A TALENTED group of Scouts based at Westbury will soon be paddling their own Canadian-style canoes on trips along the Severn estuary.
Senior canoe instructor Derek Pavey, Richard Jones, Steve Jones, Graham Godwin, Alastair Godwin and Tim Preed met after Thursday Scout meetings to work on the vessels.
"The project involved a lot of planning and preparation," said Richard, adding that all the shapes had to be drawn on to the timber before the parts were cut out and smoothed.
Then holes had to be drilled in each section so that they could be bound together with copper wire to form the basic structure. Spacers were inserted to keep the shape before glass fibre and resin was used to stick the parts together and make it waterproof.
Bulkheads and gunwales were then fitted and each boat was painted to the colour preference of its owner – several coats, with tough resin inside to protect the timber from the elements.
"As a very water-oriented group the canoes will be used in some of our trips down the river from Maisemore to Newnham-on-Severn, which involves an overnight camp," said Richard, of the First Westbury Scouts.
"The canoes will prove useful as more kit can be taken in them than in the limited space of a kayak."
And Derek Pavey added: "They haven't gone into the water yet but they will pretty soon, probably this weekend or next at Mallard's Pike. We won't be trying them out on the river until everyone is familiar with them."
He added that it was the Westbury group's 30th anniversary this year, and celebrations would coincide with the launch of the new fleet.