Florida Sea Base News

The BSA Burglar has arrived at her new home at the Florida Sea Base.   Captain Dennis Wyatt, Captain Zach Woodmancy and Captain Derrek Polt were successful in their quest to transit the Gulf of Mexico (well, half of the Gulf of Mexico) in near record time.  Thank you, gentlemen.  Now we have a lot to do to get her ready for the Coast Guard inspection.

My younger granddaughter, Josie, is about nine and a half months old.  Yesterday was her first swimming lesson.

Click to enlarge.

I went out on the BSA Explorer with the scuba staff yesterday morning.  Our goal was Alligator Reef.  We didn’t make it due to weather from Invest 94L.  (Dr. Knabb, from The Weather Channel, thinks this system could become our next named system.  It should be well to the north of the Florida Sea Base when/if that happens.)

Click to enlarge.

So we doubled backed and moored at Lignum Vitae Key.  From there we practiced rescue scenarios.  The practice went reasonably well but we will practice more today (and tomorrow if all goes well).  The system seems to be moving north at a pretty good clip so maybe the weather will improve soon.  Our forecast from the National Weather Service:

Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind around 10 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Memorial Day: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

The marine forecast reads:

Synopsis…A LOW PRESSURE CENTER IN THE VICINITY OF THE KEYS WILL CONTINUE TO PULL OFF TO THE NORTHWEST TONIGHT CAUSING VARIABLE WIND CONDITIONS THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. LATE ON FRIDAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OFFSHORE OF THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES BUT WILL REMAIN WELL NORTH OF OUR REGION THROUGH THIS WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK.

Friday…Southwest winds 10 to 15 knots backing east to southeast 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Friday Night…South winds 5 to 10 knots shifting southwest early in the morning. Seas 1 to 2 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Saturday Night Through Sunday…Variable winds near 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Sunday Night…Variable winds near 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Monday Through Tuesday Night…Southeast to south winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.

It’s almost scary, but there is only a tiny bit of rain on the radar this morning and the wind has dropped to 5 knots.  Hopefully the seas have dissipated and we can get in a decent dive to two today.

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

I created this blog to share news about the Florida Sea Base.  But I own it, I pay for it, I write, and I take responsibility for it, so I’m going to vent a little.  (By the way, this is post number 888).

The safety of “other peoples’ children” is always first and foremost on the minds of the personnel at the Florida Sea Base.  We have children miles, sometimes MANY miles into the ocean away from a harbor of safe refuge.  It is part of the high adventure experience.  To manage the risks of threatening weather, we depend on many products, agencies, and companies.  Almost daily I post images and/or text from NOAA (or one or more of its subsidiaries such as the National Weather Service or National Hurricane Center) and Weather Underground.  Most of the graphics come from Weather Underground because they are so user friendly.  I use other products a little less frequently.

As soon as I get up in the morning I turn on The Weather Channel.  (This morning they are having some audio difficulties.)  I also check their website while checking the other sources.  For the past several weeks they have raved about their updated website and device apps.  I don’t use Facebook or Twitter and doubt anyone from The Weather Channel will stumble onto this little blog, but I am very displeased with the radar aspect of their new products, especially on my iPad and iPhone.  WeatherUnderground’s radar image is rarely more the 5 minutes old.  It is frequently up to the minute.  The radar images on my Apple devices from The Weather Channel are frequently an hour or more old.  What do they expect us to be able to do with that?  ”Oh no, it was raining on us an hour ago.”  They show tablets being used on their sets, they show folks in the field chasing severe weather with smartphones and tablets.  If there is a secret to getting up-to-date radar images on these devices from The Weather Channel I would appreciate being brought into the loop.  In the meantime, their product is of limited use to us.  It is really nice that the new apps make it easier to tweet and post to Facebook.  For those of use trying to protect lives, the new app is a HUGE disappointment.

