It was a long shot: 8 boys & girls of ship 238 of Lighthouse Point were the greenest of Sea Scouting in South Florida and have never participated in a regatta (regional sailing & seamanship competition) and we were literally learning our way in the 2010 Commodore's Cup, but a big surprise was in store for us.

Saturday was a day full of activities, including Written Rules of the Road (USPS ABC test), heaving line, compass and relative bearings, ring buoy toss, knots, communication (including emergency VHF calls), first aid, sailboat identification, piloting (marine chart work), sailing & canoeing. Sunday morning came and our ship had the honor of doing the 0700 hrs color guard. After the Scouts Own (a non denominational religious service) the awards ceremony was called to order and our Juliette crew (Madisan Van Wingen, Brandon Milianta, Jacob Mc Cullough & David Taylor) secured the 3rd place for Knots, yet another surprise came when Sailing was announced, The Kilo crew (Paul Morris III, Boatswain's Mate Peter Strouss, Keith Phillips and Boatswain Daniel Arenas) had earned the coveted 1st place. Great accomplishment if you realize that most of our scouts are 14 and under and they were competing against crews from all over the state who have attended up to 6 or more regattas. How could this happen?: Goodwill

 

Sea Scouting is sometimes called "Boy Scout's best kept secret", the community is very active and very close knit. The program is designed as high adventure for boys and girls between 14 and 20 years.

From the moment that we decided to establish a Ship in Lighthouse Point, other ships, notably 339 & 814 actively helped to see us succeed, Capt. Dennis Metzger, an accomplished "salty" and PADI diving instructor, immediately offered to give comprehensive diving education to our members. and many other leaders, including Jeff Pyle, Rich Guertin, A.J. Ambrose, Mathias Sengberg, Josh Adams and Herman Feldman readily offered their support.

On the Sailing side we received a donation of a Morgan 26' sailboat, thanks to Joe Pesseux, but could not secure a home for her and had to let the donation go. John Trudel, Lighthouse Point's Recreation Director granted us access to the fleet of 8' Optimists to train our scouts. And LHPFD has also assisted in our early stages. Soon after, Skipper Rich Guertin (currently South Florida Squadron's Commodore) along with Dennis and AJ, proposed to re-locate the "Our Lady" -a svelte Catalina 22' sloop- to our neck of the woods. She is the flagship of the squadron and being closer to the sea  she can splash more often and give more opportunities to our scouts to do open sea sailing. Currently we are in the quest of finding docking space for her, if you can help please let us know.

Many activities have filled this year here are the highlights.

• Almost all of our members have successfully completed the US Coast Guard Auxiliary's Safe Boating Course.
• Visit to the Rybovich ship yard.
• Visit to the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse.
• Extensive sailing training in Lake Placid
• Participated in the Keeper Days Parade and Memorial Day Parade.
• Attended Palm Beach's John Lessor regatta as observers.
• Attended Youth Leadership training in Oleta Park
• Attended Venturing Ranger Camp.
• Peanut Island camp-out with Boy Scout Troop 238 & 215
• Sailing aboard  the schooner Lynx: America's #1 Privateer
• Attended Commodore's Cup Regatta 2010
• Attended the Blue Wild dive expo.
• One week Summer Camp in La-No-Che, in central Florida.
• More than 35 dives since Aug 2009. Including wreck diving, advanced divers also did enriched air diving and deep sea diving.
• Certified 9 youth and 2 adults as Junior Open Water Divers, Open Water Divers & Advanced Open Water Divers
• Several certified divers currently pursuing Advanced Open Water Diver and Dive Master accreditation.

All of this is impossible to do without a strong support from the community: St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church cheerfully stepped in to be our chartering organization; the LHP Tennis Center has accommodated for our long training sessions. The Lighthouse Point Library has donated a very healthy collection of Boating, Sailing and Navigation books that has been very helpful. Dixie Divers has been an outstanding supporter of the program in many dimensions. Capt Bill Morgan generously donated a 19' center console boat which became our local support vessel. Lighthouse Point Gardens North has generously granted the use of their  pool for our confined water dives and swimming certification and US1 scuba and Atlantis Dive Center (Key Largo) also has provided great support on boat dives. William F. Taft helped a lot with general support and Bill Rodes has been a great partner with engine repairs. Thanks to all of you who have made donations, you know that BOAT stands fro Break Out Another Thousand.

Our unit could have not gotten off the ground without the help we received from Boy Scouts Troop 238, Harvey Chaples was key on the early stages of our group; our close relationship with Scoutmaster Steve Zimmerman and other leaders is crystallizing in the Marine Patrol, on this group young men under 14 can be incorporated into our activities while they learn very important wilderness survival skills and the scouting philosophy.

A recent but not less important addition to our team is mate Jake London. An accomplished pilot for the Coast Guard and Eagle Scout, he has a past as a racing sailor and has given shape to our sailing track.

Thanks are in order to our families, who see us dedicate a big chunk of our leisure time spent on or under water, your generosity does not go unnoticed.

But above all I have to thank my scouts, you are the reason for all this. To witness you evolving into competent leaders who make things happen and young adults who stand out because of your principles is indeed a very sweet treat. Sharing the fun days along with the hurdles you must overcome gives us a glance of what is good in this world, gives us hope, gives us joy and makes me a very, very fortunate person.

To all of you and the ones my very imperfect memory are betraying, please receive my most heartfelt THANK YOU!!

Lighthouse Point Sea Scouts Ship 238
Skipper Carlos M. Arenas
Phone: 954.324.7084
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://ship238.org
Facebook: http://ship238.org/fb

 

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