Florida Sea Base News

Final approval of the Kayaking Merit Badge was granted on Tuesday.  The text and photos for the merit badge pamphlet have been delivered to Media Studios for publication.  The Kayaking Merit Badge should be released prior to summer camp.  The Kayaking BSA Award will remain in place as an introductory experience.  Florida Sea Base participants in the Coral Reef Sailing and Eco-Adventure programs and Brinton Environmental Center participants in the Out-Island Adventure will continue to be eligible for the Kayaking BSA Award.  Since Florida Sea Base and BEC seasonal staff members are not approved merit badge counselors, they will be able to attest that certain elements of the Kayaking Merit Badge have been accomplished but cannot sign off on the merit badge card.

Tripoli, Libya has been in the news quite a bit in the past year.  I made my first dive in the Mediterranean Sea from a Tripoli beach in 1961 at the age of 9.  I spent a lot of my childhood exploring my little pieces of the “Med” and Sahara Desert.  Libya, hot, desert, Mediterranean – the memories are burned into my brain.  Monday, Tripoli received two to three inches of SNOW.  What?  There was never any snow when I lived there.  But here’s the photo, courtesy of Weather Underground.

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We really need to change the phrase “Global Warming” to “Global Freezing”.

I spent part of yesterday and hope to complete the first phase of my PADI Course Director Training Course application today.  (It may take part of Wednesday to polish.)

It looks like the base received more rain today.  A high chance of rain remains in the forecast through Saturday.  It rained a lot the last time I was away from the base for a while.

I hope the weather is decent in your part of the world.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Staying dry but a little chilly

The February 2012 meeting of the BSA Aquatics Task Force was held In the Mr. and Mrs. Harold L. Yoh, Jr. room at the BSA National Museum in Irving (Las Colinas), Texas.  Yoh maybe a familiar name to some of you.  Harold, better known as Spike, Yoh is a past chairperson of the Florida Sea Base Advisory Committee.  Spike Yoh and sons remain active with the Florida Sea Base Advisory Committee and the Florida Sea Base Annual Invitational Tarpon Tournament.  The Tarpon Tournament is the only annual fund raising campaign of the Florida Sea Base.

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As always, we had a very productive meeting.  Here are some highlights.  In 2011, the BSA had 22 total fatalities including 4 drownings and 1 boating incident.  (None of these occurred at the Florida Sea Base.)  Several of the “prohibited activities” are under review.  Joe Glasscock, the BSA professional assigned to the Aquatics Task Force has been promoted toWestern Region Outdoor Program Director.  Steve Terrell of the Aquatics Task Force is very close to completing “Recommended Guidelines for Inflatable/Floatable Play Structures” which will include Blobs.  Canoeing Merit Badge has been revised and will be re-released soon.  A Kayaking Merit Badge is likely to appear VERY soon.  Richard Thomas has been the lead on this project.  The pamphlet is written but has not been printed pending final approval.  We hope to get approval later this week.  Progress for the 2013 National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve is moving forward, but maybe not as quickly or smoothly as anticipated.

Much more was accomplished, but those were the highlights.  This morning I am on my way to the Health and Safety Committee meeting.  I will let you know if there is anything to report.

Yesterday Key West received 4″ of rain, the wettest February day on record.  This was a result of Invest 90, a subtropical system.  This type of system has only occurred once before.  Unlike in the summer time, this system is not expected to develop into a tropical wave.

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Have a great day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Trying to stay warm in the Mother Country

The ugly weather is moving away from the Florida Sea Base with better days ahead.  Hurricane season does not officially end until the end of November and I don’t want to jinx it, but we have been very fortunate so far this year.

The rains have also eased up in Texas.  The state still remains in a severe to extreme drought status, but the rain was very welcome.  Category 3 Hurricane Jova is approaching the Pacific side of Mexico and may bring a little more rain to some portions of Texas.

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The BSA Aquatics Task Force meetings went well.  Other meetings are underway this morning but I am not invited to any of those.  Hopefully the BSA Health and Safety Committee will approve my request to re-write the scuba/diabetes policy within the Guide to Safe Scouting to correspond with the policy given on the Annual BSA Health and Medical Form, Part D.  Our Task Force is also proposing requirements for a Kayaking Merit Badge.  This is still a long way from fruition and we have been working on it for at least two years.  I use the term “we” very loosely.  Aquatics Task Force member Richard Thomas has formed an advisory group and “they” have been working very hard on this project.  Some minor adjustments to National Camp School Section V will be made for 2012 with major revisions proposed for 2013.

Today I will work on Divemaster Academy and Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer projects from home.  I hope you have a great day.

Capt.Steve Willis
From the Mother Country

I was occupied with administrative issues most of the day and didn’t get out on the boat.  I was able to take several photos today.  I’m going to post seven of the photos and let them and their captions kind of speak for the day.  I forgot to take a picture of the crews playing volleyball.  I’ll try to remember tomorrow.  Please click READ MORE to see the photos.