Florida Sea Base News

I hope you had a great weekend.  Here we are; its Monday again!  It is “the first day” for hundreds of participants at the Florida Sea Base.  We are that point of the season that the staff is getting a little worn and they can see the light and the end of the tunnel and most are ready to go home.  But program is king and they will do everything possible to insure today’s crews and the rest of the 2012 crews get the same experience as the first crews of the season.

Some of you are going to grumble, but I am only the messenger.  With that said, if you have any comments, grips, or concerns, please click on the comment button and send those directly to me, or email me at Steve.Willis@scouting.org or call my cell phone, 305-393-7373 with your concerns.  Please DO NOT call the Florida Sea Base administrative office.  I am in the doghouse for causing one of the occupants of that office “extra work” by having to answer questions raised by this post.  Please contact me.  Then if I can’t explain satisfactorily I will be happy to pass you up the chain.

Back to the potential grumbling.  All units (we call them “crews”) attending the Florida Sea Base in 2013 and forever more will have to have at least one adult leader with a current certification in Wilderness First Aid.  I know, I feel your pain.  While discussing this with management from Northern Tier and Philmont Scout Ranch we received the following comments:

We are not having any serious issues and have been requiring WFA for the past two years. Also the BSA has done an exceptional job providing this training several times a year in local councils. A leader might have to go to a neighboring council but they can get certified.  On a side note WFA for at least one crew advisor has really improved Northern Tiers management of accidents and illnesses in our backyard of 3 million acres of wilderness. I would think that it would also be a great benefit to Sea Base.

Kevin’s comments are right on. This is the fourth summer Philmont has required it, and the result has been a 15% drop in our Health Lodge cases.   We do offer WFA courses in the fall and spring (the national office does through PTC). Also, make sure the Scouters are checking with Red Cross for WFA not WFR (Wilderness First Responder) courses. There is a big difference between the two.

The comment about WFA versus WFR is very important.  The Wilderness First Aid course is usually a 16 hour course.  It is educationally valid for all three National High Adventure Bases.  Getting a sick or injured person to professional medical care in the Florida Keys in less than two hours is rare, VERY rare.  If an incident happens on Sea Base property we are blessed to have a Fire/EMS station about two blocks away.  If it happens on the reef it will take HOURS to get professional medical attention. Delayed professional care is the premise for WFA training.  The Florida Sea Base is looking into offering WFA courses, but that will NOT happen in 2012.  The first aid responsibility falls on the adult leadership because the captain of the vessel is very busy during a serious marine event with legally mandated Coast Guard notifications and trying to make arrangements to get to the nearest harbor our arrange a rendezvous.

If you are bringing a Troop or Crew to any of the National High Adventure facilities operated by the Boy Scouts of America, your group must have at one WFA certified adult per trek or adventure.  It is a done deal.  PLEASE don’t disappoint the kids by trying to sneak by without this required training.  I will get further clarification, but I feel certain that, for the Florida Sea Base, it you are bringing a multiple crew (like 2 Coral Reef Sailing crews or one Sea Exploring crew and one Scuba Adventure crew) you will need one WFA certified adult PER CREW.  That is because the crews will be on different vessels.  This decision was made at BSA Headquarters.  There is no one at the Florida Sea Base who is authorized to grant exceptions.  If you want to complain to someone, please contact me.  As I said, I will pass your complaint upstream or give you directions on who to contact next.

I weather news, TD7 had dissipated for now (but may regenerate) and Invest 93L is turning away.

Click to enlarge.

Captain Dennis Wyatt is sorely missed.  Much more than just a dive boat captain, Captain Dennis is a friend.  I miss joking around with him and us sharing stories that Ellen dreaded hearing.  It’s hard being left behind.  Anyway, Captain Dennis sent the following comment yesterday:

I wrote lyrics to a country song I want to share with your readers:

I’m Fixing to Fix This Broken Love

She said, “Adam, I’m leaving if you don’t leave.”
“I’m fixing to fix our broken love, Eve”
I need a screw driver to ease the pain
I’ll screw that lawyer who drove us insane.

She said, “I need more. Got to change our song. ”
“I’m fixing to fix everything that’s wrong”
Got me a hammer and a saw from Home Depot
I’m busting a gut stopping this marriage repo.

She said, “You know the drill. Get on out.”
“But I’m fixing to fix our loving drought.”
I know I can nail it tonight.
Please don’t give me no red light.

We said, “We’re fixing. And loving. Ain’t life sweet?”

Captain Dennis is a bone fide, card carry member of MENSA who apparently is struggling with retirement.  Does Ellen know you’re writing songs about Home Depot?  [Inside joke.]  They way you worked in all of the tools is extremely clever.  I’m looking forward to you performing the song on the saw (Captain Dennis plays the saw) and singing this fine tune for me.  Or get Ellen to record it on her iPhone and upload it to YouTube and we can share it with everyone!  Move over Zac Brown.

I do not have ANYTHING to compete with Captain Dennis.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
PADI CD #39713
Aboard S/V Escape 

The Florida Sea Base will be honored today by the arrival of Capt. Dennis Wyatt and Dr. Ellen Stites-Wyatt.  They are two of my favorite people in the whole world.  Visiting with them will be a treat.  They are also going to be working at the Florida Sea Base this winter.  It will be their first Christmas with us.

