Boy Scout Troop 93 / 415 Sea Base Keys Adventure Trip 2006

Crew Leader: Matthew C.
Crew: Adam B.
 Cory B.
 Evan H.
 Matthew H.
Crew Advisors: Allen B.
 Tom C.

Day One
In June 2006, Five scouts from Troops 93 and 415 of the Greater Alabama Council (Birmingham, AL) traveled to Key West, Florida to the BSA High Adventure Sea Base Camp (www.bsaseabase.org) along with their two adult advisors.  The first day of our trip was spent flying to Key West and driving to the Sea Base Brinton Center 20 miles from Key West.  We met our Mate, Zach, when we first drove up.  After handing over health forms and other paperwork, we got situated in our air conditioned dorm, then headed down to the marina for our swim test.  Following the swim test, we tested out our snorkeling gear around the marina.  After a leader orientation with one of the base leaders, Adam, we headed out to an opening night campfire.  There were three crews that arrived on the same day we did, so our mate and two other mates  gave skits of what to expect and a highly entertaining history of the Florida Keys.  Hurricane!

Day Two
Our second day of our Keys Adventure was spent doing our SCENE project and touring Key West.  Our SCENE project involved planting pineapples in pots.  Several groups from the main Sea Base center in Islamorada and the Brinton center traveled by bus to Key West, where we had a picnic lunch and tour at Fort Zachary Taylor.  We then went into Key West where we were turned loose to explore the town and to see the sunset festival.  Zach took us to Peppers of Key West, a truly cool store that features hot sauces of all varieties.  Peppers has a hot sauce bar, where you can sample the hot sauces.  The boys bellied up to the bar and tried out the Going Bananas, Black Widow, Orange Crush, Hot Sauce #1, Hot Sauce #2, Ring of Fire Steak Sauce, and several others, up to  Magnum 357.  The boys had a great time testing the sauces, some of which brought tears to their eyes, others of which provided some excellent photo opportunities for pained expressions.  We then walked approximately 1.5 miles to the southernmost point of the United States and took photos.  There are several museums and other attractions in the area including a butterfly museum, pirate museum, shipwreck museum and an aquarium that we visited. That evening, we ate at the Half Shell Raw Bar on the marina and enjoyed watching the performers at the sunset festival.  We arrived back at Sea Base around 10:00.  Sometime around 2:00am, we discovered that the A/C in our dorm had died!

Day Three
We went sailing on our third day.  Captain Tim took us out on the new-to-Sea Base Meri-Mac sailboat, a 33 ft boat with a mainsail and a jib.  Captain Tim lives on his own sailboat and previously lead outward bound sailing trips.  He walked the boys through how to raise and lower anchor, how to raise, lower and adjust the sails and jibs.  Matt H. took the helm, with Matthew C. and Cory B. providing navigational support.  Evan H. and Adam B. raised anchor and we were off.  The day was overcast and stormy, so we tried to outrun the rainstorm.  We had 3-5 foot waves rocking the boat and the wind was strong enough to keep us leaning approx 30 degrees to port most of the morning.  Eventually, the storm did catch up with us and we had to head down into the living quarters of the ship to wait for a lightning storm to pass by.  Matthew C. then went topside and steered us home through sheets of rain.  There were a few of us that got quite queasy during this trip and made visits to the back rail of the boat to feed the fish.  If you have a queasy stomach, a full Bonine at night, then another full Bonine in the morning should help tremendously.  A typical sailing day takes you to Looe Key for some lunch time snorkeling, but with the heavy chop, Captain Tim suggested we go for deeper water, although the waves would be higher.  This plan was voted down.  Cheers from those of us visiting the railing!  We arrived back at Sea Base no worse for wear and spent the evening fishing off a bridge.  Evan H. and Matthew C. caught fish which they filleted, but never did get to eat.  The A/C was still out in the dorm, but a portable A/C unit was brought in.  The portable unit did succeed in making a lot of noise, but not much cool air.  A very hot night with no moving air.

Day Four
Day Four dawned bright and clear.  Yeah!  Deep Sea Fishing on the schedule followed by being dropped off on Big Munson Island.  We packed up our Big Munson overnight gear into dry bags, then head out fishing on a Dusky watercraft.  Captain Frank took us to a reef where we fished for Yellow Tail snapper until we had 2 per person.  This fish will be the main part of our dinner tonight on Big Munson.  We then head our to deeper water to try and locate some dolphin (Mahi Mahi) and other bigger game fish.  The boys did catch a few dolphin, but they were too small to keep.  Matthew C. caught our only dolphin of sufficient size to keep.  We drove back to Looe Key, the third most dived location in the world, and snorkeled for 30 minutes before heading off to Big Munson Island.  We were dropped off at Big Munson at a floating pier about a quarter mile from the shoreline.  The water is too shallow to get the boats any closer.  It took 3 trips to transport our dry bags, snorkeling gear, water and food to the shore.  The water was very heavy. There were sharks and a couple of Barracuda swimming around one of the piers, as that was where the fish were cleaned.  They did not bother the people wading in.  The walk into shore requires shuffling your feet through sea grass.  The shuffling causes noise and vibration that scares off sharks and other critters hiding in the grasses.  Once on shore, we hiked another quarter mile to our campsite situated around a nice poisonwood tree.  All parts of a poisonwood tree are dangerous.  Touching the bark, leaves, berries, or burning the limbs are all dangerous.  Early settlers used to cut the trees so the sap would flow, then tie their enemies to the trees as torture.  Fortunately, the boys behaved very well, so that was not necessary.  Big Munson is a barrier island, so anything and everything washes up on the shore.  Adam B. picked up some rope and made a very comfortable chair up in a Gumbo Limbo tree.  We had a few of the Key Deer come up to camp.  We took a late evening nature hike around the 110 acre island, ending up in a clearing to watch the stars and tell jokes.  We had a good night of sleep in our tents and the bugs are not nearly as bad on Big Munson as we had been led to believe.  Munson!

