Brandon and the rest of the troop left O'Fallon on Saturday, June 26th just two hours after his High School graduation. with a group of 15 scouts and leaders, they drove 20 hours to the Boy Scouts of America's National Sea Base in Islamorada Florida. (and hour south of Miami) I flew down with 5 others and rented a car to meet them there. Suffice it to say, we were much fresher. Soon after we all arrived, we did our swim tests and had dinner (not in that order). It seems the scouts don't believe in the 30 minute rule if you have a schedule to keep.
Next morning, we headed for Key West and a week of sailing as the crew of a three mast 
scooner. They provided us with food which we hauled down in big igloo coolers packed with ice. When we arrived, Dada Distelhorst and Vivian were there to meet us. They decided they needed a week long break as well and booked rooms at the Naval Air Station at Key West. We met the Captain (Capt Rhonn and his first mate, Mack) then stocked the ship stowed our gear and headed out for adventure.
scooner. They provided us with food which we hauled down in big igloo coolers packed with ice. When we arrived, Dada Distelhorst and Vivian were there to meet us. They decided they needed a week long break as well and booked rooms at the Naval Air Station at Key West. We met the Captain (Capt Rhonn and his first mate, Mack) then stocked the ship stowed our gear and headed out for adventure.They taught us the names of all the lines and sails 
and how things worked on the ship. I was assigned ships cook, we had a brew master who made sure we never ran out of gatorade and fresh water, we had a galley crew, quartermaster, anchor crew, ladder crew, and swabbies who cleaned the latrines. Every night we kept anchor watch and swapped out every two hours. The boys learned to navigate and to read the stars at night finding the big dipper to show them the way to the North Star, Orion's belt, and the stars that form the mast and foresheet that lead to the Southern Cross. Our daily routine was: raise soon after the sun, have breakfast, clean up, sail for an hour or two to a coral reef, snorkel for an hour or so, sail to another coral reef, fish along the way for, have lunch, , swim and snorkle again, sail for a few more hours to an island, have dinner, play on the island, fish for sharks after dark. Repeat. Brandon was in charge of the boys as the Senior Patrol leader and made all the assignments. He did one of the best jobs I have ever seen by a boy at camp. The kids were treated fairly and took care of things. He helped and set a great example. For anchor duty he arranged that the boys would do one night and the adults the next. On Wednesday night, some of the boys slept through their assignments. Brandon decided the boys would do it again on Thursday night and get it right. No one complained. They did it right and that was the end of it. He was awsome.
and how things worked on the ship. I was assigned ships cook, we had a brew master who made sure we never ran out of gatorade and fresh water, we had a galley crew, quartermaster, anchor crew, ladder crew, and swabbies who cleaned the latrines. Every night we kept anchor watch and swapped out every two hours. The boys learned to navigate and to read the stars at night finding the big dipper to show them the way to the North Star, Orion's belt, and the stars that form the mast and foresheet that lead to the Southern Cross. Our daily routine was: raise soon after the sun, have breakfast, clean up, sail for an hour or two to a coral reef, snorkel for an hour or so, sail to another coral reef, fish along the way for, have lunch, , swim and snorkle again, sail for a few more hours to an island, have dinner, play on the island, fish for sharks after dark. Repeat. Brandon was in charge of the boys as the Senior Patrol leader and made all the assignments. He did one of the best jobs I have ever seen by a boy at camp. The kids were treated fairly and took care of things. He helped and set a great example. For anchor duty he arranged that the boys would do one night and the adults the next. On Wednesday night, some of the boys slept through their assignments. Brandon decided the boys would do it again on Thursday night and get it right. No one complained. They did it right and that was the end of it. He was awsome.Shark fishing was the high light for me. We kept our fish heads and guts from our daily catch and put the guts in a chum bucket that we lowered over the side of the ship. Then on two lines we rigged metal leader to our lines and put the heads on big hooks. Then we lowered the lines and forgot about them. As we were playing games and talking all of a sudden...zing.......the line would just start running like crazy. All day long we had caught Mahi Mahi and Baraccuda, 5-10 lb. fish. This was 50 times the pull and fight. 
