I began my Scouting first of all as a Sea Scout, before I ever went
into the Army and before I ever saw the backwoods in Canada or India.
And I am very glad that I did, for as a Sea Scout, I learnt how to
swim, and I should have cut a poor figure as a soldier, or as a
hunter, or as a Scout, if I had not been able to do that.
But besides swimming, there are so many things that one learns while a
Sea Scout which come in useful afterwards, whatever line of life you
may take up.
For instance, I learnt how to tie knots, and unless a fellow can do
that he is a duffer; I learnt how to handle and manage a boat by
myself, how to right her when upset, and how to get in and out of her
when bathing.
I learnt how to steer and manage a large sailing boat, taking my watch
alone at night; how to read the stars and charts; and how to take the
responsibility for navigating and not running her on to the rocks.
As a Sea Scout you get mighty hungry, so in order to feed yourself
when on the water you have to be able to catch fish and to clean them,
and to cook them for yourself. All this means that you have to be what
a sailor is generally known as, a "handyman."
Then the life is so jolly, free, and breezy; there is lots of hard
work at times, and difficulties and dangers to overcome, but also lots
of enjoyable sunny cruising into strange places with good comrades
around you.
Fellows boxed up in a ship together naturally become the best of
friends and comrades if they are naturally good chaps with good
tempers; if they are not--well--then I would rather not be in that
ship, thank you!
Sailors are always manly fellows, and know how to give and take, and
they manage to keep their tempers when small things go wrong.
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