Just minutes after yesterday’s post, Captain Dennis called to report that they were near the Apalachacola region of Florida and all was generally well.  A fitting in the hydraulic  steering system came loose but they were able to fix that without incident (other than temporarily loosing steerage).  Captain Dennis reported a list of 30 deficiencies he has found with the vessel.  Most of them are small things that are common and/or easily fixed; some are more significant but do not jeopardize safety to the delivery crew.  Captain Derreck Polt emailed this photo of the BSA Burglar prior to departing Louisiana.

Click to enlarge.

At 17:15 (5:15pm) yesterday Captain Dennis called again to report they had successfully crossed the Gulf of Mexico and were approaching Clearwater, Florida, north of St. Petersburg.  The plan was to make a quick fuel stop and continue on, possibly arriving at the Florida Sea Base around noon today.

The sailing staff spent much of Wednesday tubing; one of the shore leave activities enjoyed by the Coral Reef Sailing crews.  The scuba staff completed driver’s training, emergency oxygen provider training, dive boat mate training and night program training.

Shortly after lunch yesterday, one of our newest and youngest Coral Reef Sailing captains, Captain Chris Jenner, arrived in the Florida Sea Base harbor aboard his 41′ Morgan Out Island, S/V Stormalong.  Captain Chris had single handed the vessel from New Port Ritchie (north of Tampa/St.Pete) for 46 hours straight.

Our local weather remains less than perfect.  The scuba staff is scheduled to spend this morning diving and practicing rescues.  We are also scheduled to dive tonight.  We will do our best to work around the weather cells.  Here’s what our radar looked like at 05:41 this morning:

Click to enlarge.

Our first Scuba Live Aboard crew arrives tomorrow; then another arrives Saturday and the season officially opens on Sunday with one Sea Exploring crew (20 participants), one Scuba Certification crew (8 participants), five Coral Reef Sailing participants (40 participants), and six Scuba Adventure crews (48 participants) = 116 participants.  Ready or not, here they come!!!

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

The Florida Sea Base staff members had department specific training yesterday.  Sailing Commissioner Stephanie Mansburger and company lead the sailing staff through small boat sailing while Scuba Commissioner Laura Kuras and company lead the scuba staff through swim reviews, scuba reviews and round one of the rescue scenarios.

Click to enlarge.

After dinner, both staffs combined to learn about luau procedures.

The tropical weather of the day is Tropical Storm Bud off the western coast of Mexico.  It is not expected to intensify to hurricane strength and possibly dissipate without making landfall.

Click to enlarge.

There is a potential tropical weather threat for the Florida Sea Base from Invest 94L.  It may bring us more rain and maybe a little wind, but I don’t think it will become a major system in our area.

Click to enlarge.

We dodged a large, nasty weather cell last night.

Click to enlarge.

I have not heard from our delivery team since their departure from Slidell, LA yesterday.  Captain Dennis said he would call from their next fuel stop.  He may have called Captain Rich instead, and I’m sure he called Ellen.  I’ll check with Captain Rich in about an hour.  If he hasn’t heard from him then I’ll call Ellen later this morning. I’m not really concerned.  In this scenario, no news is good news.  The vessel has three cell phones on board, a VHF radio and an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).  The absolute worst case scenario is if the boat sank, the EPIRB automatically floats free, activates, and sends a satellite signal to the US Coast Guard with their position and identification.  In turn, the USCG would respond and call us.  So no news is good news.

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

The Florida Sea Base has been fortunate in dodging the rain – so far.  Yesterday’s forecast was for 60% chance, but we received NO rain.  We had a 50% chance overnight and had a clear, starry sky instead.  But, it is probably going to catch up with us before the week is over.  Here’s our forecast from the National Weather Service:

Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. North wind around 10 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Memorial Day: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

We have completed “Admin Day” of the summer staff training.  Thank goodness that’s behind us!  Maybe the best part was the staff contributing over 60 units of blood and platelets to the local blood bank.  Now we will have a few days to spend on department specific training.  For the scuba staff that includes a lot of rescue scenarios, learning about compressor use and maintenance, learning to present our evening continuing education courses, first aid, CPR, and oxygen provider refreshers, how to conduct scuba reviews, and a few other topics that have slipped my mind.

