Eight of Troop 168's older Scouts traveled several hundred miles this July to attend The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base on Islamorada Island.   Blake B. and Chris F. (Paco) left Monday, July 17, and traveled with Blake's family on their vacation to Florida. Six crew members, Chris R., Bryan L., Mark G., David M., Mr. Grimes and Mr. Luff., flew out of Oklahoma City the next day, landed in Fort Lauderdale and then drove to the island of Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

On Wednesday and Thursday, these six scuba certified divers made two dives a day out of Lady Cyana’s Dive Shop.

On Thursday, Mr. Rogers joined the crew for its dives.  That evening, Mr. Rogers treated the entire crew to steak dinners at The Outback Steak House.  (Thanks again Mr. R.!)

When the scuba crew got to Sea Base Friday afternoon, Paco and Blake were waiting to join up.  Soon after check-in, it was time for that BSA camp favorite: swim test!  Everyone was shocked at how much easier it is to do the swim test in salt water and at sea level.  The crew had done swim tests two weeks earlier at Camp Alexander’s 8,500 feet elevation.  What a difference!

Before dinner, the crew walked down the docks to get their first long look at home for the next seven days:  the good ship Dutch Love.   At 44 feet in length and built over the last ten years by her captain, the Dutch Love is nice and beamy with lots of room above and below decks.  She’s the biggest in the fleet.

After loading our gear on the boat the next morning and storing all the food, Dutch Love left the docks and headed out into Florida Bay.  Captain Harman gave an hour-long lecture on boat safety and then headed out.  In the first thirty minutes after entering the Atlantic Ocean, the crew saw three bottlenose dolphins riding the boat’s bow wave and three waterspouts.

In the midst of all that, they raised the jib sail and motored south.

Shipboard routine was up at 7:30 am, eat breakfast, raise the anchor, hoist the sails if there was enough wind, post the watch, set the fishing lines and catch some rays until reaching the first snorkel dive site.  After diving, they’d get under way, set the fishing lines, eat lunch and even out their tans a little more until they reached their next snorkel site.  Following that dive, they did it all over again until reaching their night’s anchorage, when they’d fix dinner.  The Coral Reef Sailing Program is the Club Med of High Adventure programs!

After two day’s sailing, Dutch Love dropped anchor off Key West for the night and cooked steaks for dinner.  The next morning, she sailed into The Galleon Marina (like a hotel with boats) and the crew cleaned the ship before being released.  Then, crewmembers got cleaned up and toured Key West.

Scouts did have a couple adventures in Key West (ask about the crazy guy singing the Wizard of Oz song, or the bearded lady wanting a knife).  They toured Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum and shopped around the rest the day until dinner at the Hard Rock Café.

Two more days of sailing and snorkeling brought them back to Sea Base.

All agreed that getting to eat the two fresh tuna Chris caught was a trip highlight.

 On the first night out on the way back from Key West, the wind came up and the Capt’n ordered an anchor watch.  All night long, in two-hour shifts, the crew watched to make sure the anchor didn’t slip.

Getting back to base came too soon, but the showers and flush toilets were welcome.  Sea Base held a luau for the returning crews and each performed a skit.  

The next morning, the crew checked out of Sea Base and drove to Homestead, FL.  There, Paco and Blake rejoined the Brand Family Vacation and headed north.  After a dip in the pool, everyone else ate Italian food and went bowling.

The next morning, Saturday, the crew was on its way through Everglades National Park.  Starting at the first visitor’s center, they endured the mosquitoes.  Inside the van after the final stop, everyone had to fight in The Last, Great Mosquito Massacre … several hundred of the flying pests were sucking Okie blood!

The crew then drove on to Fort Lauderdale and checked into an Oceanside motel, ate a pizza dinner and called it a day.  At noon time the next day, Sunday, July 30, the crew flew home to find a huge welcoming committee waiting at the arrival gate.  What a great reception for tired travelers!