Participants
Our Sea Base Adventure
(Click on HyperText links to see pictures)
6/20/98 - Saturday - Day 1
Most of us got up at 5:00 a.m. to meet at Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas at 6:30 a.m. and then wait on our 7:30 flight. The plane stopped in New Orleans and Tampa. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 12:30 p.m. where we picked up our 8-passenger Chevy Astro Van from Enterprise Rental. We got lost twice on the way down to the Keys. The signs on the highway are terrible! None of the exit names matched the names on the map. We stopped at Burger King for a quick lunch. Mr. Ludwig forgot his Hawaiian shirt, so we stopped at K-mart so he could buy another one. We reached the entrance to Sea Base in Lower Matacumbe Key at 5:00 p.m. and were welcomed by our Program Mate Scott Martin. He showed us to our Sea Base dormatories where we unloaded our gear. We shared our air conditioned room with two other Coral Reef Sailing crews. Next we met at the swim dock, got instructions from Scott, and took the standard BSA swim test in the salt water. We checked out our snorkel gear, got cleaned up and dressed, and posed for our official picture on the dock. The flag pole next to the dorms was huge! Everyone at Sea Base gathers for the flag ceremony, and we all say the Keys Blessing that is printed on a sign behind the flagpole. Next to the commissary was a new mailbox in the shape of a manatee. After supper on the base, we saw a slide show on creatures of the sea, then hit the sack.
6/21/98 - Sunday - Day 2
Sunday morning we attended a church service in a outdoor chapel next to the water. Whoever was scheduled to have services didn't show up, so one of the participating troop adult leaders conducted the service. Then we loaded the boat with our gear, the food, and 4 blocks and 16 bags of ice. We left at 9:30 a.m., looking back at the Sea Base docks. Captain Jeff Peacock motored his 41 foot 1973 Morgan Out Island sloop, the Latin Girl, under Channel 5 bridge and just barely cleared the mast. We set sail to Coffin's Patch to snorkel. The wind was light, so we motor-sailed. Who said sailing isn't hard work? Preston helped hold down the fore deck. On the way Captain Jeff shut down the engine because the oil pressure went to zero. He found the bilge full of oil. Our engine oil cooler got a leak and our water cooled muffler broke, so we had to sail without the the engine. After snorkelling, we hoisted a drifter (a lightweight, oversized jib sail) to sail in light wind to Faro Blanco Marina. We radioed ahead to another Sea Base yacht who came out to tow us in. We cooked hamburgers on the grill at a nice little park near the marina. Chad found a coconut and Captain Jeff helped him open it. It tasted good. With no air conditioning in the boat, it hot and hard to sleep that night.
6/22/98 - Monday - Day 3
The next morning, one of the 30 sailing yachts in the Coral Reef Sailing program, a Morgan ketch, passed us at the marina to head back to Sea Base after their week of sailing. One of our flag lines came loose, so Captain Jeff hoisted Sean up the mast in a bosun's chair to secure the line. We had some spare time while Captain Jeff made final repairs, so we swam in the Faro Blanco pool on the bay side. Repairs completed, we were back underway by 12:30 p.m. heading for Sombrero Reef to snorkel. After snorkelling, Preston took the helm and we headed for deep water to try our luck fishing on our way to Key West, 50 miles away. At six miles out, we found and followed a weed line while dragging four skirt lures behind us. Chad and Andrew simultaneously caught 12 inch schooling dolphin (the fish, not the mammal), but we threw them back. Then we nailed a 24 inch, Black Fin Tuna that wore out three scouts trying to reel it in. It fought like a monster! At last we had some happy fishermen. We caught a few more baracuda ranging in size from 32 inches to 36 inches. Near Key West, a Coast Guard helocopter buzzed over and circled back twice, maybe because we were flying the Jolly Roger, but I think it was just so we could get a good picture of them since they opened the side door and waved on the last close pass. Several Atlantic bottlenose dolpin appeared, riding the bow wake in front of the yacht. Awesome! By early evening it was getting to be a long day for Preston, and the rest of the crew. Andrew and Tyson had enough energy to chat. We arrived at Wisteria Island on the northwest corner of Key West and set anchor at 10 p.m. It was a little tricky motoring in the channel between the reefs after dark. Captain Jeff filletted the tuna and baked it with his secret recipe "fish al a Spindrift". Delicious!