By the time most of you read this, the BSA Burglar should be underway from Slidell, LA to the Florida Sea Base.  Godspeed gentlemen.

Here we go again.  I am REALLY getting too old for this!

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

The newest addition to the Florida Sea Base scuba fleet, BSA Burglar is undergoing final preparations in Slidell, LA today and should be underway early tomorrow morning.  The delivery team is lead by Captain Dennis Wyatt.  Captains Derrek Polt and Zachary Woodmancy complete the three man delivery team.  Assuming there are no weather or mechanical delays, we expect the team to arrive on Thursday.

I’m sure many of you may be wondering how the vessel’s name was chosen.  This account may not be 100% accurate, but is my understanding.  For many years the Florida Sea Base was blessed to have the late Mr. John DesBarres as a committee member and chairman.  Mr. DesBarres was well liked, highly respected and accomplished many great things for the Florida Sea Base and Scouting.  The money to purchase the Newton 36′ Dive Special for use by the Florida Sea Base scuba certification crews was donated in Mr. DesBarres memory.  The details were not explained to me, but Mr. DesBarres apparently earned the nickname “Burglar” at some point in his life.   When monies of this magnitude are donated to the Florida Sea Base, the donor is allowed to name the boat, building or whatever else the money is used for.  The donor wanted the vessel named “Burglar”.  The US Coast Guard documented vessels owned by the Florida Sea Base have the prefix BSA.  And that is how the boat was named “BSA Burglar“.

Tropical Storm Alberto was tracking southwest on Saturday, but made a u-turn Sunday and is not expected to impact Florida.

Click to enlarge.

The Scuba, Sailing, Galley and Ships Store staff members survived a long day yesterday, having to listen to me for the first two-thirds of the day.  Today is “Admin” day.  The staff from the Brinton Environmental Center will join us for breakfast, lunch and an early dinner.  The General Manager, Director of Program, Director of Food Services, Facilities Director will each speak.  Several staff members will need to see Cheryl to get their paperwork squared away, almost everyone will have to donate a urine sample for their mandatory drug test, and the local blood mobile will be here for blood and platelets.  After dinner the staff will go to Tavernier Town Cinema and watch “Battleship”.

The temperatures and mild breezes are forecasted to hold steady.  But our chance of rain has increased to 60% today and 50% tomorrow.  It may turn into a very soggy staff training week.

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:

Click to enlarge.

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 

Wowy-zowy; the wind is howling.  Our maximum wind speed was 30 knots yesterday.  Otherwise, the weather is quite pleasant; low 70s and lots of sunshine.  Courtesy of the National Weather Service:

Friday And Friday Night…East winds near 25 knots and gusty. Seas beyond the reef 6 to 9 feet. Seas higher in the gulf stream. Seas inside the reef 2 to 4 feet. Nearshore waters very rough. Isolated showers.
Saturday…East to southeast winds near 20 knots and gusty early…decreasing to 15 to 20 knots. Seas beyond the reef 6 to 9 feet early…subsiding to 5 to 8 feet. Seas inside the reef 2 to 4 feet. Nearshore waters rough early…becoming choppy. Isolated showers.
Saturday Night…Southeast winds 15 to 20 knots early…decreasing to near 15 knots. Seas beyond the reef 5 to 8 feet early…subsiding to 4 to 7 feet. Seas inside the reef 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters choppy early…becoming a moderate chop. Isolated showers.
Sunday…Southeast to south winds 10 to 15 knots…becoming southwest to west and decreasing to near 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas beyond the reef subsiding to 2 to 4 feet. Seas inside the reef around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a light to moderate chop…becoming a light chop. Isolated showers.
Monday…Winds becoming northeast to east 10 to 15 knots. Seas beyond the reef 2 to 4 feet. Seas higher in the gulf stream. Seas inside the reef around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a light to moderate chop. Isolated showers.
Tuesday…East winds near 15 knots. Seas beyond the reef 3 to 5 feet. Seas higher in the gulf stream. Seas inside the reef around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a moderate chop. Isolated showers.