Day Five
We slept late on day Five.  The boys decided to skip breakfast and have brunch instead so that we would not have to cook and clean twice.  We headed off to take kayaks through the Mangrove Maze.  Big Munson is covered with Mangrove trees.  Mangrove trees grow well in shallow water and send out roots from their limbs, so they have many small branches reaching down into the ground and water.  On Big Munson, there is a natural series of passages through the island forming a maze.  We took 2 person kayaks out.  Our mate Zach told us there were many ways in, but only one way out.  Cory B. (riding with a silent Zach) was the first one through the maze in a little over 30 minutes.  Adam B. and Allen B. were next.  Evan H. and Matthew H. were out third.  Matthew C. and Tom C. were out last in a little over 45 minutes.  We then kayaked past the neighboring Little Palm island.  Little Palm is no more than 30 feet from Big Munson, but could not be more different.  Little Palm is an exclusive resort catering to the rich and famous.  $1200 a night for a thatched roof house.  Will Smith has been seen there.  Matthew H. tried calling for Halle Berry, but she would not come out.  We had a lunch of Mac and Cheese, then packed back out to the piers to be picked up.  Hot showers back at the Brinton Center and the A/C is working again.  Yeah!  We went night snorkeling at Horseshoe that night.  Horseshoe is a 125’ deep pit dug out when the road was created.  The shoreline angles down to 15’ then dropped off a sheer underwater cliff.  We saw several large crabs, a few lobster and several fish.  We also encountered a few jelly fish that caught a few of the boys.

Day Six
On Day six, we went snorkeling at Looe Key.  We saw a couple 5-6’ sharks and a large Eagle Ray along with hundreds of other fish.  The water is very clear and the reef was filled with fish.   We drove north on Hwy 1 in the afternoon to visit a state park.  We saw the bridge that got blown up in the movie True Lies and got to see the original island used to film Gilligan’s Island.  The week ends with a luau and games.  The two other crews and our crew competed at a tug of war game where the contestants are on stumps,  then a true group tug-of-war, followed by the limbo.  Matthew H. was quite entertaining and good at the limbo.  We finished the night with skits.  Ours was easily the best.  Our Keys Adventure song follows:

(sung to the tune of the graduation song)
Keys Sea Base Adventure,
Sun, Fishing and Sailing boats,
Keys Sea Base Adventure,
Our Mate is … Zach!

(chorus)
My turtle swims sideways,
Your turtle swims upside down,
My turtle swims sideways,
Your turtle is … dead!

Big Munson Island,
Key Deer and Vacca Coons,
Big Munson Island,
What is that … Smell!

(chorus)

Huff, Adam and Matthew,
Evan, Cory and our mate Zach,
Our country’s future
Looks like it could be … bright!

Day Seven
On Day Seven, we packed up and headed to Key West.  We had a few hours to spend before getting on the plane home, so we stopped by Peppers of Key West, then went to a movie.  Home late with suitcases full of dirty stinky clothes and heads full of great memories.

The trip was great fun.  It is a wonderful introduction to almost all the Sea Base has to offer.  For those who do not want a full week living on a sailboat, this trip is ideal.  Our mate, Zach, was super to hang out with.  We’ll be back for more adventures another year.

Practical Matters
• Warm showers are available.
• Washers and Dryers are available.
• Cell Phone reception was excellent (for Verizon), including service for Blackberry mail. 
• 95 degree highs / 94 degree lows.
• Breakfast and Dinner are served cafeteria style with all the scouts eating in the quarterdeck under the galley.  The quality of the food was quite good. 
• The ship’s store is also located in this building and features lots of frozen treats along with Sea Base paraphernalia.
• Flag ceremonies are held prior to meals.  Class A’s or your crew outfit are expected for flag ceremonies.  Our crew and several others had a Class B crew shirt that we wore for some of the flag ceremonies.
• An Under Armour type shirt works great for those days in the sun.
• Imodium is a wonderful thing to pack in your medical kit.  Something about the heat, sun, drinking and food.
• Pack your medical kit in a waterproof bag.  It goes with you everywhere.
• Check Out time is listed as 9:00 – 11:00am on day seven, but you are actually completely finished with the program the evening of the sixth day, so if you want to catch an early morning flight, you can.

 

Summary provided by Crew Advisor Tom C.