What is a Mariner Scout?
- By all rights, there is currently no official branch of Girl Scouting called Mariners. It is merely an honorary title that our Senior Girl Scout troop takes on. In 1934, when Mariner Girl Scouting existed, Mariner Ships were Senior Girl Scout troops that focused on skills involving boats and bodies of water in general. While the Mariner branch of Girl Scouting is technically obsolete, our girls still wear the Mariner Pin.
UPDATE: The Mariner program may be returning to GSUSA! Stay tuned.
- No. Those are the unique names we use for our ship officers, both in Mariners and Sea Scouts. Boatswain is President, Boatswain’s Mate is Vice President, Purser is Treasurer, and Yeoman is Secretary.
- The adults that help keep our ships together have special titles too, other than Leader, Assistant Leader, and the like. Skipper would be the number one in charge of our ship, equivalent of a Leader in regular Boy and Girl Scouting. The First Mate is the Skipper’s Second, the main Assistant Leader, if you will. Our ships have many adults trained as Leaders who count as Assistant Leaders. I’ve termed people in this group, including myself, Helmsmen. Helmsman, according to certain sources, used to be a rank in Mariner Scouting, and since Mariners are currently out of date, I thought Helmsman would be a fitting term to use.
- Simple: there are troops in Girl Scouting, and ships in Mariner Scouting. The two terms, like the titles for officers, are different but equivalent.
- A flagship is a boat of which a Mariner Girl Scout Ship adopts the name. It may be official, as in a member contacts the owner of the boat and asks to take on the name, or it could be honorary, such as taking on the name Titanic or Santa Maria. The flagship name becomes a nickname for the Mariner or Sea Scout Ship, you could say. In 361’s case, you would know our ship as Mariner Ship 361 Star of Geneva. Previously, our Sea Scout Ship 361 was Sonrisa de mi Alma.
- They are both official. You can find the story on these ships in 361’s History.
- Regattas are competitions that test both girls and boys in Scouting on certain skills—knots, compass, canoeing, rowing, swimming, First Aid, drilling & manuevering, etc. Some have signature events, such as log rolling, log sawing, canoe swamp, code flags, splicing, and more. Your unit competes against similar groups in one of usually two divisions: Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts/Coed Units. Earning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place earns your group points toward the overall trophy of your division, and sometimes an overall award in which each unit is up against all the rest.The competition brings team and character building into play, but also fun and social aspects. While waiting for your turn in an event, you can strike up a conversation with the group ahead of you. If you’re short people for playing a card game during down time, ask the kids behind you. Maybe your group has never heard of code flags or splicing—any Scout would be willing to lend a helping hand in teaching. Pay attention to the units around you: you may be able to laugh about an odd moment or give them respect for a job well done later.
And of course, there’s the dance. Any regatta that 361 has gone to has a dance in the evening after the events are done. It’s a great way to meet other awesome high school aged kids in a controlled environment with decent music and to just have fun! Just remember, if you see a large group of girls line dancing, I’d bet an oak to an acorn that it’s 361.
- Wrong! Mariner Scouts in 361 take part in service projects and also attend noncompetitive events as well. We host an annual Easter Egg Hunt at Cross & Crown Church in Roscoe, arrange for a paddle boat cruise on the Fox River, hike at Devil’s Lake, camp in Peshtigo, go white water rafting and rock climbing, and much much more. Scouts is just a meeting place. As Girl Scouts, we attend conventions and ceremonies, and even hold our own for honors and recognition awarded to our members. The friendships formed in our ship extend beyond scouting, and on more than one occasion, we’ve gone to movies and concerts with no attachment to Scouting (other than the fact that the majority of the girls attending are in 361).
- Of course! 361 is not one to deny new members into our Ship, but before you decide whether or not you want to join, I highly recommend you come to a meeting and talk to our members and Skipper about what 361 is all about. That way you can get to know what responsibilities a regular member has, the guidelines we follow, and how much fun and craziness a 361 event entails!
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Updated July 24th, 2021
Updated July 24th, 2021