Fort Monroe Sea Scouts - Logbook

New Year's Race

1/1/2021

Great turnout for the New Year’s race. Had a thrilling run in 16-18 kts with 20 kt gusts. The chase start began with light winds from 030 T, which resulted in arriving to the start line about 3 minutes late. But as we headed south down Hampton River, the wind's began to pipe up and had built to 15 kts once we turned at R4. By the time we rounded R18, winds had strengthened to 18 and backed to 020 T. There was a short period of very light drizzel on this reach. Once we made the turn into Phoebus channel, the Chamberlin wind shadow eased the wind back to 12 kts.

We earned the Anchor Award distinction. Too bad I can’t share this one with the scouts. The Anchor Award is for finishing 18th out of 18 boats.

Officially, we've been sailing every day this year!

A pleasure to sail with our youth crew: Greycen, Jacob, Dylan, Trey, Diamond, and Astanzi. Special thanks to our leaders Shan and Max for providing great skill and leadership during the race.
Hopefully next year we'll be able to enjoy the before and after race get-togethers.

Wilderness First Aid for the Adventurous

11/22/2020

When someone gets injured while away from immediate EMS, you need the skills to keep your patient alive. BSA requires that at least one member of every backcountry crew have basic training to handle such emergencies and make effective evacuation. This requirement includes vessels away from shore. Skills ranging from reducing dislocations, improvising tourniquets, preventing exposure, and taking command in the middle of chaos are practiced. Now that basic instruction has been given, expect every campout to have a practice drill!

Round the Lights Race

10/18/2020

Sailed Aventura and Quo Vadis. Served the food at the after-race party. Another great weekend on the water. Really great to see some of the old gang: DJ, Andrew, Cat, and Sonya. Really strong winds on Saturday, but that didn't stop the intrepid sailors from Ship 1610. With the rails in the water and their teeth to the wind, the crews braved the crowded field of 52 sailboats in the pursuit start of the 25th annual Round the Lights Race. The wind conditions were excellent for some fast sailing, but that didn't come without some mishaps including a dismasting and 20 retirements. Scouts were ALL smiles. Look forward to the next one on New Years!

Sea Scout Meeting on the Noland Trail

9/6/2020

Instead of sitting around in a stuffy room, we conducted our meeting on the trail. We held a Bridge of Review, conducted officer elections, and welcomed a new member.
Congratulations to Keegan for advancing to Ordinary Sea Scout. Welcome aboard to Eagle Scout Nathaniel who joined today.
New officers are:
Boatswain Greycen
Boatswain's Mate Keegan
Purser Jacob
Yeoman Justin
Storekeeper Dylan

Kayaking Merit Badge School

8/29/2020

Despite the weather forecast for incoming storms from the remnants of Hurricane Laura, Troop 242 and our subject matter experts gathered at the kayak beach at Fort Monroe at 9 AM with the intention to complete the Kayaking Merit Badge. Twenty-eight scouts from T242B and T242G came ready to have some fun. Instruction provided by our older Sea Scouts, a couple of whom are also members of the troop. Three round-robin groups were introduced to safety, first aid, essential equipment, and construction in 15-minute sessions. Then everyone gathered for demonstration of paddling skills and a safety brief before launching. Scouts practiced the basic strokes and demonstrated their ability to recover from a capsize. After lunch, the whole group walked to Firehouse for some ice cream. This was a wonderful event and the weather was excellent.

Canoe Camp-IN

8/23/2020

Originally planned as a city park campout the weekend prior, the torrential rain and thunderstorms resulted in a postponement. The silver lining to this postponement was a modification to the plan - instead of paying for campsites and canoeing in murky lake water, we camped on our boats in the marina and expanded our ambitions. Not simply satisfied with canoeing, we now included kayaking, all before lunch. In the afternoon, swimming at the YMCA completed the aquatics trifecta. The swimming started with swim tests for everyone and even included completing the majority of the Lifesaving for Able advancement. Hobo meals for dinner filled the hungry stomachs followed by a deserved deep sleep for the weary scouts.

Social Distance Race

8/9/2020

This race had an unusual start. Boat start times were staggered at 2 minute intervals. Planned start was 10am, but was postponed 30 minutes waiting for more wind. Quo Vadis started at 1034, and Aventura started at 1038. This was a simple clockwise circle around Hampton bar. With 7 kts E wind, we were able to maintain 4 kts COG on the first down wind leg. But as usual, we were much slower than the others. By the time we had come around the course, it was almost 2 pm, and we were now working against a 2 kt current in front of Ft Wool. After 4 tacks, we had only made about 1/4 mile progress, so at 2:30 we retired; more than hour behind the leaders. But everyone had a great time. Afterward we watched a canoeing video, planned our campout menu, and had ice cream.

Day Sailing - Flying the Kite for the First Time

8/1/2020

Since we've never tried to fly the symmetrical spinnaker before, we were waiting for perfect light air conditions to practice. Today we had 7 kts directly from the East, which made perfect conditions for a down wind run from Old Point Comfort to the Middle Ground light. So 10 shipmates pushed off from "A" dock and made way for Hampton Roads. After passing G1, we turned right and raised sails. After getting steady under main and jib, we setup the pole and lines for the spinnaker. Since we only have one headsail halyard, we had to lower the jib before raising the spinnaker. The first hoist was not particularly graceful, but the helm did a great job keeping the boat under the kite. When we ran out of room, we lowered the spinnaker and raised the jib again and headed for the center of the channel. Once we got in better position, we lowered the jib and hoisted the spinnaker again. Such a satisfying sound to hear the kite pop into place. We continued until we had to tack and avoid a large barge. We headed back to the barn in 3 tacks, close hauled, and making 5.5 kts.

Kayak Cleanup - Newmarket Creek - Air Power Park

7/26/2020

Shipmates came together on a 100-degree Sunday to perform community service to one of the gems in Hampton - the Newmarket Creek. A dozen scouts launched kayaks and rowboats to remove litter from this remote recreational waterway. After a short safety briefing, they launched from the floating dock at the Air Power park. Wonderful folks opened the back door to make access to the bathrooms and water much easier. We had a great surprise when the Council VP of Program, David Singletary came by to help. In all, we removed about 20 pounds of garbage from about 1 mile of waterway. I think we'll do this again, when it's not quite so HOT!

James River Tubing - Scottsville

7/19/2020

We all needed a break from the record breaking July temperatures. What better way than going on a relaxed float trip in cold water of the upper James river. Many thanks to James River Runners for exceeding all expectations. Make a note that no GPS will get you to the right place. Bridges that are out and inaccessible ferries make the trip interesting, at least for the hour while we figured it out. Note: always follow the directions provided by the outfitter.