I have returned to work at the Florida Sea Base.  If we had a campfire, some crackers and cheese and stumps to sit on we could discuss the pros and cons.  I appreciate General Manager Captain Paul Beal allowing me to be away for a few days.  Friday I drove more than 1,200 miles.  Saturday I was with my dad; it was the first anniversary of my mom’s death.  Sunday, Father’s Day, we were entertained by my youngest granddaughter, Josie.  What an absolute joy.  Monday I drove almost 1,400 miles stopping in Miami to pick up Captain Rich Beliveau at the airport.  Captain Rich is here to take his schooner, Sienna Belle, to her new home in North Carolina.

Captain Alex Bergstedt, Captain Christy Clemenson and Captain Luke Knuttel covered for me.  Thank you; it is very good to know that my presence is not required here and that when I move on there will be nothing for me to be worried about.

TROPICAL WEATHER

What was just a thunderstorm off the coast of Panama a few days ago now has a decent chance of becoming Tropical Storm Barry.  The system cycled through invest status to tropical depression status and may just barely build to tropical storm intensity before moving ashore in Mexico.  My wife has some family on vacation in Cancun; it has been very wet for the past several days there thanks to this system.  TD 2 poses no threat to the Florida Sea Base.

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Three low pressure systems can be found in the Atlantic.  High wind shear is currently keeping them at bay but they deserve our attention.

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LOCAL WEATHER

We have a 10%-20% chance of rain, highs of 88°-89°F, lows of 81°-83°F, and mild breezes for the coming week.  The bay side water temperature is 86°-88°F at the Long Key buoy and the ocean side water temperature is 82°F at the Molasses Reef buoy.

Oh joy!!!  It is time to get cleaned up for the 07:30 staff meeting.  I was awake for over 39 hours and drove nearly 1,400 miles to make this meeting.  What an idiot.

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

I realize the tropics are pretty quiet currently and there is no threat to the Florida Sea Base for the next several days or more.  But keep an eye on the Caribbean side of Central America.  There is potential for development later this week.  I noticed this potential Saturday morning.  Panama Satellite

The system has moved north this morning but is currently cut off from entering the Gulf of Mexico by a dip in the jet stream.

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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Sea Base™
Visiting D/FW

I am assuming that no news is good news since I did not get any calls from the Florida Sea Base yesterday.  Captain Bergstedt is at the helm of the scuba programs.  But I MUST share this text message from Captain Denny Webb aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl which is sailing in the Florida Sea Base Scuba Liveaboard adventure this summer.

Heard on the deck of the Conch Pearl, “I saw this really awesome fish on the last dive!!  But I don’t remember what it looked like.”

WEATHER

Looking at the radar, forecast, and buoy data, it looks like the Florida Sea Base is enjoying some great scuba diving weather while the sailors may be wishing for a little more wind.  Conditions are seldom perfect.  But the crews are enjoying themselves much more with the reduced wind than the last three weeks of crews did with too much wind.

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ROAD WARRIOR

I drove 1,226 miles from the Florida Sea Base to Jasper, Texas yesterday in just under 20 hours.  That’s a 60 mile per hour average including stops for a short nap, potty breaks and refueling.  My best fuel mileage between fill-ups was 38 mpg.  The new Accord performed admirably on her first road trip.

I arrived early enough to visit with my dad for about 30 minutes; then it was off to la-la land.  We will spend today in Jasper and then drive to Dallas this evening.  Its about 250 miles but the roads are smaller highways and pass through several small towns with low speed limits, stop signs and traffic lights.  It will take about 4.5 hours if all goes well.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Hanging out with my dad in Jasper County, Texas (the Mother Country)

Wednesday evening brought reports of several waterspouts within 5 to 10 miles of the Florida Sea Base.  Captain Ben Heinz was taking a load of Scouts to Alligator Reef for the night dive when he called to report sighting two waterspouts.  Then I heard Coral Reef Sailing Captain Hammer Kincaid reporting a waterspout via radio about 5 miles NW of the Florida Sea Base.  I heard some additional radio chatter but no specific locations.  There was no report of injury or damage.

