More than 100 sea cadets from B.C. and the Prairies, all winners of their zone competitions, gathered in Victoria for the regional Inter-Divisional Seamanship Championship last month at CFB Esquimalt.
Over the weekend cadets practised and competed in a variety of seamanship skills, from tossing heaving lines at targets, to navigation to semaphore (communicating with flags) and sheer legs (using knots and wood to assemble a lift for heavy loads).
The cadets competed in eight-man teams, four each from B.C. and the prairies.
The aim of the competition is to encourage cadets to increase their knowledge of seamanship and to provide a friendly competition.
Victoria’s own 5 Rainbow Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps won the championship for B.C.
Team captain PO1 Austen Webb said the team practiced four hours each Sunday for several months in preparation for the competition series.
The weekend ended with a ship-building competition, based on Royal Canadian Navy ships, and a relay that involved hoisting signals and navigation markers, tying knots, completing a puzzle of the HMCS Vancouver and answering naval trivia.
The awards were presented by Commodore Bob Autcherlonie.