Florida Sea Base News

The full time staff of the Florida Sea Base met yesterday from 0900 to noon.  Our budget is doing very well.  The scuba and sailing programs are budgeted to generate over $5.5 million in income this year.  Expenses are well below budget.   Preparations for summer program are on schedule.  More staff members trickled in yesterday and the vast majority will check in today.

Today is the first of two Captain’s Training sessions for this year.   Another is scheduled for next Saturday.   This is  Captain Rich Beliveau’s show with guest appearances from some outside personalities.  Tim Stanfill, Captain Ed Marill, Lt. Liz Reisz (FSB alumnus currently serving with the Florida Wildlife Commission), Captain Paul Beal, Rob Kolb, Captain Keith Douglass, Barbara Hewett (USCG Auxillary), and Captain Martin Ivy  will address the captains.  I will be there to add some class and good looks to the gathering.

Stephanie Mansburger is back as the Sailing Commisioner.  (I know Captain Rich is ecstatic.). Josh Zajac will serve as Dockmaster this year.  Sue Mahoney is the Office Manager and Laura Kuras is the Scuba Commissioner.

Our weather continues to have a 30%  chance of rain, highs in the upper 80s, and lows in the mid to upper 70s through the forecast period.  There was continued good news from Dr. Jeff Masters yesterday:

La Niña officially ends
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC), La Niña conditions are no longer present in the equatorial Pacific, where sea surface temperatures were approximately average as of May 13. The threshold for a La Niña is for these temperatures to be 0.5°C below average or cooler. CPC forecasts that neutral conditions will persist though the summer, with a 41% chance of an El Niño event developing in time for the August – September – October peak of hurricane season. El Niño conditions tend to decrease Atlantic hurricane activity, by increasing wind shear over the tropical Atlantic.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The Florida Sea Base provided boat transportation to Indian Key and Lignume Vitae State Parks for the fourth graders of Plantantion Key School yesterday.  Captain Rich Belveau and First Mate Stephanie Mansburger took half the kids and chaperones aboard BSA Quail Ridge Explorer to Lignum Vitae.  First Mate Michael Roesel and I took the other half to Indian Key aboard BSA Tarpon.  Florida Sea Base General Manager Captain Paul Beal (whose wife Dana is a PKS 4th grade teacher) and Captain Keith Douglass (who was the narrator for the Indian Key tours) also attended.  After each group completed their first tour, the groups were transported to the other island.  After everyone toured both islands we returned to the Florida Sea Base for lunch, volleyball and games.

We lucked out on the weather during the morning tours.  But around 13:30 (1:30 pm) a light but steady rain settled in on the base.  I took advantage of the situation and washed my car in the rain; no running water required.  We have a decent chance of rain for the remainder of the forecast period.  As noted previously, we are in our rainy period.

Staff members are starting to trickle in.  Today we will have our monthly Team Meting of the full time Florida Sea Base staff from 0900 to noon.  The opportunities for the afternoon are endless.

Have a great day!

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The BSA Tarpon has bean stored on the hard in Marathon since the end of the 2011 summer season.  Wednesday, Tim Stanfill drove the 45′ Corinthian from Marathon back to the Florida Sea Base.   Oh yeah, I helped a little; getting the boat out of the slip and into open water in Marathon and docking the boat at the Florida Sea Base.  Otherwise, it was all Tim.  As we were driving through Boot Key Harbor in Marathon we saw Captains Skip & Deb Bradshaw working on their schooner, Pirates Lady, at Panchos fuel dock.

The Florida Sea Base ranger staff and all available seasonal staff members spent yesterday stripping the conference furnishings from the Thomas Building.  (I saw Chaplain Nate Johnson and Scuba Instructor Mike Roesel humping furniture down the stairs.  It reminded me of years past when I frequently helped with that task.  Unfortunately, I had a boat delivery to make and had to miss out on the grueling labor.)  Today they will set up the staff furnishings, which means carrying 24 sets of bunk beds, chests of drawers and other furnishings up one or two flights of stairs.  The 2012 summer seasonal staff will start drifting in today.  Preparations for staff training continue at all levels.

