All in great form and glad to have dry land under their feet for a few hours!

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The Fry cup is Sea Scouting Ireland’s Senior Seamanship Competition.
In 1918, Major-General Sir William Fry presented a very handsome silver cup to the Port of Dublin Sea Scouts.  This was to be used for an annual seamanship competition and has become our most prestigious trophy.  The Fry Cup Competition has continued without interruption to the present day.

Over the weekend a unified team from Malahide Sea Scouts came first place in this prestigious seamanship competition. A first for Malahide, six members from across our scout sections came together over the last weeks and trained regularly and lifted the coveted trophy. The challenge is for scouts age under 17 years as of the 1^st   of June. The syllabus covers both basic and advance seamanship skills including rowing in a boats crew, navigation, chartwork, water safety, anchoring, sailing theory, steerage and buoyage.

Congratulations to one and all, of our hard working team who lifted the trophy on the harbour wall in Dunlaoghaire . Special thanks to Scouter Colum McCaffrey who worked closely with the team during their period of training.

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A fantastic display of teamwork and seamanship under various conditions.

Well done girls.

Rockabill, off Skerries

Howth Harbour

Poolbeg, Dublin Port

Bailey, Howth

Kish, Dublin Bay

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A major event on the Venture Scout Calendar. It sees teams of two Venture Scouts taking part in a 5 day expedition during which they must cover 100km’s on foot while completing a number of challenges, completing a logbook of their journey and living on a limited budget. The event takes place around July / August each year in either Ireland or the UK. There are two types of projects to be completed. The first are designed to be completed by interacting with local people met along the route of the expedition. These can cover a variety of topics and are grouped under the headings of Skills, Culture and Novelty. The second involve each Venture Scout taking on a number of Personal Challenges. These involve the Venture Scouts  investigating an aspect of their own development under the headings of Social, Physical, Intellectual, Character, Emotional and Spiritual.

The expedition begins with teams being dropped off at an unknown location. Each team is handed a sealed envelope which contains their project instructions, budget money, mobile phone, base camp location and maps. After this they are left on their own and they have to work out a plan to get themselves to the base camp location while completing all the required projects along the way.  A team of staff constantly monitor the progress of the teams and phone checks are done on a daily basis. When the teams eventually arrive at base camp they can enjoy a couple of days of well earned relaxation. During this time assessments of the projects and log books take place. These are followed up by team interviews to determine that all requirements of Challenge were competed. On the last day presentations are made to each team during which the successful teams are awarded their Challenge Badge and Woggle.

Heather’s Experience..

Well as you guys may have seen I was off on an expo with Scouting Ireland for the past while. For the past 10 days I was taking part in an event called Venture Challenge – an annual national event, run by Scouting Ireland that teams of any 2 ventures can take part in. Myself and my partner, Stephen from Navan Road Scouts, had to walk at least 100km in 5 days, with £4 for food each day and carry all of our gear – all with just each other’s company. This year 17 teams got dropped all over Northern Ireland and we made our way to Ballyhornan, Co. Down.

The 34 participants and staff gathered in Aughrim Street Scout Den, Dublin on Tuesday 19^th July and at 6am the next morning we piled onto a bus to head to our mystery drop off points. Each team would be dropped off in a radius around Base Camp to avoid running into each other on our 5 day journey. We copped on fairly quickly to which end of the country we were headed and once we passed the border the nerve wreaking drop offs began. Just to make it worse, the teams weren’t called in chronological order – Some teams dropped in a small town, some at a crossroads and some in the middle of nowhere.

Along the way we had projects to complete – teaching someone a new skill, learning about the local area, baking a cake and stuff like that. I know it sounds insane and the amount of times we got asked what charity we were doing it in aid of, only to reply that it was for a bit of craic – well, for a shiny piece of metal (a woggle) and a badge. Each night we knocked on peoples doors to find a place to pitch our tent for the night – usually greeted by shocked and confused expressions to say the least – but we were very fortunate to have met some very generous people as well, who feed us, gave us showers, beds for the night and even a packed lunch for the following day!

Walking the last mile into Ballyhornan on Day 5 was a tough but exciting one. We were greeted with food, beds and 5 more days with the rest of the participants and a tough but fair Assessment team. Over the 5 days we were assessed in adventure skills and interviewed 3 times about our journey – making sure that we kept to all of the rules and completed all of the requirements. On the Last day we scrubbed up into uniform and were spoilt with a dinner and awards ceremony in an equally scrubbed up scout den.

We were incredibly lucky and met some amazing people who lifted our spirits on the road and more that made memories to cherish at basecamp. As mad as it seems, it was amazing experience and I would definitely encourage everyone to consider taking part. The things we learnt along the way, the people we met and the friends and memories back at base camp made it worth every painful blistered step & suffering the bruised shoulders – and I know that every lesson we learned will stand with us forever.

