SeaBase Scouting Trip

Paul and Philip Karstetter were among a group from Venture Crew 717 from St. Andrews the Apostle Church in Clifton, Virginia, who recently spent a week sailing, fishing and snorkeling in the Florida Keys.

The Boy Scouts of America runs a program known as SeaBase out of Islamorada at mile marker 74 in the Keys; adventures can include SCUBA, sailing and snorkeling, and open-ocean kayaking.

The Venture Crew set sail on the 41-foot sloop "Jewel of Athena" with Captain Hammer and his first mate, a Jack Russell terrier named Stevie Nicks, on August 1st.  They made snorkel dives over a five day period as they sailed the 75 miles from Islamorada to Key West and back.  The boat docked at Key West for 24 hours; other nights were spent at anchor in various safe harbors along the way.

Several of the crew members had previously participated in the SeaBase SCUBA program, yet they marveled at how much more sea life they observed while snorkeling; reef sharks, stingrays, barracuda and what seemed like hundreds of thousand of tropical fish were spotted.

The crew returned home safely on August 6th and everyone had a fantastic time!