Scuba tank preparations are coming along nicely.  They still have a long ways to go, but we will be ready for the onslaught of scuba crews arriving on 13 March.  The facilities department will spent a few days making additional preparations in the scuba area next week.  Several additional scuba staff members arrive on 10 March and that will help us meet our deadline.

Capt. Carol and I talked a little while this morning and she is now on a crusade to do what we can to protect our carrying capacity on the dive boats.  The solution may cost a pretty penny, but we may not be as impacted by the new limitations as some of the other dive centers.  We have some smart cookies working for us and tend to creative ways to meet these challenges.

Captains Dennis, Allan and Mike have returned after a successful oat delivery to Belize.  Maybe Capt. Dennis will find time to write an essay on the adventure.  If so, I’ll post it if he will let me.

The refrigeration guy diagnosed the problem with Escape’s refrigerator yesterday.  Another week and $500 – $600 and it should be chillin’ like a villain.  I’m scheduled to drive to Aventura this morning to see the fat doctor.  But I may put that off until next week.  Gas prices have hit $3.75 a gallon here and the weekly trip is getting to be pricey.  I am considering an every-other-week schedule to save gas money and wear and tear on the car.  The good news is I’m still losing weight.  The bad news is I’m not losing as fast as I was and I am struggling with my lack of patience.  Losing weight is expensive.  Besides gas and doctor’s bills, I have given away most of my clothes in the past two weeks.  I’m only replacing what’s absolutely necessary because, if all goes well, I should lose another size or maybe two before this struggle is over.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

The seasonal program staff members are sleeping in this morning.  There are no program participants at the Florida Sea Base this week.  Tomorrow we will start on several projects to prepare for the onslaught of scuba participants that start arriving in about two weeks, plus oodles of new sailing participants.  Let the good times roll!  (Starting tomorrow.)

The PADI Member Forum will be held at the Florida Sea Base on Tuesday, 01 March from 19:00 until 21:00 or so.  PADI Member Forms are scheduled annually at several venues around the US and the Caribbean.  It is an opportunity for the PADI Regional Manager to bring everyone up to speed on changes that have been made in the past year.

Capt. Dennis submitted the following status report on the boat delivery to Belize:

How many captains does it take to sit on a boat waiting for winds to die down? At least three apparently. We’ve been sneaking into the hotels pool (just sitting not swimming), trying to find magazines in English, and cleaning the boat over and over. Looks like we’ll be stuck in Puerta Adventuras Mexico until Wednesday March something or other. The adventuras is very adventurous if you have moola to swim with dolphins, manatees, and Texans.

Dennis Whether Or Knot

I hope to make more progress on the summer staff hiring today and maybe place some orders for replacement items like weights.  Scuba weights are heavy and made of lead.  I don’t understand how we manage to “consume” as much as we do every year.  It’s one of those things that should last forever.  A substantial quantity seems to disappear each year.

I hope you have a good Monday.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

Uneventful – the word of the day at the Florida Sea Base yesterday.  Don’t get me wrong, there was a LOT going on and tons of fun being had.  What I meant was there were no negative events taking place.  All was well and everything was under control.  I spent the morning working on summer staff hiring and reorganizing my office, including disposing of some clothes that are now too big.  (Since November I have lost one shirt size and almost three pants sizes.)  In the afternoon, Capt. Carol Chapman and I drove vans to Key Largo to pick up one of the Sea Exploring crews that was returning for their luau and final night at the Florida Sea Base.