I definitely have a new found appreciation for cars and public transport, that’s for sure! We were completely out of our comfort zone especially being in the North and having to deal with pounds, miles, funny accents and the tricolours & Union Jacks everywhere ~ but somehow we managed to survive. As the only Sea Scout jumper amongst the blue shirts I was slightly intimidated at first but in the end it didn’t really matter and hopefully soon enough there will be more jumpers in there too. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, great craic and most importantly don’t be scared by the challenge.

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For the Neala Troop this years Expo was to Austria . Planning began back in late 2015 when each watch was given a country to explore and report back to the troop why their choice would be best for Annual Expo 2016.

So it was to be Pfadfinderdorf (Scout Centre) Zellhof ,Mattsee, Austria about 20 kms north of Salzburg. The watch leaders set about planning the programme ,which would blow the socks off the scouts for the duration of the camp.

In the meantime ,flights had to be booked,camping equipment planned ,followed by budgets , cash flow,menus , and day to day camp activities.

Flying enroute via Munich , was followed by a two and half hour coach journey across the border from Germany into Austria. After camp set up and settling in , daily activities commenced straight away .The camp site is situated among very green rolling hills of  eastern  Austria among clusters of forests  and with a very big back drop of high alpine mountains freckled with snow ,stretching for miles.

Every day on camp was different from cycling hikes ,to campcraft,outdoor cooking and barbecues to canoeing ,exploring mines,journeying to a waterpark,seeing a ancient celtic settlement,toboggan down an alpine mountain,and a visit to Salzburg the famous city of Mozart and  the Von Trapp family.

One of the daily duties of duty watch every day was collecting the fresh milk from the local farmer.An opportunity for the scouts  to see the workings of a dairy farm.

All this was only possible because the watch leaders and volunteer scouters who gave their time so generously by putting in many hours of preparation.Thanks again to all again for making this another very successful Annual Expo. in 2016.

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Volunteer Scouters from Malahide, Reachra County and surrounds at our last recent ‘Welcome to Scouting’

The last course of Welcome to Scouting in its present format came to an end on Thursday 4th February 2016 . Started back in the late nineties under our former association (Scout Association of Ireland) training scheme a  video of a  duration of about 45 minutes was shown too new potential volunteers. Given details about becoming a volunteer the video covered information about scouting and a schedule on further training .Narrated by Andrew Kelly of  communications in  SAI  was a well produced and gave potential volunteers a insight into the workings of scouting. The course was updated and became more interactive  when Scouting Ireland was formed back in 2004 ,but still retained the title ‘Welcome to Scouting’.

In the period of almost 20 years the training team of Malahide have trained  up to 320 volunteers into the 9th Port Malahide .When  the course was extended  to cover Reachra County and  surrounds a total of  920 volunteers have been trained . This is great credit to the training team in Malahide .Our thanks goes to Stephanie Mc Cann, Anna Hickey , Kevin Rowan ,Elaine Dunne, Stephen O’Reilly and of course to all those volunteers who turned up to the courses .

Keep Training – Keep Scouting

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Triathlon 2015 Results

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The competition involves:

• Rowing a BP18 as a crew while also demonstrating teamwork and the appropriate exercise with respect to entry/departure of the craft.
• Punt Rowing, Anchors, and associated Knots.
• Water Safety / Weather / Flares & Distress Signals.
• Parts of a East Coast Skiff / Boat Maintenance / Whipping.
• Lashings & Flag Etiquette – Construct a basic flagpole and hoist flags in order of priority.
• Rigging (BP18) / Parts of a Sail Boat / Principal Motor & Sailing Vessels.
• Uniform Inspection.
• First Aid / Two Operator CPR / Theory & Scenarios.

Seamanship skills are a life skill that is taught from the very start of a sea scouts journey in his troop. The Hamil Cup gives the scout’s a focus and put into practice what they have learnt throughout the boating season. This years venue was in Howth Harbour and was hosted by the 7th Port of Dublin Sea Scouts. Thanks goes to the organisers and their team for laying on the challenging bases.  Malahide Sea Scout group was well represented entering 5 teams this year. A great turnout on the day with 17 teams in total competing for the Hamill Cup. Congratulations to 9th Port Malahide Wednesday Troop who took 3rd place this year.

Check out this years training and competition!

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Malahide Sea Scouts & Malahide Coast:

Sailing, Rowing, Kayaking, Swimming, Regattas, Ireland’s Eye Expeditions and Triathlons. Malahide Sea Scouts enjoy all of these activities, annually, along the coast of Malahide. We are so lucky to have this 2km stretch of coast that allows us to run our water based activities for our young people – with the added benefit of stunning views like Malahide Marina, Donabate Sand Dunes, The Viaduct, Lambay Island, Ireland’s Eye and a strand that stretches far into the Horizon.

The upkeep and management of our coast and beach is so important not only for our scouts/activities, but also for our local community, our visitors, and for the environmental protection of wildlife habitats that exist in the area.

