Pizzas, Ribs & Oxygen Tanks

The weekend of the 6th-8th August was a pretty busy one for all the SVS. On Friday night the Troop and the Unit held a crossing of the line ceremony and investiture in full parade uniform where the batch of new recruits were officially welcomed into the Unit (even though they had already been attending Unit meetings & activities).

Zack coming out of the Unit room

After a short and sweet ceremony the Unit headed off to Debono's house to talk a bit more about the Unit and it's plans for the near future. As most of you guys know the Climbing Wall has been the Unit's main project over the last couple of years, so with that now in almost full operation the Unit needed to set their eyes on something brand new. I won't go into detail for now until things are set in stone but be rest assured...the Unit is goin' places!

Me, Myself and my good buddy I

Later on the Unit joined up with the Troop and Group Leaders again and headed to Vecchia Napoli for a good meal to celebrate the beginning of a new journey for our recruits - a journey which they know by now is gonna be no walk in the park!

Max shaking hands with Debono & Cremona

The next morning the Unit met up again though this time with fins and masks for a session of diving with our instructor Jacques. We headed to St. Julian's bay where the Ventures got the chance to learn a couple of techniques along with some procedures.

Mmmm!

That night the Unit met up once again at Cremona's house for a good ol' Unit BBQ which turned out to be quite the feast with spare ribs, sausages, and even a couple of salads! After the feast the BBQ turned into a story telling session with the older guys sharing some of their epic memories of past activities and their basic training along with the new guys sharing some of their experiences.

Finger lickin' good...

Next up on the calendar is the eagerly awaited Training Camp & NAVEX II - a weekend of pretty much anything Scouting! More on that coming soon....

Mo$es

Couple of pics from NAVEX I in all its splendour!

...Keeping a close eye on the new guys...

...Cremona checking the recruits' route...

...Cremona giving some instructions at 'Batterija tat-Targa'...

...Me, Cremona n the boys on the Qolla...(Debono's takin' the photo)

...Aiden and Gabba figuring out their position at the beginning of the night...

In the next post I'll be givin' you the low-down on what went on at the Pioneering activity, so be sure to check back later!

Until then, Live Long & Prosper.

Mo$es

Bridging distances....

Comparing the structure to the Weihe Grand bridge in China or the Bang Na expressway in Thailand (the two longest bridges in the world) might be pushing it a bit but it was surely a great achievement for the SVS!

The Unit busy at work assembling the main structure

The Unit met up bright and early on Saturday morning to load the truck with the poles, lashings and other equipment that would make up the structure later on. Like in previous pioneering activities the Unit decided to use the old shooting ranges in Pembroke as the venue for the activity, with it's close proximity to the sea plus being not too far away from home!

Zack & Ryan having a go at crossing the bridge

As I mentioned in the previous post the Ventures decided to move away from the usual monkey bridge type of structure, so this time they went about constructing a drawbridge! They also decided to use a more efficient way of lowering and lifting the bridge, instead of using a pulley system the ventures got their hands on a good ol' trailer winch which worked out perfectly.

Testing the winch!

After a couple of hours of construction and final tinkering the structure was finally finished and the ventures got the chance to play around with the bridge for a while. Though as time was pressing and Mario our truck driver waiting they decided to take a last couple of photos on the structure and start striking.

A good ol' Unit photo - one for the books!

Next up on the SVS calendar was the much anticipated crossing of the line & ikla, where the new guys finally became official members of the Sliema Venture Unit and then the Dive & BBQ!

Mo$es

Back to the Qolla!

P-coy's 1st Meeting & NAVEX I

With summer in full swing and the SVS back in full V-mode, a new batch of recruits were welcomed to their first Unit meeting, where they got the chance to get to know exactly what the Unit is, what it does and how it goes about doing it - basically a summary of what's to come! At their next meeting the recruits dove into their first instructions session, navigation, which was to prepare them for most new recruits' first field activity - NAVEX I.

The first navigation exercise takes the form of a walk-through talk-through were the recruits are accompanied by the older ventures and leaders. Besides actually practising their navigation the recruits get to learn new skills and practice them first hand in the field, skills such as navigating by the stars, walking on a bearing and boxing, and at the same time fine-tuning the skills they already knew such as triangulations.

The route took the fresh recruits from Mizieb, to the now famous Qolla ta' Brared where they got the chance to have a break and cook something warm, through Bidnija and along the Victoria Lines in Dwejra and finally finishing up in Bingemma. Unfortunately there wasn't time to hold the casualty evacuation, but I guess we're just going to have to make NAVEX II a little bit longer and harder...oh and the CASEVAC too!

Next was the Pioneering activity - this time the Unit decided to move away from the usual monkey bridge to something a bit more...medieval!

Until then happy reading!

Mo$es