Sea Base 2003

Scout Articles & Pictures

by Joe Dembowski

The Sea Base Trip was awesome! We went sailing in the Florida Keys and our final destination was in Key West.

We stayed there for two days and then headed back home and went to Islands of Adventure! This was awesome. We got to go on a lot of rides and had a great time. The Sea Base trip was one I'll never forget and I hope I'll be able to go on it again sometime.

by Michael Benjamin

My trip to Key West started at Mt. Pisgah church on Friday at 6:00 PM. That was when we started our trip to Key West. It was a 6-hour drive the first day and we got half way. We stopped and spent the night at a Motel 6. The next day we got to Sea Base. When we got there we met our counselor whose name was Brian, got acquainted, and got our rooms. We then had to do a swim test. We all passed! Then, we got our snorkel gear. We then went to the flagpole for announcements and the lowering of the colors. Then, I ate dinner! It was good, for camp food. We then went to bed with sailing adventures in our minds.

We-awoke the next day and met Brian downstairs for our snorkeling test. Again, we all passed! I then ate breakfast with my Troop. Next, we had a church service and after that we packed up and started our sailing adventure! We got to Marathon, where our boat was, and met our boat, and its Captain, his name was Chris. We then loaded our gear on the boat and set sail. That first day sailed and snorkeled and then we went to bed at 10:00 PM. The next day we docked at Behia Honda and went ashore to swim, walk the beach or-relax. At-around lunchtime I went back to the boat with Doug and our new counselor Kaya, Brian got sick and had to return to Sea Base. That night I slept on deck like I did on that trip every night. The next day, our 3rd at sea, we got to Key West. After securing everything and reloading on power and water, we went into Key West. My buddies were Jared, Bruce, and Boris. That first day in Key West we went into some stores and Jared, and Bruce bought some stuff, I just looked around for good prices and quality. We then returned to the boat for curfew, and sleep. The next day we headed back into Key West and I bought some stuff. I bough a t-shirt, sunglasses, and a buy one get-one free-necklace.- For lunch we ate at Burger King and I got a Double Bacon Cheeseburger. When we left we walked around some more, and visited the shops until the Troop ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I had some good food! After that we went to the boardwalk for a nightly festival. We saw a performer named Rondini, and he was awesome! -After-That-we-walked around some more and then went back to the boardwalk to see a concert. I loved the rock and roll! After that we went back to the boat and went to sleep. In the morning we ate breakfast and left Key West. We had some great wind and our boat clocked in at 6.4 knots! We got to the Marathon outskirts that day. Once we ate dinner we went to bed. In the morning we-ate breakfast and then cleaned the boat. Once that was finished we landed at Marathon Harbor, unloaded our gear, thanked the boat crew, -and-headed back to Sea-Base. When we got there we put all our gear in their original vehicles and left for Orlando. Six hours later we got to a Motel six and slept the night. In the morning we left for Islands of Adventure! Once we got there my group and I rode all the rides, we even got to ride in the front seat once! We then had lunch and I had a2-1/2 pound hotdog. It was very good! After that we rode some more rides and then had dinner. When it was time to go, we went to the entrance and left with our entire group. That night we stayed at another Motel 6. In the morning we finally started are journey home! After 6 long hours we arrived at Mt Pisgah church. Once my mother arrived I went home to wash 9 days of un-bathed skin! I will never forget my experiences at Sea Base.

