Over 200 members of Sea Scouts BSA, the U.S. Coast Guard and other BSA units gathered on September 7 at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay for the 2019 “Safety at Sea” Adventure. Despite the threats posed by Hurricane Dorian all week, the weather was perfect and the scouts jumped in (literally) to a day of safety, career and environmental STEM training with volunteers from the Active Duty and Auxiliary Coast Guard.
The morning opened with a Search & Rescue demonstration from a helicopter deployed from Stations Atlantic City. The ultra-awesome blaze-orange helicopter hovered over Curtis Bay while the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer (the Coast Guard’s version of Top Gun) dangled from a harness a hundred meters below. Once that demonstration was complete, the pilot swung over to the nearby ball field and in a huge cloud of dust, landed the craft to open for tours and questions.
From there, Scouts began rotations around the base. At one station, flare training involving live flares was a huge hit. Alternating between traditional hand-held flares, or the pistol-type, scouts under the careful watch of range safety officers and trained Coast Guard professionals got to learn first-hand how to light magnesium flares in case they ever have an emergency.
Just up the dock, other Scouts put on the orange Mustang Suits – full body life jackets designed to keep them afloat and warm should they ever have to abandon their craft in ice-cold arctic waters. Across the harbor, a Damage Controlman Petty Officer 3rd Class fired up a P6 pump to teach Scouts how to either fight fires or flooding, depending on what emergency they faced. Others worked with Firemen on mastering a fire hose with target practice exercises where objects 25 meters away had to be moved with a careful stream of the powerful water jets.
Scouts also toured the Coast Guard’s famous 29 feet rigid hull inflatable Response Boat – designed for rapid deployment to emergencies, drug interdiction or other missions. Up the hill, oil was poured into a laboratory tank to demonstrate how dangerous oil spills can be, and how the Coast Guard managed both the spread and fire risk of this dangerous contaminant.
For Scouts who watched the Rescue Swimmer and asked to ride in the harness – they were introduced to the kind Coast Guard recruiting team who discussed job opportunities available. For those with grander aspirations – representatives from the prestigious Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT were available to discuss America’s only “merit only” service academy, where no congressional appointment is required. Cadets enter by their merit alone for the tuition free, paid college education.
On Saturday, February 2 and Saturday, February 9 scouts from all over the National Capital Area Council competed in the Council’s five-round chess tournament, the Akela Chess Classic. The February 2nd event, held at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, VA, was the Scouts BSA tournament, open to all scouts in troops, crews and ships. Seventeen scouts competed in two brackets: age 10-12 and age 13 and up. In the younger-scout bracket, one scout took first-place honors, with one scout finishing second, and three scouts finishing third. In the older-scout bracket one scout took first-place honors, with three scouts finishing second and three scouts finishing third. The first-place winner in each bracket finished with a perfect 5-0 score.
Fellow Scouters, 2019 is off to a great start.
Once each year, ten distinguished Sea Scouts from around the United States are invited by the US Coast Guard to spend a week sailing aboard the USCGC EAGLE.
The week paid off with at least one NCAC Sea Scout sending forward an application to the very prestigious and selective US Coast Guard Academy.
After a week of fretfully watching Hurricane Florence dance around the eastern seaboard of the United States, 100 Sea Scouts and their Coast Guard mentors gathered at the Coast Guard base in Curtis bay for training and tours.
As our units host their Join Scouting Nights, Colonial is pleased to announce its newest offering for youth: Sea Scout ship 818. The addition of Ship 818 has been years in the making and is the result of hours of work among several Colonial leaders. Ship 818 is chartered by Belle Haven Marina and is open to girls and boys ages 14-20. Current Colonial Scouts as well as youth not presently part of Scouting may join Ship 818. For more information, please contact George Stevens, the Ship’s Chartered Organization representative at