Wikipedia defines waterspouts:

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water, connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water.^[1] While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur.^[2][3] Waterspouts do not suck up water; the water seen in the main funnel cloud is actually water droplets formed by condensation.^[4] While many waterspouts form in the tropics, other areas also report waterspouts, including Europe, New Zealand, the Great Lakes and Antarctica.^[5][6]

NCAP

The Florida Sea Base was the first Boy Scouts of America owned facility to be inspected under the new National Camp Accreditation Program on Thursday.  All went well as it has every year that I have been here.  The kudos go to the seasonal staff members and charter captains who make the magic happen every day at the Florida Sea Base.

ROAD TRIP

I will be away for a few days.  It is VERY rare for me to be away during program season and I sincerely appreciate General Manager Captain Paul Beal allowing this exception.  I am going to spend the weekend with my family; not because of Father’s Day (a happy coincidence) but because Saturday is the first anniversary of my mom passing away.  Scuba Commissioner Captain Alex Bergstedt will oversee the scuba activities, Marine Superintendent Captain Christy Clemenson will oversee the dive boat captains and boats.  Heck, I’m not sure they need me here at all.  I will post when I can and especially if there is anything of concern.

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

Allow me to briefly opine on your recent blog post “Itinerary”.  Everything was going swimmingly, if you’ll pardon the pun, until your comment that some adult gets uptight about something on arrival day.  I have done Arrival-Day-Inprocessing at all 3 BSA HA bases multiple times and can state that, without question, the FSB process has been the least anxiety-filled of any I have experienced.  A-Day is always a bit anxious as there are so many things that can go awry but in almost every case, it is due to an error or omission made by the adult trip leaders, not the staff.  What makes FSB easiest, IMO, is that you have a very compact space in which to work, which makes things happen quickly.  No time spent walking half a mile from one building to a tent pad.  The process starts quickly, moves briskly, and gets you into the program as faster than any other base.

Ironically, given the near-always-present danger to human life that the FSB Program creates, I have found their staff to be the most relaxed and calm of all bases.

All 3 HA bases have “dangers”.  Of the 3 bases,  two that involve deep water that can kill kids and adults with absolutely zero warning.  At Northern Tier, danger is mitigated by the requirement to wear PFDs at all times on the water.  However, at FSB, every program puts participants in immediate and lethal risk at all times, and the PFD is not worn at all times.  SCUBA even more so by adding the element of depth to the extant danger of water.  Oh, and that risk happens each and every second of each and every dive.  I say this to remind my Scouter brethren that if I were in charge of the FSB, I would be as ruthless and exacting a stickler for thoroughness and attention to detail as I know the staff to be.  And if those lives were yours to insure, you would be ruthless too.  If a person is not certified as medically able to dive, FSB is not being a “wet blanket”, or a “party-pooper” when they disallow the person from participating in that program.  No debate.  No wink/nudge.

That having been said, my secrets to share with my fellow Scouters to assure smooth inprocessing at FSB include, but are not limited to:

1.       SCOUTER: Do your job!  Logistics is really what you are about.  Mind-numbing, boring, attention to detail.  However, the better you do this 12-18 months prior to your trek, the check-in process will go really well.  For the SCUBA-related programs, I say this is true but 2X as important.

2.       Read everything sent by FSB as soon as you get it.  Everything I’ve ever needed to do or bring was in that packet, along with lots of stuff I didn’t need.  No matter…read it all, cover to cover.  Give it to another Scouter to read.  I bet they find something you missed.

3.       Do everything it says to do in the packet.  It’s obvious but if a required form says to get both parents to sign and they don’t and you don’t realize that until you are at the Base, how is that FSB’s fault?  Don’t fuss at the staffer.

4.       Call FSB with any questions WELL IN ADVANCE!  E-mail is good too.

5.       Have a final 2 week-out meeting for all youth and parents to ensure every signature is on every document.  A missing youth signature can be fixed on the spot.  Parents? Not so much.  The rise in split-parent families makes this no less important and a little more complicated so if mom and dad have to sign and mom doesn’t live with dad, you still need those signatures.

6.       Make a copy of every single thing and store it as PDFs on a thumb drive.  Put that thumb drive somewhere safe when you travel. If something gets lost or stolen, it’s a snap to plug it up and print it out.

