Florida Sea Base News

END OF AN ERA

I will be on the road early (VERY early) Wednesday morning on my way to Slidell, LA to check on the BSA Sea Scout and then to Dallas for the BSA national committee meetings.  So today is my last day of working with Captain Rich Beliveau.  He will be on his way to North Carolina and a new beginning before I get back.  Captain Rich and I have been a great team.  I love him like a brother.  I will miss him very day.  BUT, never say never; there remains the chance of a sequel on a future endeavor.  A plan for future collaboration is afoot.  Godspeed & fair winds Captain Rich.

SCUBA

With the combined efforts of Florida Sea Base staff members Captain Christy Clemenson, Captain Sargon Smith, Divemaster Brenda Mallory, and Captain Rich Beliveau the pros from the BSA Centennial Eagle have been removed, resurfaced, and reinstalled.  Captain Christy reports the vessel is running better than ever.  Way to go team!!!

CONFERENCES

The Bay Lakes Council conference attendees were taken on an eco-tour that included Lignum Vitae State Park, Indian Key State Park and the Alligator Reef lighthouse.  I was busy elsewhere so I am not sure what staff members attended.  Food and Conference Director Tim Stanfill spent most of the day at the Brinton Environmental Center where the Ortho-Biony group is meeting.

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

CONFERENCE

The Volunteer Development conference spouses went snorkeling yesterday.  The weather conditions at the Florida Sea Base were not great but the participants seemed to have a VERY good time.  Yesterday evening several of the attendees went on a sunset cruise.  Captain Christy, Captain Sargon and Conference Mates Ronnie, Jim and Jessica were aboard as support.

The groups leaves the Florida Sea Base tomorrow morning and is replaced by the Bay Lakes Council group in the afternoon.  The staff has a very limited time to flip rooms in between.  To make this happen, we are ordering pizza so the Galley staff can help with the process.

WOODBADGE

Scuba Instructor David Ball sent me this email yesterday:

A little news from the world of Scouts at home…

I don’t know how much you remember about Boy Scouts but I just completed my Woodbadge Ticket, which means I have passed my training and will be awarded my beads. I took 15 months to complete…my ‘ticket project’ involved presenting high adventure opportunities to Scouts of my council. Big deal for us since Chris and Barbara also have earned theirs and we will have the award ceremony together.

Just an old Boy Scout.

Chris is Dave’s son and Barbara is Dave’s wife.  Congratulations to the Ball family!

WEATHER

The forecast looks like more of the same for the coming week; breezy, lows in the mid 60s, highs in the mid to upper 70s, and a slight chance of scattered showers.

SUNDAY

I am anticipating a quiet weekend so I probably won’t post Sunday.

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

HOLIDAY

Monday was a BSA holiday.  However, most of the full time staff at the Florida Sea Base reported for duty.  If you were fortunate enough to have a three day weekend I hope you made the most of it and had a great time.

CONFERENCE

The BBYO departed yesterday morning and another Volunteer Development group arrived yesterday evening.  The Florida Sea Base Food and Conference Director, Tim Stanfill, has done an excellent job of keeping the non-program dates filled with conference attendees this year.

SCUBA

The last time Captain Christy Clemenson drove BSA Centennial Eagle she noticed a vibration.  So Captain Sargon Smith jumped in the water yesterday to inspect the props and shafts; we assumed that the boat had run over a lobster trap and line was wrapped on a shaft.  What Captain Sargon found was much worse; two of the four blades on the port prop were bent.  Captain Christy and Captain Sargon suited up and a few hours later had removed both props.  (The props have to be balanced for proper performance.  So if one prop is worked on they both require adjustment.)

Late in the afternoon I caught Divemaster Brenda Mallory assembling scuba carts.  Rob and Bart from Breathing Air Concepts showed up around 16:00 to work on our scuba compressors.  They are and incredible, competent, fair team.  It is rare in the Keys to find a service company that is completely above reproach.  Breathing Air Concepts is a rare gem.

WEATHER

Between 15:00 (3 pm) and 16:00 (4 pm) our wind speed almost doubled from 8 knots to 13 knots.  By 19:00 (7 pm) we were at 16 knots.  I did not foresee this change when looking at the forecast Monday morning.  Here is today’s marine forecast from the National Weather Service.

