69RoadRunner

The scouter who signed us up is no longer with our troop. I don't believe he even checked with anyone, he just assumed we'd want that one, so I don't know what the lottery situation was like. While it increases the cost per person, I still recommend going with the least amount of people you can or pray for perfect weather. It gets hot, cramped and stinky down below.

Yeah, I like the larger schooners better than the smaller ones. Still, 24 people, including crew, made it very crowded.

I slapped together a bunch of my videos from our trip. https://youtu.be/c-w_B88aNQg

Another piece of advice, bring earplugs. In the dorms, if your group doesn't have a snorer, you might be with another group with someone sawing wood. It can also benefit on the boat. Make sure your water bottle has a wide mouth opening. The water at Sea Base is warm, but they have an ice dispenser. Water bottles hang along the siderails of the boat, so this is why you need a carabiner and the bottle needs to be plastic to avoid loud clanking.

I think you need to start by going through the established channels. If they sweep it under the rug, then go higher. Bypassing the established channels could do more harm than good.

Thank goodness Irma didn't destroy Sea Base for us this summer. Rough time for BSA High Adventure.

Yes, all the advice here was invaluable. Thank you. Unlike the chickens of Key West, our scouts were not free range. Between the number of 13 year olds, 2 kids with Autism, and one scout whose behavior was awful this week, we were with them at all times. We allowed 2 very responsible 18 year old Eagles on the crew some free time. I'd be more concerned with a place like San Francisco with its defecation and hypodermics on the sidewalks. Sending us adults to Key West with the rule of no drinking is like training a dog not to eat the biscuit on his nose, but that's the rule. We abided the rule. This was our first high adventure trip since I joined 4 years ago. Philmont is booked next year. We'll survey the scouts to see if they want the triple crown in NT for 2020, return to Sea Base or something else. While older scouts are more willing to shower, the ones who fail to do so are more pungent than the younger ones. We didn't bring tarps. That might have been a better option and stay on top, even if you don't sleep. Really, if it rains at night, there's zero chance I'm sleeping, but I'd rather be cool and B.O. free and not sleeping than down in what was basically a well used gym sock down below.

We just got back from Sea Base and our Sea Exploring adventure. I'll probably add to this as my memory allows. This adventure is sailing on a large sailboat with 18-20 of your troop's crew plus 4 more (2 captains and 2 mates). This is the first problem. 18-20 plus 4 is too many. It might be fine if the weather is perfect, but we had rain at least part of every night. That many people cramped down below creates a heat and smell that makes things not joyful, at least for adults. Younger scouts seem to sleep in any condition. Sixteen is would be a better max. We maxed out our vessel's legal capacity. We flew to Fort Lauderdale and had two 12 passenger vans reserved. Like the Seinfeld episode, Thrifty took our reservation, but did not hold it. They only had 1 van. We waited for over an hour and asked if they had any 8 passenger vehicles. They had an Expedition, so we were off. Sea Base wants you to have your own vehicles in case there's an evacuation. You're most likely screwed if you book transportation and have to evacuate. We arrived at 2:30 thanks to Thrifty and were rushed into the swim review, which was really a snorkel review. The crew learned the basics of snorkeling, including jumping off the pier. We were set up in one of the dorms and the a/c was broken. It was repaired in time for sleeping. We mostly brought sleeping bag liners since it's hot on the boat. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for the cranked a/c that night. It was a little chilly. Perhaps bring a fleece blanket instead. On the ship, there was 1 night on deck where it was cool enough with the breeze that many of us used our sleeping bag liners. All other times people used nothing. Our Captain of the Gran Nellie was sort of a drill sergeant. This got the scouts moving. His expectations for a crew with this many 13 year olds plus 2 with Autism was a bit higher than ideal, but we made it work. Twig arms of some of the young scouts struggled hoisting sails and retrieving anchors. They did it, but not fast. By the end of the week, they were getting good at it. The first 1.5 days, several, myself included, were seasick due to the swells being rough. I did have prescription motion sickness medication. I was fine the rest of the week, which was mostly smooth with 1 day of rougher swells. Snorkeling the reefs and wrecks was the best part! I brought a full face snorkel mask. It has a GoPro attachment. This was not ideal. I couldn't see if my FauxPro (GoPro knockoff) had timed out or was recording. A better option is a wrist attachment. Also, get a red lens filter case. The food supplied was pretty good. They're smart and supply pre-cooked chicken, burgers, etc. We caught a big Mahi and Lexie, one of our mates, taught the scouts to fillet and cook it. Good stuff. We had some ceviche, too. When there's lightning within 5 miles, you need rubber soled sandals or shoes. Our captain did not care if you wore sandals, some do. This was good for me as I got a painful splinter and had to perform surgery with tweezers. My foot was sore for 2 days and the sandals provided some pressure relief. I wore a competitive style swimsuit under my boxer style swimsuit. This reduced chafing. Consider it. Our day in Key West was fun. We toured the town, Fort Zachary Taylor and the Butterfly Museum (more interesting than it sounds). We ate at Caroline's which has good food and, for Key West, reasonable prices. Best Key Lime pie is at the Key Lime Pie Factory. Street performers in Mallory Square around sunset are interesting. We enjoyed it. We were told some troop demanded that they not have a day in Key West (taking away a day off from the crew) because they didn't want their snowflakes exposed to evils of Key West. Really, the only questionable things I saw were some of the t-shirts in the shops and the smell of some of our scouts who must have avoided the water from the shower head. We returned to Sea Base for our luau. By Boy Scout camp standards, it was decent. That night, the a/c was not as cold as the first (we were in the San Francisco dorm both times) and my sleeping bag liner was perfect. After the 8am breakfast, we drove back to Ft. Lauderdale airport to find our flight delayed 3 hours. We ate there and just chilled in the gate area. This is all on little sleep, so if it makes no sense, at least I have an excuse.