The first two got away that night but the third turned out to be a 7 foot about 250 lb. lemon shark. We all took turns fighting him until we got him close to the boat. We didn't want his sharp teeth in close proximity to our feet so we cut him loose over the side after pictures. What an experience. The next day I told the boys to watch out as they were swimming on the reef, if they saw a shark with a hook in his mouth, he might be out for some pay back.
The first two got away that night but the third turned out to be a 7 foot about 250 lb. lemon shark. We all took turns fighting him until we got him close to the boat. We didn't want his sharp teeth in close proximity to our feet so we cut him loose over the side after pictures. What an experience. The next day I told the boys to watch out as they were swimming on the reef, if they saw a shark with a hook in his mouth, he might be out for some pay back.Snorkeling was awesome and the water was so clear. We saw lobsters (three weeks prior to lobster season or we would have really eaten well.) every kind of fish including numberous sharks. A goliath grouper that I'll bet weighed 800 lbs. King Mackerel bigger than me and much more. Brandon and I were swimming about 10 yards apart and a 8 foot reef shark swam between and below us. I couldn't kick after that without hitting Brandon. He didn't want to be 10 yard (not evern 10 inches) from me.
We had a pirate flag and a cannon on board and several times we would run up the flag and shoot the cannon. Once we pulled up beside a cruise ship and everyone came to the railing and waved at us. Then we struck our colors and blasted them. It was beautiful. They cheered as us as we sailed away. The cannon shot 10 gauge shot gun shells and made a huge bang and echo. The boys tied a rope to the main mast and would swing from one end of the boat and then drop off the side. Once we started feeding fish off the side and the boys would drop into the school of fish.
Some of the most amazing sights was the sun sets and moon rises. It was a full moon which was huge on the horizon as it came up.
The colors were so pure even the fish were vibrant in the water.
The colors were so pure even the fish were vibrant in the water.
We ate like kings. Everyone told me how good my food was. They really did set us up well and I just played with the menu a bit to make it better. They gave us hamburger patties one night but we had fresh pineapple and Terryaki so I grilled the pineapple and marinated the burgers and whalla. We had steaks one night (with onions and mushrooms), we took our salad fixings and made a fresh salsa from tomatoes, avocados, limes, onions, cillantro and such that went with our Mahi Mahi. I bought some Italian sausage to add to our spaghetti and that was a real hit. Anyway, everyone raved about our food but how can you beat a little fresh fish with every meal.
When all was said and done, we had a luau back at sea base and as we left the Captain told us 
that he didn't usually rank kids at the end of the trip but we were by far the best he had ever had. I believe him. The kids were absolutely awsome. They all wanted to there and really got into the adventure. Only one got really sea sick and he got over it quickly with Jaymeson Stroud's portable RX store. (he's a Dr. and brought every drup you can imagine.) One leader kicked the coral by accident and his feet swole up like ballons. He is better now but pretty miserable on the 20 hour drive home. I had to fly straight to Atlanta to start a four day trip but the first overnight was in St. Louis so I was able to drop off my dirty laundry and attend the Memorial Day breakfast in the park on Monday.
that he didn't usually rank kids at the end of the trip but we were by far the best he had ever had. I believe him. The kids were absolutely awsome. They all wanted to there and really got into the adventure. Only one got really sea sick and he got over it quickly with Jaymeson Stroud's portable RX store. (he's a Dr. and brought every drup you can imagine.) One leader kicked the coral by accident and his feet swole up like ballons. He is better now but pretty miserable on the 20 hour drive home. I had to fly straight to Atlanta to start a four day trip but the first overnight was in St. Louis so I was able to drop off my dirty laundry and attend the Memorial Day breakfast in the park on Monday.The best way to end this is like it started, I sailed, I'm a sailor.
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