Today: North winds near 15 knots…decreasing to 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a moderate chop…becoming a light to moderate chop.
Tonight: North to northeast 10 to 15 knots early…increasing to near 20 knots. Seas building to 2 to 4 feet. Nearshore waters becoming rough. Isolated showers.
Wednesday: Northeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet. nearshore waters choppy.
Wednesday Night And Thursday: Northeast to east winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Nearshore waters choppy. Isolated showers.
Thursday Night: Northeast to east winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Nearshore waters choppy. Isolated showers.
Friday: East winds near 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters a moderate chop. Isolated showers.
Friday Night: Northeast to east winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a light to moderate chop. Isolated showers.
Saturday: Northeast winds near 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. nearshore waters a moderate chop. Isolated showers.
Saturday Night: North to northeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters choppy. Isolated showers.

As of this morning, the week looks like lows in the mid 60s, highs in the mid 70s, very breezy, and a 10% chance of light scattered showers daily.

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

CONFERENCE

The Food and Conference staff were again occupied by the B’Nai B’Rith Youth Organization.  They are a fun group.

STAFF

Most of the rest of the staff was off.  Captain Christy Clemenson put in a full day preparing information for me to take to Newton Dive Boats on my way to the BSA committee meetings in Dallas.  Captain Rich Beliveau took some of the staff scuba diving.  I stayed on base, doing laundry, cleaning up the head project, putting away tools, etc.  My L7-S1 disc is toast.  It always takes a day or two to recover after a day of bending and twisting like Saturday.  The good news is my left leg/hip (the side with the titanium femora) was good to go Sunday morning.  The bad news is between that and my back I did not sleep any Saturday night.  So i took about a 2 hour nap while the divers were out.

WEATHER

Our forecast looks good for winter; highs in the mid 70s, lows in the upper 60s, slight chance of brief showers, a just a titch breezy at 15 knots from the north.  At 07:00 ET it is 66°F at the Florida Sea Base, -8°F in Cimarron, NM, and -22°F in Ely, MN.

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

STAFF

Rich Goldman spent Saturday teaching a PADI Open Water Diver Course.  Captain Rich Beliveau spent Saturday in Key West.  Meanwhile, I had a pretty crappy Saturday aboard S/V Escape.

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Disassemble broken marine head – yuck!

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Reassemble head with new motor assembly and joker valve.

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Looks good, but does it work?

2012 staff members will remember Divemaster David Kirkner.  He was well respected by his peers and management.  David is registered for the February PADI Instructor Development Course at Florida Keys Dive Center.  If all goes well, I have be able to assist Course Director Bert Hubby with part of the course.  David will then join the Florida Sea Base staff for spring and summer as a Scuba Instructor.  Way to go David!

 CONFERENCE

The Food and Conference staff was busy yesterday with the BBYO group.  I enjoy having them at the Florida Sea Base.  They are very high energy and seem to enjoy themselves very much while they’re here.

WEATHER

We topped out at 73°F Saturday with sunny skies and a mild breeze.  This is the way winter is SUPPOSED to be!

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

WEATHER

What a difference a day can make.  Wednesday night I had to run the air conditioner to sleep; this morning I have the heater on.  It’s 61°F this morning at the totally unofficial weather station at slip 12 of the Florida Sea Base dock.  Break out the parkas!  Why didn’t I get the optional fireplace installed in the boat?  It’s only 90 miles to Cuba.  I should be able to make that in about 20 hours – less time than driving to Dallas.  I bet it’s warmer in Cuba.  At 16:00 (4 pm) our wind was from the WSW at 3 knots; 17:00 (5 pm) WSW at 7; 18:00 (6 pm) W at 9, and at 19:00 (7 pm) it jumped to NNW at 25 knots.  At 20:00 (8 pm) it peaked at 29 knots and has been easing slowly through the night.  At 05:00 this morning we are down to 21 knots.  THANKS FOR THE WARNING CHIP!  Having advanced notification is greatly appreciated.

CONFERENCE

The Volunteer Development Conference enjoyed their luau last night (despite the wind, light off-and-on sprinkles, and dropping temperatures) and will be heading home today.  Well, they don’t have to go home, but they can’t stay here.  I can’t remember for sure but I think we are expecting about 150 participants from the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) next.

