Florida Sea Base News

Captain Steve is on a road trip to the “Mother Country” as the great state of Texas is referred to around here. I had the privilege of driving through it once and I didn’t leave anything there so I shouldn’t have to go back. I’ll do my best to render the happenings of the Florida Sea Base.

Today Captain Drew Mead and I repaired our kayak trailer. It literally fell apart 3 weeks ago when we were bringing the Kayaks around back. We spent the day cutting, grinding and welding using our best OSHA work practices (keys version) flip flops and shorts. Captain Drew is a fast study and I had him welding in no time. He learned to use a cutting torch, stick welder and to grind without losing body parts. I only caught myself on fire once and the ground around us 5 or 6 times. We’re trying to help the ranger staff by burning all the grass down so they wouldn’t have to mow.

Dave from Upper Keys Construction was hard at it again. They hauled off 8 dump truck loads of goo. He says he’s on schedule and has never let us down. The electricians and plumbers were out as well getting ready to pull permits for the new sea wall. Dave whispered in my ear to make sure we had everything ready to go so we didn’t have any hiccups. Not that it’s ever happened around here. Upper Keys is a top notch company and Dave’s word is golden. The Florida Keys is almost a third world country when it comes to services. I once saw a logo on a local electrician’s truck being their highlight as “We Show Up”. It seems pretty pathetic if you ask me. Not that they do great work or anything. They try to push the envelope of “on keys time”.

Admiral Dan McCarthy, one of our committee members was hired to run the new BSA Facility called the Summit. They are planning the next Jamboree there. He will be missed here at the Sea Base. Anytime I have Navy or Coast Guard here life has better meaning. Capt. Beal and Mr. Kolb are ex Army guys and give me a hard time about being ex Navy. The tides turn when Admirals Wurster and McCarthy come in for a visit. I wished him luck being land locked. I know most sailors HATE that feeling.

The PM1 conference is going well. Everyone seems happy. I talked to a few of them today. I think they were a little scared of me with my freshly charred skin and shirt.

The Miami Counsel came and got our old Hunter 14 sailboats. When we first started the shore leave day they were part of the program. We’ve since moved to bigger and faster sailboats. They seemed happy with the score.

Other than that all is well. We’re getting ready for our Spring Season to start. I’ve secured dockage for the big boats in Key West and Marathon.

Be safe,
Captain Rich