Sea Scouts

Our new boat started out as a Point class Coast Guard cutter during Vietnam; she was built in 1963. The Navy took her over at some point and used her at Point Hueneme (near Oxnard, north of Los Angeles) to retrieve test missiles launched from the nearby base at Point Mugu. The Navy abused her a bit, leaving many dents and dings and a couple of holes. In 1995 or so, the Navy stopped using her (different parts from other retrievers, mostly) and put her on skids in a parking lot. Three years later (February 1998), the vessel was officially handed over to the Sea Scouts, namely our ship. We found her stripped of everything the Navy could use elsewhere (the Navy gave us back some of the stuff they removed, but we're still trying to obtain some of it) and in poor condition. From the last weekend of February 1998 until the last weekend before Memorial Day 1998, people from our ship drove down there every weekend preparing her to be put back in the water and cruised to the dock in Redwood City. There were holes in the hull (some created by rust, others by chipping hammers on thin parts of the hull that should have been replaced anyways), all of which had to be sealed. All 82 feet of hull had to be sanded, much of it down to bare metal. It was grueling work, especialy at the unusual angles we had to hold the disc sanders at times. That was done, then we painted the hull and waterline. We had to have the boat up in San Francisco by Memorial Day weekend, date of a major competition (called a regatta; something I go into below) we were at. We barely made it. The boat went into the water in the middle of the last week before Memorial Day. Our adult leaders then ran the boat 24 hours a day up the coast (with a storm looming, and this vessel rides poorly in heavy seas anyways) in time to arrive at the site of the regatta, on Coast Guard Island near Alameda, CA. on Saturday evening, which was halfway through the regatta. It was a dramatic arrival. Below is a picture of a Point class cutter in service with the Coast Guard. Our boat is not in that good condition, but it gives an idea of what our boat will eventually look like. I believe this came from the Coast Guard directly.

Between lack of visitors to this page and the fact that the main page for Ship #145 Challenger is now online, this section of my page may be going away soon.

This program is for people ages 14 to 18 (theoretically; I joined when I was 12), and we are an all-male ship based in San Jose, CA. There are also all-female ships, as well as coed ships and other all-male ships, scattered around the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are interested, even if you're located somewhere other than San Jose (I can locate another ship in your area, if you live in the S.F. Bay Area or near Sacramento, CA), E-mail me or look around the Web for pages run by other ships. Most of us run 65' boats, but there are some smaller and larger boats in the Sea Scout fleet. The largest is in Stockton, CA, and is 125' long, and VERY roomy inside.

Please E-mail me with comments, suggestions, or if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and this looks interesting to you. You can also sign the guestbook.