Tuesday June 20 – Snorkeling Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary

Our snorkeling adventure began with a one hour delay for a thunder storm cell that was right over base. Rain does not stop a Sea Base outing but lightning does.

The crew passed the hour by playing battling tops with spinning dimes and quarters. Forrest also added Troop 105 numerals to the list of Scenic Trails Troops under the Council Shoulder patch on the Galley wall. Troop 1 has the first position under the council patch. The new council patch had been added to the ceiling in line with the original council patch and an Indian Drum Lodge pocket flap patch was on the wall below the council patch.

Once the storm had passed, two Keys Adventure crews and two Sea Base Scuba crews boarded the dive boat and headed for Looe Key. Captain Jeff was in command of the Scout Master dive boat.

Snorkeling at Looe Key was fantastic. Our first tie up and snorkel was on a stretch of reef where large marine life liked to stay. The crew saw sharks, 4’-5’ Barracuda, 5’-7’ Tarpon and hundreds of Parrot Fish, Snapper, Angel Fish, Butterfly Fish and large schools of Doctor Fish.

The second tie up was on a stretch of reef where smaller marine life stayed and the coral was fantastic.

We spent 45 minutes to an hour at each Looe Key location and had a great time snorkeling. Diving was fun but it was exhausting.

Captain Jeff started the Scout Master back to Brinton Center and all crews had lunch on board. While taking a short cut to the channel passage, the Scout Master ran aground. Captain Jeff good naturally announced an Emergency Beaching Practice Run. The crews got off the Scout Master and in a few minutes the dive boat was afloat and headed for the channel. All crews returned to ship and had a pleasant ride to base.