Mind you, I have violated a few of these.  I have always found that by accepting your responsibility and asking for a solution and working with the staff to make that happen, most problems can be solved pretty quickly.  It’s helpful to know, as I have learned over the years, that the staff actually wants your group to have a better time than you do.  They will work with you to fix what can be fixed.

Thanks Dave.  I cannot describe how it feels to be reminded of the dedication shared by BSA volunteers.  I genuinely believe volunteers are truly the backbone of the Scouting movement.  From the Scouters who gave their time, talents and money when I was a Scout to those who bring Scouts to the Florida Sea Base, I must say you under appreciated and many of the Scouts’ parents and even the Scouts don’t have a clue as to what you do to make the magic of Scouting happen for these young men and women.

If any of you have something to say regarding the Florida Sea Base (and it is Scout appropriate and does not disparage the organization) please feel free to email it to me at Steve.Willis@scouting.org.

I will be traveling for a few days and may not be able to post until next Thursday.  I’m fine.  The base will be well covered.  I’ll be back quicker than I want to be.

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

FINALLY!  Sunshine, warm water and a gentle summer breeze; this is why we live in an area that has a potential for utter and complete devastation from hurricanes or tsunamis.  And where was I?  In the office, preparing for our camp assessment.  Certainly I was not alone.  The Admin folks, Captain Luke, the Galley and Ships Store staff, and our Commissioners also spent the majority of the day indoors.  What a shame for us but such a blessing for our participants.  Working in paradise is NOT the same as vacationing in paradise.

The divers had an incredible day.  They reported 70′-100′ visibility.  The sailors may have preferred a little more wind but they too are enjoying the reef.  There have been very few opportunities for our sailors to snorkel the reef this summer until now.

BRINTON ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

I rarely get information for this blog from our sister campus 50 miles west of us.  I lifted this off of the Florida Sea Base Facebook page.  If you haven’t visited the site, please consider doing so and join us at https://www.facebook.com/FloridaSeaBase.

Summer is now in full swing and the Brinton Center and Big Munson both are alive,doing well and full of crews. The weather has been challenging, but in true scouting spirit we’ve been persevering through and enjoying our time on the ocean. The offshore fishery is red hot with lot’s of Blackfin Tuna and some nice dolphin (mahi-mahi, not Flipper) being caught up to 30lbs. The reef fishing has been very co-operative also with all the Yellowtail and Mangrove Snapper you could ever want to catch. We look forward to the weather getting nicer and fishing with those of you joining us later in the summer. Fish on !

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WEATHER

This was yesterday’s forecast from www.intellicast.com:

Details for Tuesday, June 11 
Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
Evening: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Low 79F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

[Intellicast, like Weather Underground, is owned by The Weather Channel.]

We have a better chance of showers today and tomorrow, but overall the conditions are MUCH improved compared to the past three weeks.  We had a thunderstorm pass through between 03:20 and 04:30 this morning with more spotty showers to come.

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

The Florida Sea Base is the first Boy Scout facility to be “assessed” under the new National Camp Assessment Program (NCAP).  I wrote about the new process a few months ago.  We have gone from 16 pages of standards to a 300+ page manual of standards.  General Manager Captain Paul Beal volunteered us to go first.  The Florida Sea Base will be the guinea pig for the whole organization.  The “assessors” (who were previously known as “visitors” and before that “inspectors”) arrive Wednesday.  Thursday is the big day of assessment and the team will make their report on how we did on Friday.  Since this is the first time under the new process we might hit a bump or two, but we run outstanding programs and have a great safety record and we contribute a significant amount to the BSA’s bottom line, so we will do fine.  We expect to score 100%; high expectations indeed, but not unreasonable.  [The only assessors I am familiar with are tax assessors.  Taxes and assessments make me think of the IRS.  Why the BSA would choose to name this process after something that reminds one of the dreaded and feared United States Internal Revenue Service is beyond me.]

TROPICAL WEATHER

As I have mentioned before, I try to start my daily post the evening before I actually post it and then recheck the weather and make adjustments as necessary.  While I am working on the morning revisions I keep the TV on The Weather Channel and switch over to local news during the commercials.  Monday I was working on the” Itinerary?” post and watching TWC around 05:00.

Meteorologist Alex Wallace made a good point.  (I lifted his photo from www.weather.com.)

