1st Mortlake Sea Scouts was lost on a return voyage from France.

References

*J.S. Wilson, ''Scouting 'Round the World'', 1957 edition

External links