Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation Rowing Merit Badge Requirements: Updated Requirements as of January 1, 2007 1. Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses that could occur while rowing, including cold and heat reactions, dehydration, contusions, lacerations, and blisters. 2. Do the following: a. Identify the conditions that must exist before performing CPR on a person. Explain how such conditions are recognized. b. Demonstrate proper technique for performing CPR using a training device approved by your counselor. 3. Before doing the following requirements, successfully complete the BSA swimmer test. Jump feet first into water over your head in depth. Level off and swim 75 yards in a strong manner using one or more of the following strokes: sidestroke, breaststroke, trudgen, or crawl; then swim 25 yards using an easy, resting backstroke. The 100 yards must be completed in one swim without stops and must include at least one sharp turn. After completing the swim, rest by floating. 4. Review and discuss Safety Afloat and demonstrate the proper fit and use of personal flotation devices (PFDs). 5. Do ONE of the following: a. Alone or with a passenger, do the following correctly in either a fixed‐seat or sliding‐
seat rowboat: i. Launch ii. Row in a straight line for a quarter mile. Stop, make a pivot turn, and return to the starting point. iii. Backwater in a straight line for 50 yards. Make a turn under way and return to the starting point. iv. Land and moor or rack your craft. v. Tie the following mooring knots: ‐ clove hitch, roundturn with two half hitches, bowline, Wellman's knot, and mooring hitch. b. Participate as a rowing team member in a competitive rowing meet. The team may be sponsored by a school, club, or Scout unit. The meet must include competition between two or more teams with different sponsors. Complete at least 10 hours of team practice prior to the meet. 6. Do ONE of the following: a. In a fixed‐seat rowboat, come alongside a dock and help a passenger into the boat. Pull away from the dock, change positions with your passenger, and scull in good form over the stern for 10 yards, including at least one 180‐degree turn. Resume your rowing position, return alongside the pier, and help your passenger out of the boat. Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation b. In a sliding‐seat rowboat, come alongside a pier and, with your buddy assisting you, get out onto the pier. Help your buddy into the boat. Reverse roles with your buddy and repeat the procedure. 7. Participate in a swamped boat drill, including righting and stabilizing the craft, reboarding in deep water, and making headway. Tell why you should stay with a swamped boat. 8. Alone in a rowboat, push off from the shore or a dock. Row 10 yards to a swimmer. While giving instructions to the swimmer, turn the boat so that the swimmer can hold onto the stern. Tow him to shore. 9. Show or explain the proper use of anchors for rowboats. 10. Describe the following: a. Types of crafts used in commercial, competitive, and recreational rowing. b. Four common boat building materials. Give some positive and negative points of each. c. Types of oarlocks used in competitive and recreational rowing. 11. Discuss the following: a. The advantage of feathering oars while rowing b. Precautions regarding strong winds and heavy waves, and boat‐handling procedures in rough water and windstorms. c. How to properly fit out and maintain a boat in season, and how to prepare and store a boat for winter d. How to calculate the weight a boat can carry under normal conditions e. The differences between fixed‐seat and sliding‐seat rowing f. The different meanings of the term sculling in fixed‐ and sliding‐seat rowing g. The health benefits from rowing for exercise Rowing Syllabus‐ Prepared by Zach Weaver, Summer 2010 Monday REQ#1: (Instruction) Explain first aid stuff REQ#2: Completed with proof of CPR card, note from Scoutmaster, or note from PW Staff REQ#3: Completed with proof of swim test from buddy tag REQ#4: (Instruction) Explain Safety afloat and PFD stuff If time remains, give an introduction to rowboat equipment Tuesday REQ#10: (Instruction) Explain the rowboat and oarlock stuff REQ#5: (Instruction/Evaluation) Explain, demonstrate, and then have the scouts do the rowing requirements and knots Wednesday REQ#1: (Evaluation) Quiz scouts on first aid stuff REQ#4: (Evaluation) Quiz scouts on safety afloat and PFD Stuff REQ#7: (Instruction/Evaluation) Explain, demonstrate, and then have the scouts do the capsize procedures Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation REQ#8: (Instruction/Evaluation) Explain, demonstrate, and