Happy people, a crew working together, operating a boat, docking and casting off, navigating, steering, cooking and washing dishes together, and bursting into song like in an old-fashioned Broadway musical. I was part of that joy as a guest for five of the 14 days of the annual Summer Cruise aboard the Alameda Sea Scouts boat Sea Fox [1].
[2]Sea Scouts is part of Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America) for all genders, ages 14 through 20. The scouts planned the cruise and sailed the 67-foot power boat under the watchful eyes of their current Skipper and Scoutmaster, U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Skipper Ken Shupe.
Shupe started in scouting as a young boy and has been Skipper since 2014, growing the program from a few active scouts to more than two dozen. He said the Alameda scouts average almost 90 days of water activities per year, from an inflatable zodiac to rowing and sailing dinghies, 26-foot rowing whaleboats, a ski boat, a 41-foot sailboat, and a 67-foot powerboat.
“We are here to give scouts confidence to be leaders to their peers, communities, and future careers,” Shupe said. He stressed that the scouts “have fun and learn something along the way.”
Sea Scout Ship 9 Committee Chair Will Pallas emphasized the Sea Scouts’ coed youth leadership and maritime and life skills, noting that scouts learn about themselves and working with others to get things done, along with environmental stewardship.
Elliot Tenorio, a rising 10th grader, said, “For me, this summer cruise was finding out who I am, and for that I am ever grateful. Sea Scouts, for me, has helped me in many ways … and [I] will continue to participate for the years to come.”
[3]Beginning at the home dock at Ballena Bay in Alameda, the scouts cruised south in the ocean to Santa Cruz and Monterey, then back under the Golden Gate Bridge to dock at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
“We’ve sighted over a dozen humpback whales, several pods of Pacific white-sided dolphins, and large flocks of migrating sooty shearwaters,” said Junior Officer Sadie Cosby, a rising sophomore at Oregon State University who is majoring in Environmental Science. “We were treated to a blue whale sighting and a pod of Risso’s dolphins.”
In the spirit of environmentalism, the boat slowed for the scouts to pick up floating trash—mylar party balloons which had been released on land. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, mylar is not biodegradable and should be disposed of in trash bins. Fish, whales, dolphins, and other marine animals can get tangled in the long string and eat the sparkly mylar, which looks like food to them, but causes death.
The boat then cruised back under the Golden Gate Bridge. In the San Francisco Bay, the scouts anchored off Angel Island and spent a day hiking and exploring before heading up the Delta to Sacramento with stops at Benicia, Pittsburg, and Walnut Grove. Then, homeward bound, stopping to provision, the scouts practiced boating skills, swam, went tubing, and learned to water ski.
[4]“Twenty-four teenagers running a former workboat down the coast of California for two weeks sounds like an interesting way to spend your summer, but there really is no better experience,” said Bosun Finn Zijlstra, a rising high school senior. Summing up his experience, he noted, “From learning how to operate small boats in the Monterey Bay to swimming in the California Delta, our summer cruise lets us spend time together in and on the water and build our boating skills. We run a unique program, and over the course of my time in scouts, I have seen the ways we are able to serve our community. I have no more important memories than my time on the Sea Fox. Being part of our community and leading my crew through our adventures has built me into the person I am today.”
Scouts and adult leaders may register and participate in Sea Scouts and other Scouting America units such as troops, Girl Scouts, and Explorers at the same time. The scouting units may be in different scouting councils. One registration fee covers registrations in multiple Scouting America units and councils. For more information or joining Sea Scouts, please visit Sea Fox 9 – Sea Scouts of Alameda [1] or Be A Scout [5] website.
Finn Zijlstra, Zara Hinson, Josh Estrada, and Theodore Mehlinger Eisemon also contributed to this article.