Mariner Troop Leads Other Girl Scouts in Outdoor Adventures

Girl Scouts in Mariner Troop Have Fun and Share Their Passions with Younger Girls

Each year, Girl Scouts in grades 4-12 in Mariner Troop 6320 go camping, swimming, canoeing, and kayaking, and practice critical skills in sailing, scuba diving, paddle craft safety, crew overboard drills, fi rst aid, and semaphore signaling.

“I love this troop because we have fun with friends, create silly camp names for each other, and try activities that we wouldn’t normally get to do,” said Charlie, a Girl Scout Cadette.

“I just joined this troop, and it is crazy in the best way possible – we went camping in a cave! I never did anything like that before,” said Lena, a Girl Scout Cadette.

While this troop has fun on the water, they always look for ways to give back to the community and engage with younger Girl Scouts. Every summer, the Girl Scouts help remove weeds from community lakes where they can swim, and they teach water skills to campers at summer camp. They host an ice fishing event each winter, where they teach younger Girl Scouts ice safety skills, how to identify hypothermia symptoms, and how to layer for hikes.

This past fall, the Mariner troop hosted their first-ever Paddle Sports event at Camp Silver Brook, where they taught younger Girl Scouts how to paddle and steer a canoe, played “capture the noodle” water games, and practiced safety techniques. The Mariners also got to develop their own leadership and water skills.

“I accidentally tipped my kayak and fell in the water. I showed the younger girls the importance of reacting quickly and staying calm,” said Sandra, a Girl Scout Cadette. “The Mariner troop followed the ‘crew overboard’ procedure, demonstrated why we wear personal fl otation devices, and showed how to right a capsized kayak.”

The Mariner troop hopes to travel to the Florida Keys in 2023 to go snorkeling and scuba diving.