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Why we need more Sea Scout Ships


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Eamonn said:

"I've had Sea Scouts join the Ship from this large district and it's not unusual for kids to be on the bus for two hours each way!

That makes for a very long day!! "

 

This is exactly why we need more Sea Scout Ships. Where I currently live the closest ship is 28 miles away. 35-50 minute drive, and 2 1/2 hours on the bus. All the other ships are somewhere between 40min - 1 1/2 drive away. I live within 10 miles of 4 marinas and at least a half dozen yacht clubs.

 

Where I was living last year it took 40 minutes minimum to reach any ship. That was mostly freeway driving.

 

I really don't get it. The program is a lot of fun, and can be run pretty inexpensively if you try.

 

My title say it all, we need more ships. If people are willing to travel 2+ hours one way (and not just crazy people like me) for a ship there must be something good going on there.

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I am surprised that there are not more along the seacoast area, Great Lakes or Large lakes. I have heard that you can have them in-land on our rinky-dink little lakes and use canoes & kayaks then plan trips for a larger body of water, but that's when it kinda gets a little fuzzy for me if it would work..

 

Is it the expense of maintaining a ship that is used by sea scouts? Or the fear of sea scouts damaging someones ship?

 

Maybe it is the social class structure at play. I am told Boy Scouts is basically popular with the middle class. Yet most who have ships are from the slightly higher then middle class, if not upper class.. They may be more into the yacht clubs, that probably have stuff for the younger generation.

 

I have no clue, we don't have any in our district, but do have a few in the council.. But I have no clue why they aren't that popular.(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

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Two words: adult volunteers.

 

Just like my three word answer for why there aren't more venturing crews: female adult leaders.

 

There is a difference between "pretty inexpensively" and "inexpensively". And that difference boils down to time away from that second job everyone takes on to make ends meet.

 

For example, let's try an experiment based on TT's comment: My older son has expressed an interest in Sea Scouts but frankly I wouldn't know where to look...

 

OK TT. How about the mirror?

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The problem lurks in your friendly local council office, among other places, where Sea Scouting is regarded as very nice and all that, but not much of a contribution to membership or money.

 

Professionals, sadly, don't get enthused. It's difficult to recruit kids in the age group and involves a lot more work than school nights.

 

There is no particular problem that I'm aware of, other than the cost of the program at the unit level. All financial problems can be solved, but takes work and skill on the part of the adults as well as the youth.

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This is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, why Sea Scouts is not as widespread as it should be.

 

1) National has neglected the program for a long time. Let's face it, how many know that Sea Scouts is the second oldest program in the BSA, founded in 1912 here, and in the world (UK in 1909)? Best example of that was the BSA float in the Centennial Parade that had every current BSA emblem EXCEPT the First Class Anchor? Only the hard work of dedicated volunteers have kept the program alive.

 

1a)Lack of support on the local council level. If national is not supporting the program, why should the council? Also I can tell you Sea Scouts was only mentioned at one session when I went through PDL-1, and that was when they were introducing the Venturing program and mentioned that there is a Sea Scout Bronze award, which in a later conversation with the then nat. vent. dir. said could be retroactively awarded to those who earned Ordinary already. I kid you not, I attended a council level meeting wearing my Sea Scout khakis, and the SE asked me what I was wearing!

 

2) Expense. You need a lot more equipment, and more expensive too, to operate a ship than a pack, troop, team, or crew. Also got to figure in insurance too.

 

3) Training. Let's face it, in order to start a ship, you will not only need BSA training, but also seamanship training if you don't already have it.

 

 

I probably left out other stuff, but that is off the top of my head at the moment.

 

 

 

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In addition to the expense, there is a lot of time involved. Maintaining a boat (or boats) is not an easy task.

 

The two happiest days in a man's life: the day he buys his boat, and the day he sells it.

 

Boating is like standing fully clothed in a cold shower tearing up hundred dollar bills.

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pj

 

I have to agree with what the others have said here, sea scouts is an extremely expensive enterprise as well as very time consuming. In my council we once had six sea scout ships now we have one and it is barely holding on. Since our crew does do a lot of sailing and kayaking many of the former sea scouts have joined our crew.

 

Without a sponsor who can help financially supporting the ship most sea scout ships (motorized not sail)are going under in these tough economic times. Too bad since Sea Scouts has such a rich history and is a great program. I don't think you will see a big growth in sea scouts anytime soon.

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We have a great program based in Newport Beach, CA thanks to a city that rents us waterfront space for pennies and generous donors that have made a great Seabase. I would hate to see what it would take to get a slip without that support.

 

If I had to create a program, I would try to find a yacht club willing to sponsor and provide space and advice, and build from there.

 

I agree on the issue with Council. Our ships are pretty small, yet already have too many Scouts (not always room on the Ship for a cruise). When Council staff is paid for new units (not going to happen unless you can find another slip!) or growth (limited due to capacity, plus the issues around available interested Scouts), you can find some problems. After that is the usual conflict with Scoutmasters worried about losing Scouts.

 

I PUSH my older Scouts to give Sea Scouts a try (and I also have a Crew). However, there are plenty of Scoutmasters who don't want their older Scouts to get lured by the sea.

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@Tampa --

 

Your Council has several ships and runs one of the largest events in the area each spring!

 

You should check on BeAScout.org - or just check with your DE.

 

In fact there is a Regatta out your way in early November:

http://www.wcfcbsa.org/registration/calendardetail.asp?orgkey=772&ActivityKey=1039684

 

I'd like to be there, but I have already purchased a ticket to attend TEDxOrlando on Saturday.(This message has been edited by UCEagle72)

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So a big thing people have mentioned is the expense. I am here to tell you that Sea Scout Ships can be run so cheaply that they don't even need a ship bank account.

 

I was part of a ship for a few months last year that did that.

 

We had three small boats that we used at least three times a month, we went diving at least once a month, and every so often we would help someone who wanted their boat moved.

 

We attended all the regattas in the state (That cats point regatta was a blast), and most of the time we were in the top 3.

 

We were actively doing something 3 weekends out of every month, and it was all youth planned and run. The only time our skipper ever told us we couldn't do something was two days before a dive when the waves were perfect for surfing (makes a shore entry hard). So we went sailing instead.

 

The big difference I saw between that ship and others I have been a part of was the amount of adult participation. We had enough adults that no one person was required to go to everything we did.

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Sea Scouting can be done with a yacht or with a homemade log raft. I daresay some Scouts would prefer the challenge of the latter.

 

It's entirely possible to run a Ship without owning any equipment or boats at all. Just plan ahead and rent canoes, kayaks, rowboats, sailboats or stand-up paddleboards from your local council camp, at the state park, or from an outfitter.

 

The Ship in my area attracts boys from all over the district, up to an hour away. They're not a clique of upper-middle-class kids out for a lark.

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OGE, There are two answers to that question. What the manual says, and what actually happens.

 

According to the manual we have three for the youth, and three for the adults.

 

Dress Whites (Youth/Adult)

Dress Blues (Youth/Adult)

Work Uniform (Youth/Adult)

 

Most ships make a ship t-shirt, and either use one of the above three for a dress uniform, or they make their own dress uniform.

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