Thursday, July 30, 2009

Ahhhrrrgg! Florida Sea Base National High Adventure

Ahoy Mates! My oldest son and I just returned from a trip to the Boy Scout Florida Sea Base National High Adventure Camp, Islamorada, on Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys. The word adventure only begins to describe what fun we had on the open seas. Captain Jim of the Midnight Dragon was an exceptional host and taught our crew to sail, snorkel, and fish, while sharing his knowledge of the history and splendor of the keys. The staff at Sea Base was top notch and treated the boys like royalty.

Our crew of 9 spent many wonderful days cruising the reefs, reading books, sharing in conversation and enjoying beautiful sunsets. What really made the week special for me is that 4 of our 5 scouts have known each other since they were wee little cubs and our newest member "Action Jackson" fit right in. All the boys did great and earned their Adventure patch, snorkeling patch and the Captain's Crew patch. We also managed to win an award for the largest edible catch of the week, a Mutton Snapper, shown below.


A scout is clean, and so we were upon arrival. It was all down hill from there! Left to right; Ben, Harrison, Dan, Jackson, Matt, Danny, Bill, D.C. (picture courtesy of Sea Base)


Off the coast of Key Largo.


Hard to beat Florida Sunsets.


An awesome crew toughing it out in the first of about 5 storms. Well done boys.


Although the Captain credited me with landing our fish, everyone had a hand in reeling in Mr. Mutton. He was rather stuborn. The Captain filleted and seasoned our fish. The boys grilled him up. Mmmm good.

I've said it before, "I love Scouting and all the opportunities it creates for our young men....and seasoned Dads like myself." I am working on many more photos and will post them in the coming days. Enjoy.

2 comments:

  1. Many,many thanks from the Bowie family!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks from Matt and Harry Brockwell for all the hard work from both Dan and Bill Wagner to make this happen. We had a great time not soon to be forgotten.

    ReplyDelete