Overall, our weather is holding.  Starting at 22:00 (1o pm) last night the wind picked up a bit to 15 knots with a few gusts as high as 20 knots.  The guys doing the boat delivery to Belize called by satellite phone yesterday morning to report they had hit some rough weather and are holed up on the Mexican coast south of Isla  Mujeres.

Sailing program boats ending their programs yesterday included Sea Exploring vessels Calypso Gypsy and Pirates Lady, Coral Reef vessels Silent Harmony and Silver Crow, and Eco Adventure vessels Morning Dance and Island Dreamer.  The Coral Reef vessels that came in for their mid-week day were Chanticleer, Spindrift, Island Woman, Midnight Dragon, Jewel of Athena and Juan Cadiz.  About 75 participants attended last night’s luau.

The will be more mid-weekers today and some crews returning to base for the end of their program.  But it won’t be as hectic as yesterday and we are in the winding down phase for this week.  Next week we have some conferences but know program participants.

That’s all I have this morning.  Be safe.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

Here’s the weather forecast for the Florida Sea Base, courtesy of the National Weather Service:

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. East wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. East wind around 15 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Southeast wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. East wind around 10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 81.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Capt. Dennis called fairly early yesterday morning.  He and Capt. Alan had arrived in Mexico well ahead of schedule.  They will rest, take on fuel, water and provisions and continue towards Belize.

We had three Coral Reef Sailing crews enjoy their day on base yesterday doing the usual routine; small boat sailing, tubing, kayaking and volleyball.  They were aboard Misty Shoals, Excalibur. and Chanticleer.  At least three more Coral Reef crews will come in today for mid-week and two Coral Reef, one Eco Adventure and two Sea Exploring crews will be returning for the end of their program.  It will be another long, hot, active day for the sailing and galley staff members. Laura Kuras has been the mate on one of the returning Sea Exploring crews.  She is technically my Scuba Commissioner this year and it will be good to have the opportunity to put her to work on scuba related projects.  I will likely let her take the day off tomorrow and then put her to work on Saturday.

Rob Kolb is hosting a meeting at 10:00 this morning for us to discuss updates to our National Camp Standards.  This process works a little differently for National High Adventure Bases than for Council camps.  The National Council of the BSA sets standards annually for all BSA camps from Cub Scout day camps to week long resident camps.  The National High Adventure Bases use the standards as the basis for preparing their own, individual standards.  Each Base (Northern Tier, Philmont and the Florida Sea Base) writes its own standards because the programs we offer are so different from each other.  We have no horses at the Florida Sea Base so it doesn’t make any sense for use to have camp standards addressing issues involving horse care or horseback riding.  Likewise Philmont and Northern Tier don’t deal with the Coast Guard so they don’t need standards addressing those issues.  It also makes it challenging when we have our annual “visitation” to insure our compliance with those standards.  (They used to call it an annual inspection but the kinder, gentler BSA changed it to annual visitation.)  The inspectors, I mean visitors, are a mix of Professional Scouters and Volunteers who are sometimes not aware that our standards are different from council camps.  On occasion this causes minor issues that we have to explain.  At the Florida Sea Base we do n exceptional job of meeting all of the standards dealing with our programs each year.  Our goal is to offer a safe and enjoyable high adventure experience.

Summer hiring is progressing well.  If you applied for a scuba job and haven’t heard from Cheryl, please be patient.  I am wading through the applications as quickly as I can.  Well, maybe not at any record setting pace, but I’m working on it every day.  (I think I sent seven more approve applications to Cheryl yesterday for processing.)  This IS paradise and I am under doctor’s orders to not get stressed.  (Yeah, right.  No stress is why I’m up at 03:30 composing a blog entry.)

I hope you had a better night’s sleep than I had.  (This is two nights in a row.  I had broken this habit, I thought.  Stress is a killer.)

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape