Ship's Bulletin Board

 

Medic 101 goes to Regatta

 

CALS and Sea Scout Ship 548 members PMIC Betsey Herbicek Fehn and EMT Denise Tschupp manned the Chief’s Truck-Medic 101, providing First Aid Services to the 161 attendees of the Boy Scouts North Eastern Regional Regatta.  The 41st Annual COMMODORE HENRY I. NYGARD SEA SCOUTING REGATTA. Was held at Camp Brown in Scotland, MD near Point Lookout over the 3 day Memorial holiday weekend. 

 

CALS member and Sea Scout Devon Fehn proudly show’s off the Chief’s Truck 

 

Betsey sporting the latest fashions in fracture-wear having broken her foot at Regatta practice just days before. 

 

Sea Scout Ship 548 ship members with 101. 

 

Captain Jack Sparrow oversees the Powder Monkey competition from the cool AC of Medic 101.

 

Medic 101 presents First Aid award during Awards Ceremony 

 

Regatta Bosun Devon Fehn accepts First Aid Award on behalf of her ship-Sea Scout Ship 548 which took first place in the competition.

 

    

Medic 101 becomes another casualty of the sneaky scouts who Saran wrapped many objects and people during the course of the Regatta Weekend.   

Many thanks to Chief Sharon Eskins and CALS for their help with another successful Sea Scout Regatta.

 

Newport Beach SEAL June 13-21 2006
By Morgan Miller

June 13-21 Sea Scout ship 548 sent scout Morgan Miller to Sea Scout Advanced Leadership training (SEAL training) in Newport Beach, CA. While at SEAL five Sea scouts from across the nation including Maryland, Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, came together to learn valuable leadership and team building skills. SEAL takes place at sea; this one in particular took place on a 58’ sloop rigged sailboat named “Blacksilver” in the Pacific Ocean.

The cruise had them navigating from Newport Beach, around Catalina Island, and back to Newport Beach.  During this cruise the scouts had several duties and assignments, including, each scout had to be navigator for one day and the navigator would then go on the be the boatswain the next day.  During all of this the scouts also had to do two different classes a day and manage time to work on the assignments they got from them. 

At the end of the week the adults took the scouts out to dinner and when they knew all of them had passed, the whole SEAL team got to go out for a day sail on the 70’ sloop “Scout Spirit” which does the Newport to Hawaii race.

Click here for Pictures


Long Cruise
By Natalie Yeckley

First off, let me just say that when you have teenagers stuck on a boat together for as long as we did, they would normally start fighting about really small, stupid things.  Our ship was extremely good about that though.  We did the jobs we were supposed to do, (helmsman, navigator, look-out, and galley) with out complaining or fighting with each other.  I love our ship!  We had SOO much fun!  It was definitely something that I won't forget. 

Of course there are a lot of jobs on a boat, especially with teenagers.  With Sea Scouts, the kids are in charge of the program, with some adult supervision.  There is always a kid that the adults and kids go to if there is a problem with? just about anything.  He or she is called the Boatswain, there was one on this cruise, which just happens to be me.  The Boatswain in this case, makes up the shifts for jobs, coordinates who is Galley for the day, and decided where they are going for their cruise.  Normally that would be the Activity Chair who would do this.  You know, our boat is 46 feet long, so with all of the jobs that we have, it's easier to use the hand held radios to actually hear what everyone was saying.  So, the Look-Out was one of the really cool jobs with the radios.  The Look-Out's job would be to tell the Helmsman if there were any obstructions in the water, and would tell the Helmsman and the Navigator the aids to navigation that were coming up.  That job was fun when you were going head on into the waves, you would go on top of the waves, and on the way down, it would feel like you were coming completely off the boat.  Great stuff right there, a really interesting hour.  The Navigator is in charge of making sure that we all are going on a steady and safe course.  They plot the course, and tell the Helmsman when they need to change course and where.  Then last but not least, we have the Helmsman.  The Helmsman is in charge of steering the boat.  They are told to stay at a course of 090, which is a degree reading, or the Navigator can say, Head for that lighthouse over there.  It just depends.  I know it doesn't sound fun, but with Sea Scouts, everything is made fun.

So just imagine it is a nice day, not enough wind to sail, but good enough so that it would cool you down.  We had an abnormal amount of hours that day, it just so happened to be a twelve hour day of cruising.  So instead of going by the normal change of watch, (changing jobs every hour), we found out that we had a person who liked every job we had to do.  So we had everyone on the top deck, listening to music, talking, telling stories and jokes, and still doing our jobs.  I would have to say that personally, that was my favorite day.  Our crew that day was experienced enough to just have the kids completely in charge, with the adults coming up and making sure we were on the right course every once and while.  I don't think that you will ever really understand how cool that was until you try it.  In the very middle of our cruise we also attended a Council Raft-Up, which every ship from the council area is invited to go to.  It's when the ships who want to come anchor up to each other enough to just take a step to step onto another boat.  It's just a really big social deal.  That turned out to be really fun too, get to see all of your friends from other ships, show off your boat, and how it is progressing.  That night we just happened to have a meteor shower.  That was awesome!  Also, whenever we went to a marina and we didn't anchor for a night, we always found time to go to a pool and play games.  We also had been given some opportunities to get ice cream, our skipper is obsessed with strawberry ice cream, so of course he made it so that we can get ice cream.  We really did make the best of this Long Cruise that we could.

Long cruise is meant to be an opportunity to learn, and to have fun.  Our ship really did accomplish these things.  We had people make apprentice, and come extremely close to making ordinary, which I could go into, and make this even longer, or just tell you to look at it on another part of our website.  It was truly something that will never let me forget why I joined Sea Scouts.

Weekend Cruise

April 1, 2006

On Saturday April 1st Sea Scout Ship 548 left their homeport in St. Mary’s to go on a weekend cruise. After leaving port they motored south to Cole’s Point Marina in Virginia. They docked the boat around 2:00pm, ate a late lunch then went gallivanting around the beach. They left port shortly after lunch the following day, arriving home around 4:30pm
 

SEA  SCOUT OF THE YEAR AWARD
MARCH 4, 2006

Sea Scout Ship 548 of Avenue, Maryland, serving Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties, attended the Sea Scout annual awards dinner for the National Capital Area Council on March 4, 2006.  The dinner was held in Fairfax, Virginia.  There were 100 Sea Scouts attending from 6 Ships. 

Ship 548 had the honor of performing the Land Ship Ceremony which involved setting up the deck of a mock vessel including a main mast, helm, and railings.  Members then board the “vessel” by use of the traditional double salute.  The landship was used as a background for awards presentation. 

The evening started with four door prizes being given by use of a drawing.  By chance the first three names called were Johnathan Glover, Kean Zimmerman, and James Atkins, all of Ship 548.  Dinner was then served. A US Navy submarine officer spoke afterwards. 

Nine Scouts from Ship 548 then boarded the Landship ceremoniously with the Officer of the Deck.  After the Skipper, Regional Rear Commodore, and Regional Commodore were piped aboard with sideboys, awards were presented. 

Devon Fehn of Solomons, Md. was presented with the Outstanding Sea Scout of the Year for the National Capital Area Council.  Devon is a Crew Leader and has been a member of Ship 548 for just a little over a year.  She has advanced to Apprentice Sea Scout and has complete most of the requirements for Ordinary.  Devon has attended over 95% of the Ship’s meetings and activities and is also a member of Girl Scout Mariner Ship 1548 in Solomons. 

Devon is one of the Lead Instructors for both Ship 548 & Ship 1548 and plans and conducts 1548’s meetings.  She is a member of Church by the Chesapeake and is active in their Youth Group and Southern Calvert Baptist Church Youth Group.  She is a Cadet Member of the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad & Fire Department.  She also volunteers at the Calvert Animal Welfare League and Calvert Advanced Life Support Unit. 

 

September 2005

Safety at Sea Weekend 

Our Sea Scout Ship and our Mariner Ship headed up to the Curtis Bay Coast Guard station for the Safety at Sea, Sea Scout weekend. There we joined a bunch of other Sea Scout Ships from places like Virginia, Georgia, West Virginia, Northern Maryland, etc. Some of them we knew and were old friends with, others we met for the first time.

S.A.S. consisted of courses that we took, hands on, that taught us basic boating safety. We took Damage Control, Flares, Hypothermia Prevention, Pumps, Fire Hose, and we even got a tour of some of the Cast Guard’s fastest boats.

I think that the majority of the scouts enjoyed the Damage Control the most. That is where they make you get into this little, dry, tank with pipes and hoses all over. They give you a few wedges, hammers, cloths, and the most important, duct tape. When you get into the tank you’re not sure what to expect, but when they turn the water on, you have to rush to keep the “boat” from sinking. Every little place you can imagine starts spurting water out and you have to hurry to plug it up.

We also learned to shoot flares, to keep warm, and alive, if you were in hypothermic waters with your mustang suit, and to see if you are faster at bailing water then the Coast Guard’s pumps are. We got to shoot a bucket (later a buoy) with a fire hose, and try to tie knots in freezing cold ice water. They even did a cool helicopter rescue demonstration.

After the long day we had to relax, and then we had to have our traditional Sea Scout dance.

All in all it was a load of fun and I think the Mariners did as well as the Sea Scouts at their courses. Every one had a great time and all are looking forward to it next year.

Below are a few of the many pictures from S.A.S. weekend.

 

December 10, 2005

Christmas Party 

From Saturday the 10th to Sunday the 11th of December, Sea Scout ship 548 held the annual Scout Christmas Party. Different ships from all over Maryland attended. There was pizza, drinks, games, a live D.J., dancing and a gift exchange. It was a lot of fun but the best part was getting together with the other ships before the end of the year.

 

 

November 7, 2005

Ship 548 member wins "Youth Of The Year" award:

Seventh District Optimist Club

Dear Christa,

Skipper Douglas Yeckley, of Sea Scout Ship 548, BSA, nominated you as a candidate for the Seventh District Optimist Club's Youth of the Year 2005 Program.  Congratulations on your nomination and selection as the Seventh District Optimist Club's Youth of the Year for 2005.

A review of your nomination package indicates you have excelled in school, church, and community involvement areas.  Coupled with your energetic personality, you are well qualified to receive this award.  The award will be presented at the Seventh District Optimist Club's November meeting.  This year the event will be held on November 23rd, at 7:30pm, in the clubhouse - located in Bushwood, MD.  (Directions from the Clement's intersection [Rt. 234 & Rt. 242]: continue on Rt. 242 South for approx. 5 miles; the club's ballpark is on the left-hand side.  Turn left onto Elmer Bailey Rd. and continue through the gates, past the pavilion.  The clubhouse is on the right.  A complimentary dinner will be available for you, your immediate family members, and your sponsor.  Please let me know how many people to plan for by 21 November.

We look forward to seeing you there. Sincerely Yours, Mike Barbour,
Optimist YoY Chairman

November 11, 2005

FUN  DAY  IN  NOVEMBER 

On November 11, 2005,to start a wonderful day for Sea Scouting, 14 members of SS Ship 548 and GS Mariner Ship 1548 attended a memorial service at the American Legion Post in Avenue, Maryland.  After picking up our 8 oar pulling boat we reported to the staging area in Leonardtown, Maryland, for the Veteran’s Day Parade.   

We were unable to get up to our assigned spot behind Leonardtown High School Band because of all the masses of marchers and floats.  So we fell in behind the Classic Cars.  First in line carrying Ship 548’s Banner was Mascot Hanna Demers and Mariner Katie Sullivan.  Then the Ship’s Color Guard, Natalie Yeckley, Mike Hearth, Kyle Demers, and Morgan Miller, with two scouts, Devon Fehn and James Wentz, behind them. 

Then followed one of our 15 passenger vans pulling the Pulling Boat with three Mariners, Alex Fehn, Christi Diaz, and Sabrina Stewart handing out brochures.  Bring up the rear was our second 15 passenger van.  After the parade we all went to our annual “business lunch” at the Hong Cong Buffet.

In the afternoon Ship members went bowling at the Patuxent Naval Air Station.  Scores on the first game were:
Alex – 98 Christi – 116 Katie – 93 Sabrina – 95
Mike – 74 Natalie – 88 Bernie – 98 Perry – 67
Pete – 106 Morgan – 99 Devon – 85 James – 87

Some of the members had to use the gutter guards to keep the ball on the lane.  It was decided that we did not need to keep score on the following games. 

Everyone went home happy at about 1700.  All agreed that it was the best fun days we have had this year.

 

October 29, 2005

We went to the Wardroom Halloween party. We were all dressed up, Pete, Natalie and Mike were commandos, James was a sumo wrestler, Josh a hippie, Kat a gothic warrior girl and Morgan a medieval lady.  There were four prizes for costumes and we took them all and came home Sunday morning.  

 

October 22, 2005

The Naval Academy Visit

For Saturday, October 22 the Sea Scout Ship 548 and the Mariner Ship 1548 took a trip to the Naval Academy, Annapolis. We met with a former Scout, now Naval Academy student and Midshipman, Amy Hunt, from Georgia Ship 2000. She gave us a completely personalized tour of the campus. We felt like V.I.P.

On our tour Amy showed us plenty of things including the sleeping accommodations of the students, the crypt of John Paul Jones, the gyms and pools, the fields, etc. Of course there were plenty of questions to be asked, especially by our inquisitive Mariner, Christy. There wasn’t one question she didn’t ask.

The tour Amy gave us was much better than any paid tour, because we really got an inside, honest view from a student in the Academy. She said, and quote, “The Academy is only for people who are truly passionate about the job.” “Being in the Academy is not easy,” she said, “If you’re not in love with being here you won’t stay here very long.” She told us that you truly have to want to be here. She also said that she wouldn’t want any other job in the world. She was one of those who were truly enthusiastic about what she did. She loved it.

