Sports
Sea Scouts from Menlo Park to San Jose Cruise the Bay on a Sparkling Day
In an era with so many distractions, Sea Scouts constantly recruit—and a gorgeous Saturday morning on the bay was not a bad way to introduce the young boys to the nautical life.
Written by L.A. Chung
Sea Scouts from the Boy Scout Council covering Santa Clara and San Mateo counties hosted Cub Scouts and their families Saturday morning on a cruise from the Port of Redwood City.
The S.S.S. Challenger of Redwood City and the S.S.S. Intrepid of Palo Alto, both 95-foot former Coast Guard cutters, cruised to the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge with about 160 aboard the two.
Sea Scouts learn water safety, knots, piloting and compass skills, radio communications, first aid, and driving and maintaining the cutters. They take annual 10-day summer cruises up the Delta and compete in regattas and a wooden boat competition at Lake Tahoe. They also hang out with the Mariners, the Girl Scout equivalent.
And yes, with those overnight trips, they learn how to cook for a crowd, another important life skill, added one of the officers, with a smile.
The Sea Scouts are part of the Boy Scout Pacific Sky Council, which serves the San Francisco Peninsula, but they draw their membership from a wider area, encompassing the San Francisco Bay Area.
Next week, the teens head out to the Delta for 10 days of fun.
For more information about the Scouts of the S.S.S. Challenger and its program, see www.ship145.org and visit the S.S.S. Challenger Facebook page.
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