We had a 60% chance of rain yesterday, but managed to stay dry (but very muggy) with light breezes and warm temperatures.  The general forecast has not changed much in the past few days; warm, significant chance of rain, mild breezes.  This is the radar image from Key West at 0154 this morning:

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The Florida Sea Base is located in the clear spot between Marathon and Key Largo.  The Brinton Environmental Center is just a little to the east of the white + sign.

Today may be very interesting.  Captain Rich Beliveau and I are scheduled to take two dive boats with approximately 75 Plantation Key School fourth graders to Indian Key State Historical Park first thing this morning.  I sent a text to our General Manager after dinner last night commenting that the weather looked a little “iffy”.  His reply was something to the effect of “rain, no wind”.  He said we would discuss the conditions at breakfast.  I cannot adequately express my level of elation.

Back to bed.  I will need to be semi-well rested it I am afforded the opportunity to transport 40± terrified fourth graders (and their teachers) across 6 miles of water in the cold rain, lightning and 35 knot storm cell wind gusts.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The 2012 hurricane season is of to a busy start, but so far, poses no threat to the Florida Sea Base.  Invest 92L continues to meander toward Europe while Tropical Storm Aletta has formed in the eastern Pacific but is moving westward.

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Here’s an interesting article on improved hurricane forecasting by the National Hurricane Center.

There is chatter on The Weather Channel and other weather sources about the beginning of the “official” rainy season in South Florida.  I looked at several resources and the “official” season dates are — unofficial.  The best compromise seems to be “the third week of May until mid October”.  Regardless of the official date, our rainy season has definitely begun.

Robert Kolb, Tim Stanfill, Captain Keith Douglass, Captain Rich Beliveau and I met Tuesday morning to discuss our upcoming “visitation”.   This process used to be called an inspection.   A team will “visit” the Florida Sea Base in June to  confirm that we are in compliance with our BSA camp standards and can operate for the remainder of 2012.  Visitation is a 3 day event.

Captain Dennis and Dr. Ellen Wyatt have returned home to Lady Lake, Florida.  It is always a joy to have them here.   They will have a fun filled summer, relieved of the stresses of the Florida Sea Base.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

While absolutely no threat to the Florida Sea Base, the first eastern Pacific tropical depression of 2012 is a reality.

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The National Weather Service forecast for the coming week at the Florida Sea Base calls for a 30% chance of rain daily, highs of 87-88 and lows of 77-79 and light to moderate winds; not the greatest, but very consistent.

Former staff members Mr. and Mrs. Matt and Ashley McClure stopped by the Florida Sea Base Monday while on their honeymoon.  They looked well, healthy and happy.  Matt said they have bought a house!  I also saw FSB Chaplain Nate Johnson.  He said he and Hannah have rented a house on Plantation Key for the summer.  (Very nice!)  I had dinner with Captain Dennis and Dr. Ellen Wyatt and Captains Mike and Kelly Lucivero.  Captain Dennis and Ellen are leaving the Florida Sea Base and will be missed this summer.  Captains Mike and Kelly have just returned from a winter and spring in the Bahamas aboard S/V Ciao Bella.

Captain Rich Beliveau, Captain Rae Murphy, Tim Stanfill and I worked on planning for summer staff training.  For me, Monday was a day of being incredibly busy with few accomplishments.  That’s why we invented tomorrow.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

Have you ever wished for something, got it and then wonder if you were up to the challenge?  If you read this blog on a regular basis you know I spent part of last summer, most of the fall, part of the winter, and much of the spring trying top qualify for the PADI Course Director Training Course. Not to mention the past year and a half of dieting to lose 110 pounds (still not there yet, but close).  The good news is I have been notified of acceptance.  The bad news is I have about 6 weeks to get some serious work done.  The next two weeks are shot with preparations for and execution of the summer staff training.  So that leaves four weeks of doing my real job and practice rescues, classroom, confined water, and open water presentations.  This is a tough certification to pursue while working full time.