The Officers who do come out of the Academy come out with a much better understanding of respect, teamwork, independence, and self worth. It may be hard to get into the Naval Academy, one of the best schools in the country, but when you come out, you come out as a person who will be able to make a difference for our country.

I think that by the end of our trip to Annapolis, the Sea Scouts had a new out look on our Navy and Naval Academy. It was a good experience for everyone, regardless of their military interests. All in all, it was a great trip; it was fun, educational, and intriguing all at once. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we take a trip to the Naval Academy.

Sea Scout Apprentice - Devon Fehn

 

July 12, 2005

 

Wow, Sea Scouts have had a very busy several weeks.  Of course the summer months are our busiest season.   After working diligently all spring on the SSS Sea Eagle, our 46 foot Flagship, the Ship was launched the end of May but then required some mechanical repair after getting some water in the engine after launch.  Our weekly meetings are now held on the Ship.  (Sea Scouts are called Ships not Troops, and the SSS Eagle is technically a boat but we call it a Ship).  Though we were ready to get under way two weeks ago the big storm precluded a sailing trip.  Last Tuesday, July 5, the weather cooperated and the Sea Scouts were able to cast off the bowlines and raise the sails.  Many had never sailed before and it was a thoroughly exhilarating experience for all.

 

Additionally the Sea Scouts held a recruitment day June 14th at Margaret Brent Middle School in Morganza, doing a slide presentation and providing knot tying, navigation, and boating safety instruction to the 7th grade classes.  Several Sea Scouts attended the first meeting of the Girl Scout Mariner Ship 1548 to support their newly formed sister-ship on June 23rd.  On July 2nd Sea Scouts sent a member to crew on a boat in the St. Mary’s Yacht Club sailing races.  A “Fun Day” was held at the Solomons Rec Center for the Scouts and potential new members on July 6 (rescheduled from June 29 due to rain).  They participated in mini-golf, swimming, a BBQ picnic lunch, soccer, swimming, board games, and more swimming. (do you think Sea Scouts like water?) 

 

Friday, July 8 took the Scouts out to West Virginia for the exciting sport of White Water Rafting.  I am not sure if they had more fun rafting and dousing Skipper Yeckley with buckets of water or riding in the Sea Scout van (15 in all) playing games and having fun on the long road trip.  Saturday the Scouts assisted the Mariner Scouts in providing volunteer staff for the Calvert Marine Museum’s "Sharkfest".  The Scouts and Mariners staffed the games for small children which included “Pin the Tail on the Shark”, “Ring Around the Shark Fin” ring toss, and “Feed the Shark” bean bag toss.  It was an extremely well attended event and the Scouts really enjoyed helping the Museum.  The Sea Scouts then ran down to Colton’s Point to assist the Potomac River Museum with their "Jazzfest".  The Sea Scouts were responsible for the parking for that event.  It was paired with a fundraiser which was very successful for the Ship and the music was fabulous.  It was a long but satisfying day.


We are looking forward to more sailing at our regular weekly meetings on Tuesday evenings.  Upcoming events include a trip to Kings Dominion, a weekend sailing cruise, more racing with St. Mary’s Yacht Club, a Long Cruise, a weekend Raft Up with several other Sea Scout Ships, and assisting with the Crosby, Stills, and Nash Concert for the Calvert Marine Museum.  Visit here frequently to keep up to date on meetings and happenings!

 

January 15, 2005

Paul Elia  One of our devoted Sea Scout Adult Committee members, Paul Elia, 59, died in January 2005, from cancer. His funeral was on Saturday, the fifteenth of January, 2005 . He was a loving father and husband and was full of hope. He was a wonderful, dedicated Christian who brightened the lives of many people. He offered his hand willingly to all who were in need with whatever they needed help with. Even after he was diagnosed with cancer, he still kept his unselfish heart open to all and continued to help us with our boat work despite his illness. Paul Elia will be missed, may he rest well in the arms of the Lord.

January 10, 2005

Winter Training  On January 7th through the 9th, SSS 548 went to winter training at Catoctin Park , which is located right next to Camp David . We explored the world of Sea Scouting, making new friends and seeing old ones. It was a fun-filled weekend, even with the classes. During the day, we went to classes that were held on many different topics about boats, boat safety, drilling, and other such things. On Saturday night after classes there was a big dance, which our whole crew agrees was awesome! Everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend, and many were sad to leave the next day. It may have been cold, but we had heated cabins to sleep in and our friends to keep us warm!  Maybe more will join us next year!

 

November 14, 2004

Quarterdeck Training was a successful and, hopefully, rewarding experience for our newly-elected petty officers.  With training completed, we expect great things from those petty officers who attended.