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I can’t recreated the graphic he was using but here’s the info.

2010           1992

Total Named Storms              19                  7
Hurricanes                               12                  4
Category 3 or higher                5                  1

In 2010 none of the 5 major hurricanes made landfall.  It was a very busy hurricane season with no major impact.  In 1992 the one major hurricane of the season, Hurricane Andrew, decimated south Florida, nearly wiping Homestead and Florida City off the map, 65 people died and the damages exceeded $26 billion dollars.  The point being that an active season or a less active season doesn’t equate to the threat of impact.  We are forecasted to have a very active hurricane season this year.  But that does not mean that we will or won’t have significant impact.

ITINERARY?

Yesterday’s post received comments.  Thank you very much.  It is really nice to get positive feedback from readers.  (It’s nice just to know someone is reading this.)

PROGRAM

Conditions on the reef are improving.  The dive sites west of the Florida Sea Base (Pillars of Atlantis, Long Key South, Long Key Ledge, etc) had 50′ of visibility today.  The seas are still a little choppy but settling a bit.  We still have a significant chance of rain showers daily but the wind has dropped into the less than 10 knot range.  The water temperature is a balmy 82°F.  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR WETSUITS AT HOME!!!

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

General itineraries for the Florida Sea Base adventures can be found at http://www.bsaseabase.org/Resources/ParticipantsGuide.aspx.  In this age of information, many adult leader leaders struggle with the lack of a minute-to minute schedule.  I will try to explain.

We do not publish time-line type itineraries for the various programs at the Florida Sea Base because they don’t exist.  I understand that causes some participants to feel uncomfortable.  We are not trying to keep it a secret, we are not trying to be unreasonable, we are not trying to cover up anything.  The schedule changes daily for someone, somedays for everyone.  No participants are on base for a full day unless weather forces such measures.  Here’s what happens at the Florida Sea Base as a daily routine.

07:30 Florida Sea Base staff meeting
07:45 Participants and staff assemble for Flags
07:50 Flags
08:00 Breakfast
12:00 Lunch
17:45 Participants and staff assemble for Flags
17:50 Flags
18:00 Regular dinner
19:00 Luau dinner

That’s it; everything else “depends”; Scout’s honor.

If we have a chaplain we have devotional at 07:15.

Your arrival day schedule varies depending on what time you arrive.  Generally, the adult leader checks in at the Registration Office.  The Florida Sea Base staff member assigned to your crew moves them to the Quarterdeck and begins an orientation.  When the adult leader catches up with the crew your photo is taken.  Next you go through a shake-down exercise and change into swim wear.  Then you either take part in the swim review or check out snorkeling/scuba gear.  After completing both of those (regardless of order) you either have a snorkeling lesson (sailors) or you go to the pool for a scuba review.  UNLESS it is too late in the day in which case you may do some or none of these things.  And if you are coming for Scuba Certification scratch the swim review and checking out gear on the first day.  You will (probably but not definitely) go to the classroom after orientation.  If it’s raining, or a strong wind is blowing from the west then all of the above might be out the window.  We are not disorganized.  We have to work with late arrivals, weather, equipment issues, staffing issues, and other challenges.  We know what has to be done to get your adventure started safely and those are our priorities – safety and getting you started as quickly as possible.

We also get questions about where you will be sailing or diving.  Again, we don’t know – it depends.  If you in the Coral Reef Sailing program you might sail on the bay side (Gulf of Mexico side) of the Keys if we have strong, persistent winds from the east.  Otherwise, you will spend most of your time on the Atlantic (ocean) side of the Keys.  You may be as far east as Key Largo and as far west as Big Pine Key.  It is more likely that you will stay between Tavernier and Marathon.  Sea Explorers range from Marathon to Boca Grande.

Our scuba diving sites range from Key West on the west end to Key Largo on the east end.  Scuba liveaboard boats are docked in Tavernier, Marathon and Stock Island.  If you are assigned to the Tavernier boats you will dive more to the east; the Stock Island boat dives more to the west.  Where you will be diving can depend on the day of week you arrive.  Scuba Adventure and Scuba Certification crews are based at the Florida Sea Base.  They dive between Long Key and the southern end of Key Largo.  Many of our dives are conducted on uncharted reefs.  We have given these sites names, but they are meaningless to anyone outside of the Florida Sea Base.  For example, we sometimes go to a site we call Sharks.  It is my second favorite spur and groove reef formation starting in about 40′-45′ of water.  You won’t find it on a chart.  You can go to any other dive operator in the Keys and they will not know the site.  We might go there during your stay or not.  (It depends.)