I received a commitment Tuesday from a scuba shop owner in Pennsylvania who is going to purchase all of our remaining used scuba gear which includes 147 tanks, 29 regulators and 45 BCDs.  We will resume the sale of used scuba equipment in August 2011.  For now, we are officially sold out.  Laura Kuras’ primary mission now shifts from sales to overhauling the regulators that we will keep for another year.  She has approximately 83 regulators to service.

Haiti has been hammered by rain from a low pressure system in the Caribbean.  The system will not become “tropical” and will head out into the open Atlantic after passing Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands as a rain event.  Our weather is stuck in a GREAT rut; clear skies, mild winds, calm seas, warm afternoons and enough UV to tan but not instantly burn to a crisp.  We should start warming up next week as the high pressure system moves away.  We were hoping that the 2010 hurricane season was over – any MAYBE it is.  However, two of the computer models are predicting a strong tropical disturbance will form in the southern Caribbean off the coast of Colombia 6 – 7 days from now, and move west-northwest towards Nicaragua.  Stay tuned!

Yesterday’s edition of a local Keys newspaper, The Reporter, had a photo and article from our Saturday regatta on the front page.  Unfortunately, they did not make the on-line version of the publication so I couldn’t steal the photo or provide a link to the article.

Have a good day.  For the Divemaster candidates, study, study, study and swim, swim, swim.  You will be put to the test very soon.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

2005 was a harsh year of hurricanes for the Florida Sea Base.  Hurricane Wilma was the worst.  The good news was program was over and all of the participants were gone before Wilma came to visit.

First was Hurricane Dennis in the first week of July.  We were forced to evacuate participants and close the base, but received minimal impact.

Then in late August it was Hurricane Katrina.  Thank goodness Katrina was a minimal hurricane when she passed right over the Florida Sea Base.  Katrina started in the Bahamas and was forecast to cross the Florida mainland near Miami and continue west into the Gulf.  Instead, she made landfall in Miami and then made a 90 degree turn south, straight for the Florida Sea Base.  We were hunkered down for tropical storm conditions but got our tails kicked as Katrina’s eye moved over the Florida Sea Base around 05:30.  Katrina then turned west again and decimated the city of New Orleans.

In September, one day before my birthday Hurricane Rita slid south of Key West as a Category 2 hurricane.  The Brinton Environmental Center was hit worse than the Florida Sea Base.  The kids were gone for the year and the physical damage was minimal.  Hurricane Rita made landfall on the Texas / Louisiana border causing significant damage at my parent’s house and leaving their community without electricity for 6 weeks.

Then on 24 October 2005 Wilma came knocking.  She passed the Florida Keys as a Category 3 system.  We had 3 to 5 feet of storm surge at the Florida Sea Base.  Click on “READ MORE” to see just a few photos from Hurricane Wilma.

It’s very breezy here again today, and forecasted to remain so for the rest of the week.  T/S Richard should become Hurricane Richard sometime today.  Tuesday evening he should be in the far western Gulf of Mexico over Campeche Bank.

Enjoy the photos of Hurricane Wilma.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

The world famous Capt. James Dennis Wyatt (author of The Bald Man in the Sea) is back with us at the Florida Sea Base.  Ellen (his wife and my office Manager) and I are both super happy to see him.  Ellen and Dennis crack me up.  They are a wonderful couple and a great comedy team.  Capt. Dennis helped me with two chores this morning.  We treated the bimini on S/V Escape with a waterproofing solution and we cleaned, prepped and painted the starter.  I hope to reinstall the starter tomorrow.  It is going to be a serious challenge.

Capt. Alex Bergstedt completed Open Water Training Dives 1, 2, and 3 with staff members Dom, Sarah and Judy today.  Capt. Rich drove the boat and Meghann was the mate.  Several of the other staff members went along for the ride.

The base was busy this morning with a Joshua Expedition crew departing (breakfast was at 0700) and a new Joshua group arriving before dinner.

Cheryl and Rick Kuras changed oil and did some other maintenance work on the Florida Sea Base vans today.  As I mentioned yesterday, they are great folks.

A new staff clothes dryer was installed today by Ranger Joe Schreiner.  Capt. Martin Ivy was the first to get to test it out.  We have two washers and two dryers for the staff to use.  They get used VERY heavily.  During the summer, we will have over 80 staff members using these machines for twelve weeks.  They break down frequently and get worn out quickly.  There are a lot of dirty clothes in a subtropical environment in the summer.

Yesterday I told you about a new Coral Reef Mate joining the staff, Henry Watson.  I was not aware that a second Coral Reef Mate John (I’m having a brain fart and can’t remember his last name) from Houston, Texas also arrived.  Anyway, welcome aboard John and Henry.  Oh yeah, Zotti. Mike Zotti.  Sorry for the temporary lapse Mike.

Coral Reef Sailing Captain Brian Stolzenberger (S/V Misty Shoals) arrived at the Florida Sea Base at about 20:00 this evening.  More news tomorrow.