The PADI Course Director certification is the highest level that can be achieved by a recreational scuba instructor.  Instead of staffing PADI Instructor Development Courses, I will soon be teaching my own (assuming I am successful at the CDTC).  Holy Guacamole!  I am assuming that the BSA will be so pleased that I will get a 5,000% salary increase and only have to work 6 months a year now.  After all, the BSA has been goading me for a few years to do this.

If you are a scuba diver, you are almost certainly familiar with the very common 80 cubic foot aluminum scuba tanks.  If you are overweight, consider this.  How heavy is an aluminum 80 cf scuba tank?  The answer is about 30 to 35 pounds.  Have you ever struggled with lifting a scuba tank?  If you are 100 pounds overweight, that is like carrying three scuba tanks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You are wearing them when you sleep, work, play, drive, or whatever else you might do.  They are wearing out your back, knees, heart, and every other part of your body.  Feel tired?  Wouldn’t you expect to feel tired if you were carrying 3 scuba tanks 24 hours a day for years?  It was easy to get fat.  It’s hard to lose it.  I finally reached the point that I decided I had to lose 100+ pounds or I was going to eat my way to death.  My blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar were all out of whack; the cardiologist referred to it as “the trifecta of death”.  They are okay to excellent now.  I’m not an inspirational speaker or writer and I have made this plea before.  If you are fat, obese, overweight, chubby, chunky, blotted, retaining water, or whatever you call it, please find a way to get those scuba tanks off your body.  They are killing you!  (Off the soapbox.)

We are back to an off-and-on rainy weather pattern locally.  We received  decent showers shortly after dinner Saturday and pre-dawn on Sunday.  Dr. Jeff Masters has a brief update on Invest 92L on his blog.  It is heading towards Europe and poses no threat to the USA.  NOAA is also watching a system developing off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

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What I’m not clear on is if this may be the same system the computers were forecasting in the western Caribbean for next week or if they are two distinct systems. I will keep you posted as I know more.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

I hope you have a wonderful Mothers’ Day.

Most of the Florida Sea base are still off.  Monday will likely be a very busy day.  I did see Tim Standfill on base Friday afternoon; we have a small conference group this weekend.  Captain Dennis Wyatt has been working hard  to try to make up for his absence this summer.  This is a good decision for him and Ellen, but the program will not be the same.

I saw this on Dr. Jeff Masters’ Wunderblog Saturday morning and felt it was worthy of sharing.

Hurricane season is coming
It’s now mid-May, which means that hurricane season is about to start in the East Pacific. The official start of the East Pacific hurricane season is May 15, and the action is already starting to heat up. The first “Invest” of 2012 in the East Pacific, Invest 90E, is located about 700 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and is moving westward out to sea, posing no threat to any land areas. The European Center model predicts the possibility of another system getting organized in the East Pacific, closer to the coast of Mexico, during the period Wednesday – Friday (May 16 – 18.)

In the Atlantic, where hurricane season officially starts on June 1, the action may also be about to heat up. For the past several days, the GFS model has been consistently predicting the development of a subtropical storm in the Western Caribbean, or waters near Florida, sometime May 19 – May 21. The European Center model has not been on board with this, but has been predicting a very moist flow of tropical air will develop, bringing heavy rains to Florida May 19 – 20. So, it is possible we will see the Atlantic’s first named storm occur in May this year, but the models are very unreliable this far out.

The 2012 Florida Sea Base summer staff members are generally scheduled to arrive on 19 May.  Staff training starts at 0730 Sunday, 20 May 2012.  Fortunately that is an indoor day.  If there is a tropical system maybe it will be past us by the time we need to hit the water.

And here we go – activity in the Atlantic.

