We're not going to lie, because a Scout is Honest...it was really cold!

Troop 49 conducted Canoe Basic Training at Fire Mountain Scout Camp. The plan was to work on tandem and solo stroke followed by water rescues. The paddling portion of the training was fantastic, and we got to explore Challenge Lake to its fullest.

When it came time for water rescues, we watched our instructor demonstrates several different ways of rescuing a swamped canoe. Some of these rescues were done in the water, which didn't look that hard when the instructor was doing them. Two brave scouts asked if they could also try a water rescue and found out exactly how cold the water was!

We finished off the day by warming by a hot fire in the shelter next to the boat house.

What a day. We'll remember that April is cold for water sports at the next annual meeting.

Our Scoutmaster is scheduling another training session in June so that everyone can participate in the water rescues and get trained up for canoe adventures this summer.