6/23/98 - Tuesday - Day 4
Andrew and Tyson weighed anchor so we could head in to the docks of the Galleon luxury resort. Sea Base keeps three slips there during the summer. Captain Jeff called in to verify that our slip was ready. Every morning three Sea Base Yachts leave and three arrive. We passed another Sea Base Morgan sloop on the way in. Andrew and Preston got ready the mooring lines. The crew secured the bow, stern, and spring lines on the Latin Girl. Andrew scrubbed the fore deck while Derek washed down the aft deck to clean off the salt spray. Sean dressed up for the Key West adventure. Heading for Duvall Street, we saw several scooters and the Conch Tour Train. It was very hot, so we got frozen lemonades and cooled off in the shade at the Civil War Union soldiers memorial. We toured the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum and saw the sunken treasure of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha. Mr. Finch tried his skill spinning a diablo at a kite shop. We shopped at the many stores along Duvall street, passed by Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, toured Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium (really wierd), and walked all the way to the Southernmost Point of the continental U.S.A. There were lots of rainbow flags on Duvall street. Duvall street had a strange effect on Mr. Finch. That evening we treated Captain Jeff to supper at the Half Shell Raw oyster bar. Then we headed for the sunset festival at Mallory Square. One of the performers could balance a moped on his mouth. Then he balanced a stove on his mouth. Wierd. Another performer did lots of acrobatics. Be careful where you land, Frankie! Back at the Galleon, we took a night dip and played sonar tag in the pool until 10 p.m.
6/24/98 - Wednesday - Day 5
As we left our dock at the Galleon, another sloop with a broken mast motored past us. Ouch! They told us no one got hurt, thank God. We were on our way to Western Sambo Reef to snorkel. There we saw lots of coral reef fish, sand sharks, and lobster. Captain Jeff had an amusing sign on board the Latin Girl. Our food was kept in the yacht's pantry, and we cooked in the galley. Sean's favorite seat was perched on the yacht's bow. Tyson and Preston kept saying how much hard work sailing was. Our next stop was snorkelling at Pelican Shoals, one of the few reefs that appear above the water line. We came upon a large Sea Base yacht, Captain Lance's new toy, the Calipso Gypsy. A troop from Indiana was sailing her. She sailed along side us for a while, then off she went. Mr. Finch rigged some lines for more fishing, and we caught our biggest baracuda--42 inches long. More dophin surfed our bow wake. Every so often they would surface for a breath of air through their blowhole. Our third snorkelling spot that day was Looe Key. An expensive motor yacht was hard aground on a shallow reef on the north side. That's why Captain Jeff approached Looe Key from the deep water south side. After snorkelling, the wind picked up, so we sailed behind Newfound Harbor Keys and dropped anchor in Coupon Bight for the night. We sailed right by Munson Island, one of the Newfound Harbor keys owned by Sea Base, where they have the Out Island program. When a knot came loose on our flag line, Captain Jeff hoisted Chad up the mast in the bosun's seat to reattached the line. During the night, Mr. Finch lost a nickel in the head. (It must have been on his pillow and stuck to his forehead while sleeping, then dropped off when he stood over the toilet.)
6/25/98 - Thursday - Day 6
As we headed out, we passed another Sea Base Morgan sloop. On our way to the white sand beach on Bahia Honda Key State Park, we saw a topless woman on a sailboat. The wind blew a life jacket overboard so we had a man overboard drill to retrieve it. Preston, Andrew, and Derek were really getting into the Island pace of life. A section of the old Overseas Railroad was removed and is now the entrance to the State Park. The whole crew was on the bow as we passed by the Calipso Gypsy at anchor just off the beach. We docked at the park, bought some ice cream and a few souvenirs. The white sand beach of Bahia Honda is between the abandonded Overseas Railroad and the Overseas Highway. After the stop we motored back to the sea with the wind in our face. Captain Jeff decided to stop at Poncho's near Marathon to take on fuel. Heading back out, the crew went to the bow to prepare to sail under Seven Mile Bridge. It appears to go on forever looking west between the old and new bridges. A section of the old lower bridge was removed years ago for boat traffic. This was rebuilt so they could blow it up in the movie "True Lies". Part of it is still black where it burned in the explosion. A beautiful ketch with wooden masts sailed alongside us for a quite a while. A favorite passtime was listening to Captain Jeff tell stories about the Keys and his experiences. A fishing reel screemed. "Fish on!" we yelled, and pulled in another baracuda. That evening we dropped anchor just past Bamboo Key. We snorkelled until dark and saw several large basket sponges. We decided to fish for shark. Mr. Ludwig caught a bait fish using a Cuban reel with a piece of hot dog, so we put it on a large hook with a steel leader and went to bed.
