This troop makes a splash at its annual aquatics campout

Three Scouts grip onto a large towable tube. A motorboat steadily pulls them across the lake. It’s a lot of fun, but when water from the boat’s wake splashes them as the boat gently turns, that’s when the real excitement begins.

“One of the best parts is when one of the Scouts starts to fall off,” says Tyler Robinson, 17, a Life Scout. “It’s complete panic, and it’s so much fun.”

Every August, the Scouts in Troop 27 of Johns Creek, Ga., kick off their school year with a water sports campout at nearby Lake Lanier. It’s one of the troop’s favorite campouts, and it’s filled with aquatic fun.

Plenty of planning

A couple of the troop’s assistant Scoutmasters store their boats on the lake, but that doesn’t mean the troop just heads over there on a whim. The water sports campout requires months of preparation.

The vessels and tubes are readied, life jackets for everyone are secured, and the Scouts review the safety requirements. For tow sports and any other aquatic activity, the Aquatics Supervision leader’s guide details what you must do – from the boat driver’s responsibilities to proper maneuvers to communication signals. Scouting America also offers guidance through the Guide to Safe Scouting, Safety Moments and trainings for being safe on the water.

Scouts who participate on this campout also must be classified swimmers. If anyone hadn’t passed the test, they needed to first complete it.

“You’ve got all these certifications; if you make sure you’re on top of it, you can go out on the water and have fun,” Tyler says. “Safety is part of it. We reiterate these safety procedures almost constantly.”

During the campout, the Scouts get fitted for their life jackets and pick their buddies.

“We emphasize the buddy system,” says Rohan Srivatsa, 18, an Eagle Scout. “Your buddy can check your vest.”

On the water

After reviewing the safety rules, the Scouts split up. Some get on the boats while others play in the supervised swim area by the shore. For two hours, the Scouts ride the towable tubes. Then, the groups switch. That’s plenty of time for everyone to try tubing.

The driver maintained a safe speed, compliant with the tube’s specifications.

“If you want to go faster, thumbs up. Go slower, thumbs down,” Rohan says. “If one person on the tube said go slower, we’d go slower. Other Scouts and the adults watched to make sure no one fell off and to monitor the line.”

The Scouts were able to hang on for a while, but eventually a turn or a wave knocked everyone off.

“We had to counteract the inertia, which didn’t work at all,” says Anish Raja, 14, a Second Class Scout.

Back at camp

After a day on the lake, the Scouts returned to camp, where they worked on rank and merit badge requirements and held a flag retirement ceremony. They also worked on their cooking skills, though they eyed what the adults were cooking.

“We had some great meals, especially munching off the assistant Scoutmasters’ seafood boil,” says Abhinav Nalluri, 16, a First Class Scout.

The annual campout serves as a way to introduce new Scouts to the fun activities the troop does.

“This is what Scouting is,” Rohan says. “This is always a highlight of what we do.”

Submit your adventures

We love to highlight awesome Scouting outings like this one. You can send us an email to onscouting@scouting.org to share details and photos of a recent event or campout your unit went on, and we might write about it too.

Scout Life magazine highlights unit outings too. You can submit your upcoming outing to the magazine or share details about a trip that recently happened, and your unit’s trip could be featured in Scouting America’s official youth magazine.

You can read about more water sports tips in the March issue of Scout Life. To check out more awesome features in the magazine, plus helpful Scouting tips, funny comics and jokes, you can subscribe here.