then have the scouts do the rowing rescue Find out who will not be there on Thursday Thursday REQ#10: (Evaluation) Quiz Scouts on the rowboat and oarlock stuff REQ#11: (Instruction) Explain the requirements REQ#9: (Instruction) Explain anchor stuff REQ#6A: (Instruction/Evaluation) Explain, demonstrate, and have the scouts do the dockside landing Friday REQ#11: (Evaluation) Quiz Scouts on the requirements REQ#9: (Evaluation) Quiz Scouts on anchor Stuff Use remaining time to catch up anyone who missed earlier requirements, or do other rowing related activities Breakdown of Requirements REQ#1: See the first aid section on pages REQ#2: See the CPR section on page 118 REQ#3: The scouts should have already completed their swim test by Monday. If they have not done it, you will need to give the scout the swim test. If they do not pass the swimmer’s test, they cannot participate in the merit badge. REQ#4: See the safety afloat section on page 120 To properly fit yourself for a PFD, put it on and tighten all straps and buckles. If you grab the top of the PFD near your ears and pull upwards, the PFD should not pop up above your head. REQ#5A: You need to do option A for requirement #5. This requirement is, for the most part, is self –explanatory. Be sure to keep three points of contact as you enter the boat. Practice pivot turns a few times before doing the requirement. Here is some info on the knots: Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation Clove Hitch: Wrap the end of the rope around a pole, and make an ‘x’ with the rope upon itself. Keep wrapping the rope around, and slip the end underneath and through the ‘x.’ Roundturn with Two Half Hitches: This is just like the two half hitches, except first you wrap the rope twice around the pole before tying the two half hitches. The roundturn takes the initial strain of the boat while you tie the two half hitches, which could be useful if you are attaching a mooring line to a dock. Bowline: This knot is often called the rescue knot because it does not slip. There are two ways to tie it. The first is the “bunny method.” Begin with the rope around your waist, rope in both hands. Make a loop in your left hand, leading part of the rope on top. This is “the bunny’s hole.” The part of the rope on the other side of the bunny’s hole from you is “the tree.” The end of the rope in your right hand is the “bunny.” Take the bunny up through the hole, around the tree, and back into the hole. The result is a bowline around your waist. The second way is called the “Jedi Method.” Begin by making a slipknot. Wrap the other end of the rope around a pole, and stick it through the slipknot you just created. Bend the rope back and grab the opposite end of the rope with the other hand. Pull in opposite directions. The result is a bowline around the pole Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation Mooring Hitch: this knot is good for boating because you can tie your boat up and the knot will stay taught, but all you need to do is loosen it is pull on the end of the rope. See the diagrams below REQ#6A: you need to do option A for requirement #6. This requirement is fairly self explanatory. Perform a dockside landing and help a passenger into the boat. Once you have done that, switch places so that you are in the stern, and scull. Sculling is the traditional way of propelling a boat or vessel through the water by means of a single oar mounted on, or worked from the stern. You will need to attach a scull lock to the stern the boat. You can scull from a sitting, kneeling, or standing position. Begin with the blade flat on the water. Roll your wrist up and pull, then roll your wrist down and push. Repeat these steps over and over. This will propel the boat forward. Sculling is useful when in a narrow area where you cannot fully extend both oars from the side of the boat. Scull for 10 yards, do a 180 degree turn, and return to the dock Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation REQ#7: If your rowboat capsizes, stay with it. You should stay with a swamp boat because it floats and may be able to paddle it to shore. Turn your rowboat right side up and get it back in it. You can use the oars to paddle it like a canoe. Be sure that during a swamped boat drill you have the scouts capsize the boat safely, by slowly leaning to one side, similar to the technique for safely capsizing a canoe. REQ#8: Refer to life saving requirement #5 on page 33. This is the same as the rowing rescue, except that in this requirement the rower must be alone without a spotter. REQ#9: Always deploy the anchor from the bow, not the stern. A good rule of thumb is to use a length of line 3 to 4 times the depth of the water, so that the anchor tugs horizontally, not vertically. After you bring an anchor back up, be sure to coil the line so that it is not a big knotted mess. REQ#10A: The types of boats you see at most summer camps are the kind of rowboats used in recreational rowing. They are wide, which makes them stable. Competitive rowing uses sliding seat rowboats. These are very long and narrow boats, which make them very fast for racing. Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation Wooden and Aluminum boats REQ#10B: Wooden boats are light, but require a good amount of maintenance and upkeep. Some people like to hand‐built wooden boats. Boats made of synthetic materials such as fiberglass are heavier than wood, but are also stronger than wooden boats. Racing boats are usually made of carbon reinforced plastic for strength and weight advantages. Like fiberglass boats, however, this type of material is vulnerable to UV Rays from the sun. Aluminum boats require minimal maintenance and strong, but are also very noisy. REQ#10C: The pin lock, box oarlock and Davis oarlock are just a few of the types used in recreational rowing. Outrigger or swivel oarlocks are used in competitive rowing, which places the pivot point of the oar far from the side of the boat, and is used primarily on the long narrow boats. Davis and Pin lock REQ#11A: Feathering reduces wind and water resistance. Tesomas Scout Camp Crystal Lake Scout Reservation REQ#11B: You should never take a boat out if you feel it is too windy or weather conditions are dangerous. If you ever find yourself in such a situation, you should row towards the nearest shore. REQ#11C: Always put down your oarlocks and properly store your scull lock after using them. Periodically check your rowing equipment to make sure it is in proper working order. You will want to wash out your boat before storing it for the winter. If you have a wooden boat you will need to store it indoors for the winter. If you have an aluminum boat, just turn it upside down on a boat rack leave it over the winter REQ#11D: A good rule of thumb is length of boat [(feet) x width of boat (feet) x depth of boat (feet)] x 10 = maximum allowable weight (pounds). There is another calculation in the merit badge pamphlet that you could do. REQ#11E: Fix seat rowboats are used primarily for recreational purposes. Sliding‐seat rowboats are used for racing purpose. The seat slides back and forth, which allows you to fully extend your legs on each stroke. Sliding Seat Rowboat REQ#11F: For fixed –seat rowboat, sculling is that skill that is described in requirement #6A. For sliding‐seat rowboat, sculling simply means the act of rowing. Specifically, it means rowing with two oars, one in each hand, as opposed to a team of rowers where each rower only uses one oar REQ#11G: Rowing is a good form of cardiovascular exercise. It builds upper body strength and works several leg muscles. Rowing Tips and Tricks 
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Requirements#1, #4, #9, #10 and #11 are explanation or discussion requirements. That means they cannot be completed in one day. They must have instruction one day, followed by an evaluation on a different day. You can setup a rowing challenge course with three buoys about 30 meters apart, set up in a triangle. Make up instructions like you can only backwater or scull for a certain section of the course, and you need to do a specific pivot at each corner. You should not be completing all of the requirements before Friday. However, if you have a very small class and get through the requirements ahead of schedule, here are a few rowing games and activities you can do. Play a game about the parts of the rowboat: One person picks a card that has a row boat part on it. After they see what the part is, they are blindfolded. They can be guided to the Tesomas Scout Camp 
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Crystal Lake Scout Reservation rowboat by their team‐mates. They try to place or stick the card on the appropriate part of the rowboat by feeling the rowboat with their hands. Players take turns being blind folded and labeling parts. The game is over when the entire rowboat has been properly labeled. Play a game where you have a sculling race. See who can scull the fastest, and scull in the straightest line. Throw a number of ping pong balls or tennis balls in the water and let them blow around. Each person tries to row around collect as many balls as possible. To make the game more challenging, put different point values on the balls. Each rowboat can try to collect as many points as possible.