Friday June 16 – Peppers of Key West

Zach took us to Peppers Of Key West located at 602 Greene Street. Tom Luna, one of the proprietors, greeted the crew and invited the youth to take seats at the sample counter. Tom provided a basket of nacho chips to the crew and proceeded to pour samples of salsas and hot sauces made at the store. The samples were all great and became progressively hotter each time Tom offered a new sample. Getting near the end of the hot sauce tasting, all youth requested to purchase a bottle of ice-cold water. Tom made a first offer of $32 per bottle but settled for $1 when most of the youth agreed to try the Black Widow Sauce.


Kurtice, Doug, and Forrest lined up for the Black Widow Sample. Kevin and Mr. Neff declined to go to that level of heat. Mr. Schlak had abstained from the start – smart man.

Note: When a hot sauce comes with a warning not to get it on your lips, you know it is hot.

The Black Widow Sauce left all three brave crewmembers teary eyed and begging for more water. Tom was ready with small spoons of cream cheese to save the taste buds of the brave crew.

For any Sea Base crew brave enough to follow our steps, we highly recommend a visit to Peppers of Key West.

Mr. Neff liked the Goin’ Bananas sauce so much that he brought a bottle home to share with the family. If you like hot sauces, you can purchase from Peppers of Key West at: http://www.peppersofkeywest.com/index.cfm

Friday June 16 – Fort Zachary Taylor and Beach Cookout at Key West

The bus for Key West left the Brinton Center at about 10:00AM and would return from Key West at about 9:00PM.

Our bus tour took us through Key West and delivered us to Fort Zachary Taylor and a State Park Beach. Zach gave us a guided tour of the Civil War era fort. The gun emplacements, ammo magazine and moat were interesting sights. Zach told us the walls around the ammo magazine were five feet thick. The display of types of cannons used to protect the fort was also interesting. We also visited the latrine section of the fort and were glad for the advancements in plumbing! An interesting fact was that Fort Zachary Taylor never fired its guns in anger during the entire length of time the Fort was in service.



A lunch cookout on the beach followed that was fun for everyone. After lunch, it was back on the bus for a short ride back into Key West.

Zach gave the crew an overview and quick street tour of the Key West attractions he thought the crew would enjoy most. Before excusing himself to let the crew explore Key West on their own, he took us to Peppers of Key West

Friday June 16 – S.C.E.N.E. Project

The Florida Sea Base became the first Scouting facility in the world to be designated as a Scout Center of Excellence for Nature and Environment. (S.C.E.N.E.)

Our Brinton Center S.C.E.N.E. project was to take kayaks out to the edge of the Red Mangrove trees that line the Atlantic Ocean side of the Brinton Center and gather trash from the edge of the Red Mangrove and the water. The trash was blown into the Red Mangrove during the 2005 hurricane season.

The S.C.E.N.E report as written by Zach:
The crew used kayaks to navigate around the red mangroves to clean any garbage found among them. The crew collected plastic crates from the channel. Three garbage bags were filled and disposed of. One hour of work was completed by the crew to make the Brinton Center a better place.

By completing a similar home project, the crew will earn a S.C.E.N.E. segment patch.

Thursday June 15 – Random Thoughts, Songs and Quotes from the Crew

We need to stop for fresh fruit.

It was really cool driving through the keys.

The Window, The Window, The Second Story Window…

The alligator feeding and airboat ride were cool. Captain Paul rocked my socks!



It’s HOT.

Everything was awesome. I enjoyed the airboat ride and meeting our island mate Zach.

Rudolph the Six Gun Cowboy…

Hey Zach.



Over…Kurrch.

Thursday June 15 – Brinton Center and Island Mate Zach

Before we were out of our rental car, our Island Mate, Zach, was out to greet us. He gave us the first of many option for our Keys Adventure and the crew quickly decided what they wanted to do first. Swim test and snorkeling first, base tour Friday morning.



Zach showed the crew to our bunkhouse, we picked our bunks and stowed our gear and quickly changed into swimming trunks. Snorkeling gear was issued and the crew went down to the floating dock for our Blue Swimmer Test. Before we swam we saw our first Tarpon, at the time it appeared big.



Everyone passed the swim test and we were free to snorkel along the coral formation at the edge of the Brinton Center marina. Our first of several snorkeling opportunities.

We left the water for closing flags and dinner.

After dinner, adult leaders and youth crew leaders have a meeting in the galley to discuss adventure opportunities and safety issues of a Keys Adventure. The leader meeting was followed by a campfire. Island mates provide a history of Sea Base and the Brinton Center and perform skits for the new crews. All Island mates at the campfire jump into the marina channel every time anyone says Hurricane.

The campfire ends with all crews returning to the galley for a slide show about the Keys Adventure.

Quite Time and Lights Out. Everyone has had a great two days and the real fun is still ahead of us.

Thursday June 15 – Driving Through the Keys

Our drive through the Keys was full of interesting sights and smells. We had a brief stop in traffic as crews worked on a break in the fresh water line to the keys and on expanding the two lane Route 1 to accommodate more traffic.