by Alex Sevy

Sea Base was a very fun trip. We started on Friday and left Mt. Pisgah at 6:00. The car ride was kind of boring, but playing game boy, listening to cds, and talking to friends took up most of the time. When we got to Sea Base, we stayed there for one night and learned about what we should and shouldn't do on the boat and the history of Sea Base. We finally left for the boat after one night at Sea Base. Everyone was still getting their sea legs on the first day, so it was very lazy and lethargic. We went snorkeling after about an hour on the boat, and it was very interesting. We saw lots of cool underwater animals. We stopped at Bahia Honda the next day for a couple of hours. Everyone had a pretty good time there. On Tuesday night we arrived at Key West. We explored Key West a little bit Tuesday night and spent all day there on Wednesday. I'm sure everyone had a great time in Key West; it was a very fun city. On Thursday we set sail for the mainland. The wind was too strong to go snorkeling and we sailed all the way back and didn't use the motor at all. On Friday morning at about 11 we got off the boat and drove back to Sea Base. We took a quick shower to wash off some of the salt, changed into our uniform, started driving back to Atlanta. We spent Saturday at Islands of Adventure which was very fun. We had a great time on all the roller coasters and other rides. On Sunday we completed our drive back to Alpharetta and got to Mt. Pisgah at 4. I would definitely recommend Sea Base to someone who hadn't gone yet, and I would definitely consider going again myself.

by Greg Yakrus

Sea Base was the best Boy Scout trip I have ever taken part in. The trip was filled with unforgettable memories and beautiful scenery. The sea water in the Florida Keys was a transparent blue. Sailing on a 105 foot schooner is not something that I get to do very often, and it made the Sea Base trip even more special to me. It started at 5:30 on a Friday afternoon, with all of the excited scouts dressed in their travel clothes and loading into the car. After many hours of driving, occasionally stopping for gas and food, we got to the Boy Scout Sea Base in Florida. After taking the swim test and eating, we hang out at the Base for a couple of hours. Then, we laid down for a long sleep to counter that long car ride. We woke up that next morning and met outside to try on snorkeling gear. We rummaged through all of the flippers, goggles, and snorkels trying to find the right size. After everyone was fitted correctly, we swam through a brief snorkel gear test, and then loaded all of our gear onto the trailers. Once everything was loaded, we drove twenty minutes to the port which held our schooner in Key Largo. The ship was quite a surprising sight. Not only because of its massive size and tall mast, but because of its resemblance of a pirate ship. It even had a side cannon! ( which we fired multiple times.) After we loaded all of the food and gear onto the boat, we untied it, and we were on our way to our first snorkeling sight. We reached the sight right at lunch time, so we ate, and dove into the reef. It was a beautiful sight underwater, with all of the fish and coral. There was much excitement in the water when a barracuda was spotted lurking around the boat. Everyone enjoyed it, except maybe for those who had sea sickness. After that refreshing underwater exploration, we took off again and learned how to raise and lower sails. A lot of team effort is needed in order to raise the ships sails. We found out quickly that when multiple people are raising the sails at once, it is a whole lot easier than when one person tries to. The hard work raising the sails pays off after the sails catch wind and you start traveling twice the original speed with the motor. There were other periods of deep sea fishing, diving, and climbing on the mast on our way to Key West. We also anchored at a Florida State Park where we enjoyed some good scenery. But, in my opinion, Key West was the best place we went to in the whole trip. The streets were lined with stores and it is such a great environment. There are countless places to visit and numerous places to eat. Souvenir shops are scattered all over the island to help keep your visit in memory. The sail back was very fast, because there was a lot of wind blowing in the right direction. We got back to the base hours before the scheduled time, so we could take off early for Islands of Adventure! Islands of Adventure is a great park to relax in, and ride some of your favorite rides. It is perfect after a long trip like Sea Base. After the park, it is a fun drive back home. Sea Base was the best scout trip I have been on, and if I had another chance, I would diffidently go on it again.

by Kevin Smith

Sea Base was awesome! Blue skies and nothing but clear ocean water. Staring in Marathon we sailed to Key West. We stopped to snorkel; and swim almost every night. We slept on the boat and walked around Key West for a day. In Key West we walked around freely and bought souvenirs and took in the sights. The temperatures were great, never getting over 90. We had to raise the sails and cook our own food. We were true sailors. After that we caught good wind and sailed from Key West all the way back to Marathon in one day! On our way back we stopped by Islands of Adventure for another day of non stop fun!

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