Sunday, January 31, 2010

Ship 7916 Discovers Scuba Diving

Our scouts enjoyed the Discover Scuba Diving class presented by Occoquan's Patriot Scuba. Thanks to the generosity of the dive shop's owners, Jeff and Merial Currer, profits from the class are going to our “Save der PeLiKan” campaign. “That’s just the nature of the military folks,” Jeff Currer noted. “You see someone in need, you get involved. Occoquan is also a great town for this. It’s like a family town and we take care of each other, and the Sea Scouts are part of our town,” said Currer.

Sea Scout Cameron Peters, age 15, took on the responsibility of handling the administrative needs. He informed his shipmates of the details and required paperwork and coordinated with the venue and Patriot Scuba. “It was a little bit of work, but watching it come together as well as it did made it worth it in the end,” said Peters.

The Currers were Cub Scout leaders when their now grown children were young, so they know the value of scouting, and the enjoyment that can belong to a scout leader. “We love the kids,” says Capt. Currer. “It’s great to see them focus, feel a sense of accomplishment and take on leadership roles. Scouts have a wholesome venue and a productive way to see the adventure and excitement out in the world and understand they can affect the people and the world around them.”

Our ship has taken on a special cause in raising the $20,000 needed to repair der PeLiKan, a 46’ ketch that serves as the regional Sea Scout training vessel. The boat is currently out of commission until its standing rigging is replaced.

Thanks to an outpouring of donations from individuals, businesses like Patriot Scuba, and other scout units, the Save der PeLiKan campaign has gathered more than enough to order the mast, which will take 3-4 months to manufacture. In the meantime, the new goal is to raise enough to ship the mast and install it and the spreaders, shrouds, lights, and roller furler, about $12,000 more. Plans include additional fund raisers, as well as continuing appeals to individuals and businesses.
[A longer version of this article was published in the January 26, 2010 edition of the News & Messenger: Occoquan scuba shop comes to Scouts "SOS"]

Friday, January 1, 2010

Nautical Literacy

Can you truly claim Nautical literacy if you have not read?

This was a post to a Sea Scout newslist in December 2000, written by Roger Crossland, Skipper of Sea Scout Ship 101 Viking, Stratford, CT. I've added some links to those I've found online:

Sea Scouts,

With the onset of the fireside season, this is a good time to set sail for distant waters with minimal risk. I recommend the following to my crew and invite suggestions for additions to the list.

Joseph Conrad: Lord Jim, The Secret Sharer, Heart of Darkness, Two Years Before the Mast
Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
Anything nautical by C. S. Forester
Anything nautical by Jan de Hartog
Thor Heyerdahl: Kon-tiki
Victor Hugo: The Loose Cannon (short story)
Terry Jones: The Saga of Eric the Viking
Jung: The Perfect Storm
Rudyard Kipling: Captains Courageous
Lansing: Endurance
Jack London: The Sea Wolf
Nicholas Marryat: Mr. Midshipman Easy
Anything nautical by Philip McCutchan
Herman Melville: Moby Dick, Typee, White Jacket, Billy Budd
Nordhoff & Hall: The Bounty Trilogy including Mutiny on the Bounty, Men Against the Sea, and Pitcairn's Island
Joshua Slocum: Sailing Alone Around the World, Voyage of the Liberdade, The Voyages of Joshua Slocum,
Tim Severin: The Brendan Voyage
Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island, Kidnapped
Herman Wouk: The Caine Mutiny
Jules Verne: Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Mysterious Island
Alan Villiers: By Way of Cape Horn

Or browse around www.sea-room.com or [defunct URL deleted] for something to your liking.

Good reading...er, cruising.