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Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

Had it taken 4 or 5 weeks longer, it would have been 41 years since the last time I spoke with Stuart Mocilnikar.  A couple of weeks after high school graduation, my dad retired from the US Air Force and we relocated to the piney woods of deep east Texas.  Very shortly after that Stuart’s dad transferred back to California and that was that until about a week ago when I received a very brief email from my high school best friend, “It’s really you, right!?”  I finally made time Friday night to reply to the email and Stuart called me Saturday morning. We agreed that we should talk more often than once every 41 years.  We did a bit of hurried catching up, but I am hopeful that we will be able to slow down and make the time to fill in a lot of blanks.

The 28th Annual Florida National High Adventure Invitational Tarpon Tournament is over, but the final clean-up continues.  Laura, Megan, John, and Noah were cleaning the Thomas Building where many of our guests stayed.  The boats have to be returned to their proper slips, and the base generally needs to be transformed from “resort” to Boy Scout “camp” status.

Work was in progress early Saturday morning on a new chickee for the sailing beach.  The construction was completed by late afternoon.

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While I was in Texas, Captain Dennis Wyatt was tasked with modifying a 5′ x 8′ utility trailer to transport scuba tanks to and from the seawall.  Here is a photo of the finished product, able to carry 56 scuba tanks.

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This is the start of a week of vacations for many of our full-time staff.  Capt. Rae Murphy, Galley Manager, Rob Kolb, Director of Program, Rafael Arrom, Head Ranger, Capt. Scott Martin, BEC Program Director, Capt. Paul Beal, General Manager, and maybe some others will be off all or part of next week.  My wife flies in on Sunday and we hope to get Escape out of the slip and into the ocean where she belongs for a few days.  (Bear with me if I don’t post every day.)  The following week will be pedal to the metal as we begin final preparations for staff training week.

I have had a long day of not accomplishing much; very frustrating.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The weather pattern known as La Niña has cycled out for now.  How does that effect the Florida Sea Base?  Well, it could bring good news of a lessened chance for hurricanes this summer/fall.  Dr. Jeff Masters from Weather Underground predicted a kinder hurricane season for the Atlantic a few months back.  But hurricanes are only one weather issue that we must deal with and a windy or rainy summer is of concern.  As always, we will keep you posted.  But when outdoors, the weather is the weather and we will make the best of whatever comes our way.

The final round of fishing concluded at noon Friday with nine more tarpon caught and released.  The total count for this year was 29 tarpon.  This was by far the fewest tarpon caught since my involvement with the vent.  123 tarpon were caught and released in 2011.  Former FSB Advisory Committee Chair Spike Yoh was this year’s champion with a total of four releases.

Following lunch, the Florida Sea Base Advisory Committee met.  The major items discussed included purchasing property to build a new sailing base in the middle Keys, approval to replace the aging BSA Tarpon (a 45′ Corinthian) with a new Newton 46′ Dive Special in 2013, the possible addition of a parasailing activity to one or more of our programs, and a new committee seat was added for a representative of the Sea Base Alumni and Friends Association.

I AM POOPED!!!  I may post again Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.  Enjoy your weekend.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The rain held off again on Thursday but the wind was still stout for day 3 of the 28th Annual Florida National High Adventure Sea Base Invitational Tarpon Tournament.  The anglers did much better today releasing three tarpon in the morning and 14 tarpon during the evening round. A captain auction was held after the evening fishing session and a few libations, grossing $71,000 followed by a luau feast.  The staff (including yours truly) finished clean-up a little after midnight.  We have a morning staff meeting at 0645 and will be running hard until late Friday evening.

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Capt. Rae, Trevor, Zac and Levi make final luau preparations.

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Capt. Scott, Dr. Ellen, Capt. Dennis and Megan help the guests on and off the “happy boat”.

It’s 00:31 now.  About 15 more minutes and I’ll be in bed.  That leaves about 4 and a half hours to sleep.  Goodnight!!!

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape