Standing in the middle of the Thomas Peake empire on the scenic Mucurapo shoreline is the derelict First Trinidad Sea Scouts Boathouse, which was called "Seafarers" in the fifties and stood next to the Aquatic Club, both venues for many of the fetes we attended as young adults.
Today, the Aquatic has long gone, while Seafarers remains only home to four row boats owned by the first sea scout troop formed in this country more than seventy five years ago. There have been offers to purchase the land which was leased to the Holy Ghost Fathers of St Mary's College, from as far back as 1944. But the scouts, says Peter Murray, a member of the troop's building committee, "nah leaving." And have started construction of a new boathouse nearer to the shoreline which is slowly but surely rising in the midst of Peake's, and should be finished in another six months.
One contractor has driven in the piles and put down the main structure. Another contractor will complete the block work and yet another the roof. Should the scouts run out of money, the building will be stopped wherever they may have reached but Murray is certain "we can't stay in that derelict building, it cannot be repaired because we will spend as much money as on a new building so you may as well get rid of the old building."
Wouldn't it have been wiser for Peakes to build the scouts a boathouse on another piece of land which does not stand in the centre of their spread? The problem is the land must be near the sea and not further west than Cocorite as how are the parents to get their sons to the scouting activities. Since Cocorite is easily the most convenient place, a piece of land near the sea in that area and construction of a boathouse, might get some consideration from the scouts in exchange for the present site.
According to Father Anthony De Verteuil, when the Holy Ghost Fathers obtained a lease for the land in 1944, fund raising started immediately so that a clubhouse could be put up. The main part of the Boathouse was a very simple building with the wooden first floor raised on high pillars to allow storage for the boats below, one of which was a motor launch called "Santa Maria."
"Work on the boathouse continued the manual labour being done by the scouts. One wrote: "Work! work! work! the convicts on Carrera have nothing on us". The slipway was built and the front of the area cemented. From 1947 onwards the Seniors held their weekly meetings at the Boathouse. Each patrol had its own boat, oars and gear and had to keep everything in good order. The Juniors continued to meet at the College."
By 1949 Father Kennedy was responsible for continued enlargement, improvement and extension to the boathouse, and the Herculean task of reclamation of the frontage over many, many years, which could be discouraging work as the sea continually washed away the fill, but nevertheless the land crept ever further seaward. However, by 1973, when Father Senan Murray (no relation to The Peter Murrays) took over the troop, he was faced with a deteriorating building and also undertook the task of extending further seaward and consolidating the gains already made.
On Father Murray's transfer to Florida in 1995, Peter and Grace Murray's second son was in the troop and it was Grace, a former BWIA Flight Attendant, who took over the leadership of the troop. Says Peter "My involvement is I am married to her so I get volunteered to do things." Her limited knowledge of scouting was "that my sons were scouts." She went to leadership training with the national scout body, and is today totally committed to the 65 members of First Trinidad Sea Scouts, whom she has taken to Jamborees in Canada in 1997 and California in 2000; has been camping with them in Tobago, and locally three times a year at the start of the school holiday.
And although her sons have left the College, on Mondays, she takes charge of meetings at the College; swimming and lifesaving on Tuesdays and Wednesdays where the boys earn life saving badges from courses certified by the Royal Life Saving Society so that they are qualified to save lives even at Maracas. Week-ends are spent supervising, from land, as her scouts row the two hour route from the boathouse to Point Gourde in Chaguaramas, take part in kayaking and other activities. In addition to which a lot of the scout-leader's time is spent organising fund-raising events since day-to-day expenses of the troop must be met and money set aside for the new boathouse.
Speaking of which, donations from former First Trinidad Sea Scouts, supporters and corporate sponsors will be welcome for the building fund.