STAFF

The conference staff members were busy with the Volunteer group.  I think the sailing staff worked in the vicinity of the fuel shed which is scheduled for demolition today and remodeling in the near future.  Captain Sargon Smith and Divemaster Brenda Mallory took the one ton truck and a trailer to South Miami to pick up 30 new carts for the Scuba Adventure and Scuba Certification crews to use to transport their dive gear from the scuba area to the dive boats this spring and summer.  MAYBE this will be the last time we have to buy the carts.  That’s assuming that the new pool complex is actually functional by the summer of 2014.  Captain Christy Clemenson worked on staff housing assignments for spring.  Captain Rich Beliveau had a traumatic morning.  He had to have blood drawn for some tests.  Captain Rich does not do well with needles.  I spent the morning working on paperwork and occupied the afternoon starting a serious campaign of tossing old stuff out of the office and packing away unnecessaries.  (Captain Rich was kind enough to stop at U-Haul on his way back from the blood drawing and pick up packing boxes and tape for me.)  Former Office Manager Ellen Wyatt would have been very proud to see four filled trash cans being emptied from my office.  Captain Christy, Captain Sargon and Divemaster Brenda took the Volunteer group on one final sunset cruise.  Unfortunately they were forced back to base early by an approaching squall line.  Scuba Instructor Richard Goldman is returning to the Florida Sea Base for the weekend.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Shivering in the Keys

BIDET

The Galley at the Florida Sea Base underwent a major remodel last fall.  The project is probably 95% complete.  The coolest new toy in the Galley is a bidet for the dishes.

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Florida Sea Base Divemaster Academy graduate Jenna Burton was kind enough to show me how the contraption works.

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The Volunteer Development Conference seems to be a big success.  Everyone seems to be having a good time and soaking up the training.

SAILING DIRECTOR

The General Manager of the Florida Sea Base hosted two interviews for the position being vacated by Captain Rich.

Here are the comments I received regarding Captain Rich’s departure:

What an amazing man Capt. Rich is, he will be sorely missed.  The Sea Base Alumni & Friends Association cannot thank Rich enough for all of the help he has given our organization in getting started.

Good Luck Rich & Carol, thank you for everything you have done. (Dan Gill, President, Sea Base Alumni and Friends Association)

Rich and Carol,

I wish you both best wishes and good luck in your new endeavaors! I am very sorry I won’t get to see you before ya’ll leave. Thank you both for being good friends and support to Steve. I know he is going to miss you both. I know/hope you will be talking and corresponding often.

Again, good luck, God speed and congratulations!

Sue (Willis) from the Mother Country

Captain Rich!
I wish you all the best in your new job in North Carolina. I believe you will do a great job there as you did in Seabase! Thanks also for giving me chance to work in Seabase as a coral reef mate. Thanks for the trust, support, help which you gave me and not only me, but to all mates in Seabase! I appreciate it a lot!
I was hoping one day in my future I will go for a vacation to USA to the keys and stop in Base to say you HI, but dont worry I will go find you in North Carolina. Thanks again for everything!!!!!! You are great person!!! Miss you.

Valerie from Slovakia

Thank you Captain Rich. Your leadership and influence will be missed. Also a personal thanks for the help and guidance you’ve given so freely while I was at SeaBase. You will be missed.
Steve (Pinhey)

So many thanks to Captain Rich for the time and effort that he has not only spent with all the participates at Sea Base but on a personal note for the 8 months he has spent mentoring my son while he worked at Sea Base. My son just arrived home and all he can speak of is the friendship and guidance that Capt Rich gave to him.

Congrats to him and his family and wishing them safe travels.

Preston’s dad

Chuck Bush

I for one will miss our morning meetings with Captain Rich being there. Captain Steve and Captain Rich were a good dog and pony act. Much luck to both Captain Rich and Captain Carol on their new beginning.

Richard Goldman

SCUBA COMMISSIONER

Speaking of vacancies, I am still accepting applications for Scuba Commissioner for 2013.  Interested persons should call me at 305-393-7373 or send an email to steve.willis@scouting.org.

CONFERENCE

The Volunteer Development Conference is  still ongoing.  They have today off and many are going to explore Key West.