6/26/98 - Friday - Day 7
Chad and Sean fell asleep on anchor watch from midnight to 2 a.m. When they woke up at 4 a.m., the bait fish, hook, and steel leader were gone. Who knows what hit it. At 6:00 a.m. the adults set sail and headed to Lignumvitae Key to look for a sunken Hatteras twin inboard fishing boat. They let the boys sleep in. It was a long haul, so we had to get an early start. When we found it, we set anchor and dove on it for nearly two hours. In addition to lots of fish, dozens of lobsters were hiding under the engines and in and around the hull of the sunken boat that was lying upright on the bottom of only ten feet of water. After snorkelling, Andrew and Chad climbed back on board the Latin Girl on a ladder at the stern. Tyson could have snorkelled all day. Inside the cabin, Derek, Andrew, Preston, and Tyson took it easy as we headed back to Sea Base. Sean cleaned up at the galley's sink. We had clear weather until the last few hours of our journey. A little squall blew in so out came the rain gear. The temperature dropped 15 degrees from 90 to about 75. Captain Jeff got goosebumps, so he put on a tank top to stay warm. The squall soon blew over. Getting near the base, Preston and Derek practice throwing the bow lines on Chad to prepare for roping the dock poles. At last, Sea Base lay just before us, and our journey was nearly complete. At the dock we unloaded our gear. We removed the teak wood cabin deck and Andrew washed it down, while others scrubbed and cleaned the Latin Girl. Another Sea Base yacht had serious engine problems mid-way through their journey, so Captain Jeff was asked to immediately head back out to pick up that crew and finish their Coral Reef Sailing adventure. We took a quick tour of the Sea Base museum. They had a stuffed dolphin (the fish) mounted on the wall, along with others. That evening Sea Base put on a Luau for us and two other crews completeing their week of sailing. Scott taught us a new game, but he was too good to be defeated. We put on an original skit about a futuristic Coral Reef Sailing crew in the year 2001. We took a group shot at the swimming dock wearing our Hawaiian shirts with Scott. Mr. Finch challanged the crew to see if they could all stand on a small block of wood for five seconds. They did it! The crew played a quick card game before going to bed.
6/27/98 - Saturday - Day 8
It is a tradition for participating troops to staple their troop number on the rafters of the mess hall. We added Troop 846 next to others under a Sam Houston Area Council patch. Back in our Field Uniforms, we got ready to depart. Besides Coral Reef Sailing, Sea Base offers an Out Island Adventure on Munson Island, Sea Exploring Adventure sailing to the Dry Tortugas, Bahamas Adventure sailing from Abaco in the Bahamas, and a SCUBA Adventure. The SCUBA program uses several large catamarans as well as Dusky fishing boats. The Sea Base dock is in a beautiful location on the north side of Lower Matacumbe Key. We loaded up the rental van, getting ready to drive back to Ft. Lauderdale. On the way back, we stopped at a marina to see some fishing boats, but the crew was tuckered out. We stopped to shop for souvenirs at The Shell Man in Key Largo. Since we had a few hours to burn before our flight, we took a slight detour to the Everglades National Park. They have a beautiful visitor's center, but you really have to get off the road and hike out into the swamp to experience the beauty and serenity of this unique wilderness. Watch out for Florida panthers! On our flight back, we had a layover in New Orleans. Back in Houston at 9:00 p.m., we were a crew of happy campers, with a full week of memories to last a lifetime!
Underwater Pictures
Things we brought and never used
Warning: Keys Disease
Keys Disease, an unusual malady said to permanently affect Florida Keys natives, is rumored to be highly infectious to visitors as well. Signs of affliction include:
Troop Links
Troop 846 Home Page
National Jamboree Troop 1628 Home Page
BSA Florida Sea Base Home Page
