So now you're a Watch Leader

The Watch Afloat One of the best watch activities you can do is to bring your watch afloat.Your watch should be able to row as a crew under your direction and they should be able to crew a sailing boat under your helm.

As with all water activities it is necessary to have a person with the relevant Charge Certificate present.

You may be lucky enough to have a charge certificate yourself, but in all cases Skipper must be informed of your Boating Activities.

A good Watch project to get everybody involved and afloat is to build a raft.

All you need are some spars and lashings and some old inner tubes or barrel’s to provide the Buoyancy.

IMPORTANT: If you use barrels make sure the are free from chemical residue, which could Injure you or cause pollution.

Your local tyre centre will usually be able to give you some old inner tubes lorry tubes are better because of their size but are harder to get.

There Is no science to building a raft but two basic rules should see you right:Good Solid lashings on the basic frame The buoyancy well secured to the frame.

Once launched the raft will provide endless hours of fun.

Remember waters used for boating may not be suitable for rafting as rafts are much slower and more difficult to manoeuvre than a boat.

When you have your watch afloat you should give all members turns at the Cox and Helm and develop their competence and confidence in carrying out basic manoeuvres.

Scouts should be competent to bring a boat alongside, pick up a buoy, anchor correctly and safely perform a man overboard drill.

If the WL does not have a charge certificate then they must arrange for a charge cert holder to be present.