Troop 2 Weymouth has always been an actively camping troop. We attend summer camp for a week every summer, camp monthly at Valley Pines, and often hike or canoe for several days in the wilderness.
From the 1920's through the mid 1950's summer camp was held at Camp Child in Plymouth.
A highlight of the camp in the late 1930's was the cutter "Pirate". The troop had exclusive use of this large watercraft, which Franklin Pratt described in his 1938 diary entries for Aug 10-14 as "a big cutter which would hold all the troop at once, There were four oars with two boys at each oar."
Mr. Pratt goes on to mention several instances where the boys spent time in the morning or after the evening entertainment rowing around the pond on this boat. He ends with a note on August 13th stating that "the boys used smaller boats and canoes, as they seemed to tire of the "Pirate". It was hard work rowing the big boat"
Based on the size of the boat, I'd have to agree!
Here are some great pictures of this boat and the scouts enjoying it.
BTW - if you look closely in some pictures you'll see scouts in pajamas - there was a pajama day at camp in 1938. From Mr. Pratt's diary it appears this was on Friday, August 12th, so we can closely date the pictures where the scouts are in pj's.
