Figure 1.--This Belgian Sea Scout in Anrwerp wears the modern uniform. I'm not sure about what cap is now being worn. Learning to climb in the rigging was traditionally a skill of great importance.

Belgium has a less pronounced sea faring tradition than the Netherlands to the north. There is, however, a Sea Scouting progrm in Belgium and Sea Scouting continures is an option available to many Belgian Scouts. The actual organization is somewhat complicated by the fact that there ar several different Scout association in Belgium, also divided along French/Dutch linguistic lines. There is no one Belgian Sea cout organization. As a result, the Sea Scouting program may vary considerable among different groups.

Note

A Dutch reader tells HBC that the information about 2nd FOS Sea Scouts Westhinder is about a Belgian (Flemish) group. Most of your information is from their single page in English which does not state their nationality. From their Dutch homepage however is becomes quite clear that they belong to FOS (Federatie voor Open Scoutisme), one of the Dutch speaking Belgian federations. 'Open' means that they are 'pluralistic' i.d. not religiously orientated as opposed to the VVKSM (Vlaams Verbond van Katholieke Scouts en Meisjesgidsen - Flemish League of Catholic Schouts and Girl guides)

Levels

One Flemish Sea Scout group report four groups or levels. We do not know at this time if this is general pattern among Flemish and other Belgian Scouts.

The Cubs

The Cubs in one Flemish group are age 7 to 11. They work along Rudyard Kipling's Junglebook. The leaders have names of animals in the Junglebook (Akela, Baloo), most of the time is spent on playing in the woods and doing small indoor activities. Only a few times a year do the cubs come to our 'Naval base' to row or sail -under close supervision of course.

The Venturers

The Venturers in one Flemish goup are age 12 to 14. Playing still is the main thing to do when you're a venturer, but while playing a lot of typical scouting techniques are learned: knots, hiking, navigating and perhaps most important: handling and commanding a rowboat.

The Scouts

The Scouts or Juniors in one Flemish group , as they are called them are age 14 to 16. Sailing and other water activities take up most of their Sunday afternoons. Teamwork, responsibility and 'green' thinking are the key words here.

The Seniors

The age of the Seniors in one Flemish group are 16 to 18. Sailing at sea or in the Schelde-delta in the Netherlands and other adventurous activities is what they do here. The Seniors are often responsible for their own activities, which sometimes leads to the most zany and creative games you've ever seen.

The Leaders

The Leaders in one Flemish groupo are 18 on. About 15 enthusiastic leaders lead this bunch of kids, together with our master--the big chief.

Activities

A Flemish group on a typical Sunday afternoon starts with a formation where every patrol (a patrol is a group of 6 to 8 scouts and guides of the same age) shouts its patrol slogan, e.g. Sea devils strike or Herons rise! The we greet the flag, every group has its own flag; don't see this as some kind of military protocol, but think of it as the official start of our afternoon. In the winter we don't use the boats anymore, instead we gather at other locations in Oostende to do activities other non-sea scouts normally do. This gives us the opportunity to check all canoes, rowboats and sailboats; to paint them and to repair when necessary.

Units

A representative Flemish Sea Scout unit is the 2nd FOS Sea Scouts in Westhinder. They meet every Sunday afternoon in the town of Oostende, at the coast of Belgium. One Belgian Sea Scout describes his group: "Our scout group is named 'Westhinder' after the lightship Westhinder, which served as a floating beacon at the coastline of Oostende. Our group is a member of FOS, a pluralistic organisation of scouts; this basically means everyone is welcome in their group, no matter what gender, race, colour or religion. What do they do? Every Sunday afternoon at two they gather and do all kinds of scouting and youth activities, of course all things they do are adapted to the age of the kids involved.

Camp

A Flemishgroup reports, "Our camps Every summer we go out for a 10-day camp, the youngest spend their camps in the Ardennes (the south side of Belgium, which is hillier and has more forests) than in the Netherlands." (Americans will recognize the Ardennes as the site of the World War II Battle of the Bulge.) The oldest two groups always leave for the Netherlands to do a sailing trip of several days; sailing from village to village on the waters of Zeeland. In the winter we also leave for a small 4-day camp, and during the year we often spend a weekend together.

Uniforms

HBU at this time has very little information on the uniforms worn by Belgian Sea Scouts.

Traditional Uniform

We have no infotmation on historic uniform styles.

Current Uniform

Belgian Sea Scourt appear to give more attention to their uniform than many European Scouts. The same generally tends to be true for Belgian Boy Scouts as well. I'm not sure if there is still a standard Sea Scout cap. If so it is appaears to only be worn for dress occassions. One group wears a blue and white scarfe. Another griup has yellow scarves. There is still a blue shirt and blue sweater, but boys generally wear what ever pants they want, usually dark blue ones. Shorts are common, but not uniform shorts. Kneesocks are also not commonly worn, but we notice one group with blue kneesock and red stripes at the top. I'm not sure what the Dutch Sea Scouts now wear in parades and other dress occasions. Sea Scouts wear many of their badges on theier sleeves.