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

CONFERENCE

Several members of the National Supply Division have been meeting at the Florida Sea Base for the last several days.  However, they have domiciled at Hawks Cay Resort and have had most of their meals off base.  Captain Rich Beliveau, Emily Sepeta and Mel Rynd took the group snorkeling yesterday. They wind was howling and the conditions on the reef we not conducive to snorkeling; zero visibility, large seas, wind driven surface current, etc.  After a miserable boat ride to the reef line, Captain Rich took the group to a bay-side snorkeling site called The Quarry.

SPRING STAFF

While Captain Rich was entertaining the National Supply Group, I continued working on the spring scuba staff hiring.  I have submitted information for most of the spring Letters of Employment for the scuba department to Cheryl Ferreri for processing.  I still need a couple of scuba instructors.  Hiring for all seasons is a very stressful time.  Since most of our potential staff members are college students and the school calendars vary so much it is very challenging to cover the entire season with an adequate number of qualified staff members.

2014 RESERVATIONS

The online reservation lottery for 2014 Florida Sea Base adventures will open on 15 January 2013 and close on 15 February 2013.  More information is available on the Florida Sea Base website at www.bsaseabase.org.  With that said, there are a few dates available for 2013 from crews who have cancelled their reservations.  And while thrips to the Florida Sea Base are not cheap, they do offer a rather liberal scholarship program.  So don’t be bashful about exploring this option.  There are dedicated funds to help provide the Florida Sea Base experience to all Scouts.

SUMMER STAFF

I have received several applications for summer scuba staff employment.  Please do not procrastinate; if you want to work here this summer you need to submit an application ASAP.

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

I picked up my son, Aaron, at Tampa International Airport yesterday.  Today we are going to the Homosassas Springs Wildlife State Park.  We woke to 46º, clear skies, and dead calm winds.  The forecasted high is 76º.  Tomorrow morning we are going snorkeling with manatees in the wild.  We have to check in at 0615 (apparently manatees are early risers and take siesta during the afternoon) so I will not post on Wednesday.  I may not post on Thursday either. Aaron and I plan to hit the highway as soon as our manatee encounter concludes and drive straight to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex; about a 20 hour drive).  If I’m still kicking, I will post Friday.

The Florida Sea Base is hosting a session of PM-1, People Management Level 1, this week.  The weather is forecasted to be warm (upper 70s) and windy with a slight chance of showers; not bad for February.

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

Sunday was pretty quiet at the Florida Sea Base.  The Conference staff members were busy today.  The Jewish youth group (older than the previous group of 5th graders) were still here, playing games, singing songs and having a great time.  I worked in the office for a little while.  Among other chores I reviewed the health and medical records for the Scuba Liveaboard crew that is coming at Christmas.  Of 12 participants, 6 of the medicals had minor issues.  I called the adult leader and she will insure the deficiencies are resolved.

I watched some of the Dolphins/Redskins game and some of the NASCAR race.  I have put my underwater camera and strobe in a safe place and can’t find them.  Interestingly, I did find the underwater housing for the camera.  I think the camera may be in the trunk of my car.  But the strobe is eluding me.

Our weather was more seasonal yesterday with a high of 85º, clear skies but still a bit breezy, but much better than the past few days.  For the long term term, I’m still watching the system in the Westerner Caribbean.  There wasn’t much chatter about it yesterday, maybe the weather gurus were taking a day off.

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In the short term, the National Weather Service is forecasting a pretty decent week:

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 82. East wind around 15 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. East wind around 15 mph.
Tuesday: A slight chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. East wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Tuesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. East wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Wednesday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. East wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Thursday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Friday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Friday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy and breezy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Saturday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy and breezy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Sunday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 10%.

I want to expressed belated congratulations to Captain Sargon Smith.  Captain Sargon completed his written tests last summer and now holds a 100 Ton Master license.  Office Mate Christy Clemenson sent me a text late yesterday afternoon announcing that Derrek and Mike from the Brinton Environmental Center and Christy had passed their written exams for their captain’s license.  They have to submit all of their paperwork to the US Coast Guard for review and background check before receiving their license.  Congratulations all around.

I have a massive “do list” for today.  I am probably going to head to the mainland early this morning since several of my items are up that way or can be accomplished by phone.  (It’s nice to get off the rock every now and then.)

For those of you who may be dreading “Monday”, let me say that Monday isn’t so bad when you work seven days a week; it’s just another day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Aboard S/V Escape