Scouting Ireland are one of the founding partners of Leave No Trace Ireland, the outdoor ethics education programme which was launched in National Office in Larch Hill. Built on an ethos of personal responsibility for the environment, the Leave No Trace programme, helps scouts understand the impact of their activities and make better choices when they use the outdoors.

For our latest Green Scout Den project, Malahide Sea Scouts took part in Clean Coasts Week 2015 in the hope to raise awareness and encourage our local community to help us keep our beach and coast clean all year round.

Areas that require cleanups along the Malahide Coast

Marine litter and pollution of our oceans has become a major and very REAL issue:

• Plastic is the most common type of marine litter in the world.
• An estimated 100,000 marine mammals and up to 1 million sea birds die every year after ingesting or being tangled in plastic marine litter.
• Up to 80% of the plastic in our oceans comes from land-based sources.
• Plastics do not biodegrade, but instead break down into small particles that persist in the ocean, absorb toxins, and enter our food chain through fish, seabirds and other marine life.
• The extent of this issue is evident from The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, areas in the North Pacific Ocean where marine debris are continuously mixed by wind and wave action and widely dispersed over huge surface areas and throughout the top portion of the water column. It is difficult to estimate the size of these “patches” because the borders and content constantly change with ocean currents and winds. The bottom line here is that man-made debris does not belong in our oceans and waterways and we now need to address this issue.

Have you seen ‘Trashed’ the documentary by Jeremy Irons?  Mr. Irons sets out to discover the extent and effects of our global waste problem, as he travels around the world to beautiful destinations tainted by pollution. To watch the trailer of this eye opening documentary Click here !

Rubbish we found on Malahide Beach during our clean:

9th Port Malahide Neala Troop take part in our Beach Clean

9th Port Malahide Wednesday and Friday Troops take part in our Clean

Some of the rubbish we collected from the coastline on our clean-up

Malahide Beach |Blue Flag & Green Coast Awards:

Most beaches in Ireland aim to achieve Blue Flag status. This is one of the world’s most recognised eco-labels. Beaches that achieve this accolade must comply with a specific set of criteria relating to water quality, information provision, environmental education, safety and beach management. At Blue Flag beaches the bathing water must comply with the excellent standard in accordance with the EU Bathing Water Directive. Communities can also apply to be considered for a Green Coast Award.

Unfortunately, Malahide is not eligible to apply for either accolade at this point in time. A significant criterion for obtaining a Blug Flag or a Green Coast Award is that a beach must be recognised as a designated bathing area. Malahide is currently not a designated bathing area. Our Beach has a permanent Red Flag status, prohibiting swimming at all times. This is due to the dangers of the nearby channel, strong currents and boat traffic.

In recent years, local people and politicians have tried to engage with this particular issue. Most recently, there was a call for Low Rock to be identified as a designated bathing area due to the number of swimmers its waters attract, however, Fingal County Council assessed this option and found that “access for emergency services and the public was unsuitable. There is also a lack of parking. The area is tidal with an array of rocks and is only most suited to competent swimmers”.

There is still a lot to enjoy from Malahide beach but if you want to get more than your feet wet, we suggest Portmarnock as a safer option for swimming.

What can you do to help?

Here in Malahide we have a great community who care about the environment. There are many groups and individuals who do a superb job each year keeping Malahide looking well, our beaches included. Although we cannot apply for the above accolades, we still should keep a motivated effort to remove litter and debris from our beach. Community participation is key to spread out the work throughout the year.

If you have some free time, are out for an evening stroll, walking the dog, or just want to do your bit for the environment, why not bring a plastic bag and a pair of gloves and spend a few minutes bagging that litter!! You will be surprised by how much litter you can actually collect in just a few minutes.

Are you internet/smart phone savvy? Yes? Document your findings on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Take a photo of your collected trash and use the hashtags #2minutebeachclean #cleancoasts #Malahide. This great online campaign is happening on all coastlines around Ireland all year long.

Clean Coasts Team:

A big thank you to the Clean Coast Team who sent out gloves, rubbish bags, hi-vis, and data cards for the scouts to use for this year’s clean up. All equipment will be kept in our Quartermaster Stores and we hope to be out for another clean in the near future!

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Check out our other Green Scout Den Projects 2015:

Recharge the Earth Issue 1

Recharge the Earth Issue 2

Contact: Stephen greenscoutden@gmail.com

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Activities included all waterborne pursuits  ,sailing , rowing , kayaking,swimming , pier jumping and on the land , hiking , pioneering ,camp-craft, cooking-out on open fires , backwoods , campfires  ,conducting best practice in the out of doors environment, leave no trace and evening games. The camp was such a success  the Fingal Independent reported extensively about the scouts activities recently ( see attached link - Neala camp Jul’15 (1) )

The adventure  continues for the summer as the  Wednesday night scout troop departs this Friday to their Annual Expedition on the shores of Lough Derg, Portumna in the County of Galway.

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