Young Qingdao Scout leader continues his worldwide mission in San Francisco

Qingdao crew member and Scout Leader George Bayles gave an exclusive tour of his yacht to a local Scout group in San Francisco as part of his mission to meet Scouts around the world during his Clipper Race adventure.

Scouts from the Sea Scout Group SSS Viking and SSS Corsair in San Francisco queued up to listen to George’s ocean tales as he presented them with a UK scouting neckerchief. The eager participants were offered a taste of life at sea as George explained about the daily routine on board and the tactics of sailing an ocean racing yacht. 

First mate Victoria from SSS Viking, was impressed by George. She said: “It’s fantastic to be here and visit George on the boat. I am so excited that sailing is becoming bigger for the kids in the city – we take the Scouts in the bay. Last year they got to see the America’s Cup here and now to come and see the Clipper Race designed for amateurs shows the other side of sailing. It’s a good influence for them. I know some of these kids would love to do an ocean race from hearing about George’s experience - George is a great role model.”

George, of the 2nd South Petherton Scouts in Somerset, is meeting up with local Scouts in various ports around the world during the race. He  has already met with scout groups in South Africa, Australia, and Singapore.

George added: “It was really great to meet the Sea Scouts of San Francisco today. It’s great meeting Scouts around the world - they all have different uniforms and run things differently. These guys do a bit of sailing themselves so it was nice to talk to them about the sail locker - they knew quite a lot and I was quite impressed that they have three or four boats of their own. The Scout motto is ‘Be Prepared’. On a racing boat you have to ‘be prepared’ for storms to come in, ‘be prepared’ for any issues that occur on board, and it’s like that in life back home too. You have to be prepared and hopefully today visiting the boat they have seen that I use the Scout motto on the race.”