I FINALLY found my answer. https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss02/ Life Jackets Properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard–approved life jackets must be worn by all persons engaged in boating activity (rowing, canoeing, sailing, boardsailing, motorboating, waterskiing, rafting, tubing, and kayaking). Type III life jackets are recommended for general recreational use. For vessels over 20 feet in length, life jackets need not be worn when participants are below deck or on deck when the qualified supervisor aboard the vessel determines that it is prudent to abide by less-restrictive state and federal regulations concerning the use and storage of life jackets, for example, when a cruising vessel with safety rails is at anchor. All participants not classified as swimmers must wear a life jacket when on deck underway. Life jackets need not be worn when an activity falls under Safe Swim Defense guidelines—for example, when an inflated raft is used in a pool or when snorkeling from an anchored craft.

I know little about Sea Scouts and nothing of their rules. My limited experience on boats was that we had to have life jackets, but they were not required to be worn. Boy Scouts, of course, adds their own rules on top of everything.

We've noticed in videos of crews sailing on Sea Base adventures that they crew members are not wearing life jackets. A member of our crew is in Sea Scouts and says they always have to wear them. Does anyone know why the crew does not have to wear them?

Yeah, I think I'm going to make a form listing the meds in the First Aid kit and they can check the ones they approve and sign it. Aspirin I think is more of an issue for younger kids, but I won't have it in the kit. The BSA medication guideline PDF says that parents can approve scouts self-medicating, too. Since we're going to Sea Base, I told parents to discuss motion sickness medication with the scout's pediatrician. I'd rather the pediatrician be the one to give the advice. We're not doing SCUBA diving, so they're not limited Bonine. I haven't figured out why vinegar is required in the Sea Base specific First Aid kit.

In our First Aid kit we have Imodium, Benadryl (oral and topical), Bonine, Ibuprofen, Aloe gel and Neosporin. Should we make parents put these items on the medical form and say dosage as directed on the packaging? Bonine is for Sea Base.

We'll make sure to have a watch up all night to make sure nobody sleepwalks into the sea due to an unfamiliar sleeping pad.

As for the sleeping bags, we have to fly there. Some of these scouts have very large, car camping sleeping bags. I REALLY don't want everyone checking a bag when they can take everything in a carry-on. We fly on the day our trek starts. Lost luggage would be a nightmare. So, I don't want them taking gear that has to be checked. Those cheap fleece sleep sacks seem to be the answer. Thanks!

When you're on the boat, are you required to be barefoot? I believe I read that captains don't allow sandals or water shoes. Those are just for on-shore at base and our day in Key West. I'm recommending the Wal Mart fleece sleep sacks and not allowing sleeping bags since it will be too hot for those. Is this a good idea?

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV (or the internet), but I'm assuming the court order only applies to the 2 parents. I can't imagine it's enforceable on the camp. It can be used to say the mother is not authorized to pick up the child. It's a little more questionable if the mother can be there during camp. This might have to be resolved by going back to court if the mother is in violation of the court order.

This is a mistake. Never yield to political rage mobs. They are never satisfied until you are destroyed.

This is like Otter's speech in Animal House defending the Deltas.

Will do. We just got back from summer camp.

That password is, "Two of them haven't showered all week!"

Earplugs. Baby wipes. Apparently a margarita machine is frowned upon.

That's not the norm at the camp we've been attending for years. We go next week. Whoever thought that a group that I'm guessing was 99% boys would dance clearly knows nothing about boys. Remembering that you're dealing with volunteers or poorly paid staff, give your feedback to the people in charge at the camp. Be constructive. I'd pick a different camp next year.

Wagons are a gateway drug to go-karts.

The Cubmaster should know the facts of the situation. As others mentioned above, there are BSA rules that apply. I'm sorry it creates a difficult situation, but it's not fair to the leader in charge at camp not to know the situation. I hope he has a great time at camp!