From past experience I can guarantee that some adult leaders will be upset when they arrive at the Florida Sea Base and the day doesn’t go as mentioned above.  I know it is a lot to ask, but take a deep breath, try to relax, trust us to lead you through what needs to be done.  You have arrived.  The hardest part of the job is over.  We will get you sailing or diving as quickly as your circumstances will allow.  And we will taking you sailing or diving in the best location depending on the weather.

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

The Florida Sea Base made it through Saturday with no rain!  There will be more, but it was nice to have a rain-free day.  The Miami International Airport only recorded 1″ of rain during Tropical Storm Andrea.  North Miami recorded 14″ during that time.  We had a brief, light shower at 23:00 (11:00pm).  We are still expecting a little wind for a couple of days, but generally we should be at 15 knots or less.

NWS Forecast:

DAY OFF

Yesterday was my day off.  It started with an 07:30 staff meeting, followed by my assisting with the starboard alternator on BSA Explorer, and then driving BSA Sea Scout for a half day trip.  In actuality, Captain Ben Heinz, Captain Ed Miller, and First Mates Kira Knotts and Kyle Moran did all of the work on the alternator.  I was the errand boy, fetching things.

PROGRAM

Meanwhile, the magic is still happening; divers are diving and the sailors are sailing.  We have a decent chance of rain daily for the next week.  But they should be mostly brief showers which are very common in the Keys.  It looks like we are back to “normal” for a few days.

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

The humidity at the Florida Sea Base was only 90% yesterday, but it felt like 9,000%.  Our humidity is usually high, but it was brutal yesterday.  Otherwise the weather was pretty good.  We had a few sprinkles throughout the day that lasted less than 5 minutes, some sun, and less wind than Thursday.  But we got clobbered by a thunderstorm around 19:25 (7:25pm) and the night dive was cancelled again.  NOTE: During thunderstorms it is important to stay away from the mast(s).

TROPICAL WEATHER

The tropical situation is looking brighter.

Yesterday Dr. Jeff Masters posted in his Wunderblog:

Invest 92L in the Central Atlantic no threat to develop
Satellite images show that disorganized tropical wave is in the Central Atlantic, about a two-day journey from the Lesser Antilles Islands. NHC designated this system 92L Thursday afternoon. High wind shear of 30 – 40 knots is ripping up the thunderstorms in 92L as they form, and wind shear is predicted to remain 30 – 40 knots for the next five days, making development unlikely. The wave will likely bring heavy rain showers and gusty winds to the northern Lesser Antilles Islands beginning on Sunday night. None of the reliable computer models is showing development of a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic over the next seven days.

As of 05:00 this morning Invest 92L has been removed from the reports.  Hopefully we can relax a bit for the coming week.

PROGRAM

Conditions are trying to get back to normal.  The sailors that spent Thursday night at the Florida Sea Base dock hustled up and were headed to sea before breakfast yesterday.  The dive boats loaded up and headed out at their regularly scheduled times.  Some of the Scuba Adventure participants missed dives Thursday and Thursday night.  Unfortunately, we do not have the needed logistics to make up dives in the summer.  We are simply doing so much with what we ave that we don’t have any wiggle room.  That’s why we always advertise X number of dives (depending on the specific scuba program)  ”weather permitting”.

Today is my day off.  I am spending the morning driving BSA Sea Scout for the Scuba Adventure program so Captain Christy Clemenson can have an extra day off.  I am going to skip out on the 07:30 meeting.  Scuba Commissioner Captain Alex Bergstedt can handle it.  From 07:30 until 10:30 every morning is the most stressful time of our day.  Before this job, I considered myself a morning person.  Now I dread mornings.  During the morning meetings we learn who is sick or injured, what boats or vehicles are broken, and resolve all of those issues before most of the participants even wake up.  A lot of hard work and stress goes on behind the scenes to make the magic happen for the participants.  Having a GREAT staff is essential.

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