During the first traffic stoppage, a trademark for our crew’s coming week began. Doug broke into song and was quickly joined by the entire crew. It was hard to gage how long we were stopped in traffic because the singing of camp songs and Christmas Carols made the time fly by.

We arrived at Mile Marker 24 and the Brinton Center at 3:45PM. Perfect for a 4:00PM check-in.

Thursday June 15 - The Everglades Alligator Farm

The Everglades Alligator Farm gives Boy Scouts a very generous discount on the admission price! Once in the farm we were able to see various sites including the snake barn and alligator pens that progressed from new hatchlings to six-foot long gators. There are also displays of products made from alligator hide and environmental information.

We were on the farm during one of the alligator feeding times and that was fun to watch. The alligator farmer hand fed dead rats to the gators that were willing to jump for a meal. The 300-pound alligators looked huge. Unfortunately, we did not get to see 1,000-pound “Grandpa” because he was not hungry.



After the alligator feeding was finished, we moved on to the airboat ride. What a thrill! We started with a warning from Captain Paul that we should not have anything on the floor of the boat that we did not want to get wet. The ride starts our slowly with Captain Paul pointing out turtles and alligators along the channel we were riding down and reminding everyone – KEEP YOUR HANDS IN THE BOAT. The airboat turns a bend and we go from a narrow tree lined channel to the openness of the Everglades. The boat speed quickly goes from a slow idle to over 30 miles per hour.



A few minutes into the full throttle ride, Captain Paul throws the airboat into a 360-degree spin – AWESOME. The ride continues with high-speed curves more 360’s that soak the boat – GO FASTER CAPTAIN.



The crew decided not to wait for the snake feeding and continued our drive to the Brinton Environmental Center.



The Everglades Alligator Farm gets two thumbs up from all crewmates!

Thursday June 15 – On the Road to the Brinton Environmental Center

The ride from Ft. Lauderdale to the Brinton Environmental Center takes about 4 hours so we planned a stop at The Everglades Alligator Farm. The Everglades Alligator Farm is a 1,600-acre alligator farm located on the edge of the Everglades national park near Florida City.

Wednesday June 14 – Random Thoughts and Quotes from the Crew

The hotel smelled bad! (Smoke)

The hotel could have been better. The flight was AWESOME!

There were holes around the windows and doors to let the roaches in…

The hotel sure looked different in the online add…

Over…kurrrch!

Wednesday June 14 – The Adventure Begins

Crewmembers from Troop 1 (Kurtice, Kevin, Doug, Mr. Schlak and Mr. Neff) met at the Neff’s house at 2:30 PM, finalized paper work and loaded Mr. Schlak’s van with gear. Mrs. Neff and Eric joined us on our ride to Saginaw (MBS) International Airport; they would return the van to Gaylord.



We stopped on the way to the airport for an early dinner and arrived at MBS with time to spare. We printed our boarding passes, checked our luggage and went through security to our gate.

Our Crewmember, Forrest - Troop 105 Traverse City, met us at the gate with his father Mr. V. Look for Forrest at summer camp! He is Councilor In Training this year.



The flight from MBS to Detroit was a smooth ride and on time. It was a first flight for Kurtice and he was presented with his Wings by our flight attendant. All the boys enjoyed the sights from +30,000 feet and agreed to a window seat rotation for all flights.

The transition to our connecting flight was easy. We had time to ride the Tram in the Detroit Airport. Kurtice and Doug tried some Japanese food and used chop sticks like pros.

The flight to Ft. Lauderdale went by fast as did the Gold Fish snacks Doug had brought.

Our trip then hit one of two bumps we would encounter. Finding our hotel was a challenge and took several attempts to get to the correct street. Mr. Schlak called the hotel for directions but had a difficult time understanding the Pakistani desk clerk. We finally found our way to the hotel and…it was not what we expected.

Though the hotel rooms were not what we had expected, they did serve a filling breakfast and Kurtice and Doug enjoyed a swim in the out door pool. Everyone agreed it was cool to wake up and look out a window and see the Atlantic Ocean.

Sea Base 2006 Keys Adventure Starts This Week

Three youth and two adult members of Troop 1 and one Scout from a Traverse City troop begin their Sea Base Florida Keys adventure on Wednesday.

Look for updates on the web site and be sure to ask the Scouts about Sea Base when they return.

Mr. Schlak and Mr. Neff are the adult leaders. Troop 1 Scouts going to Sea Base in 2006 are your Senior Patrol leader K.E., your Assistant Senior Patrol Leader K.N. and your Chaplin Aide D.T.

A 2007 Sea Base crew has been formed and it will have six Troop 1 Scouts and two adult leaders.

It's fun to have fun, BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW....

Honor Guard for Senator John McCain

On Saturday, June 10th, six Scouts from Troop 1 were members of an Honor Guard for Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Senator McCain gave a speech at Boyne Mountain Resort. Before the speech, the Scouts met Senator McCain and he thanked each of them for attending.

Scouts from Troop 49 and Troop 53 also participated in the Honor Guard.

Members of VFW Post 263 were the Color Guard and a Scout from Troop 1 lead the 300 member audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.