Tag Archives: Boy Scouts
Sea Scouts and Explorer Clubs get set for the 2018 boating season.
Summer is on its way and with it comes many fun activities and boating on Lake Erie. We are meeting now down at Bay Boat Club on Tuesday evenings to prepare for on the water activities.
Peter won our first annual fishing tournament with his 16″ walleye fishing off our 44′ Navy Yawl.
Explorer Club Team Eco 2nd in State!
Congratulations to Team Eco on coming in 2nd in State in the U.S. Army eCyber Mission competition. Their project involved exploring the macroinvertebrate of Porter Creek. Details of their project will be found in the published article in the Westlake/Bay village Observer.
Team works together to identify invertebrates
Porter Creek Watershed to be Subject of Study by Sea Scouts and Explorer Club.
The Group (as we are now known) made up of high school youth in Sea Scout Ship Intrepid (41), 6th-8th graders in Marine Explorer Club 360 and the newly formed Explorer Club 180 composed of 3rd-5th graders.
This winter of 2017/18 we are investigating the Porter Creek watershed. It is a small creek passing through Bay Village as it heads to Lake Erie. Recent studies by a number of government agencies have determined it is responsible for closing the swimming beach at Metroparks, Huntington Beach. Please visit the Westlake/Bay Village Observer for additional details.
Explorer Club 360
We have joined forces with the Marine Environmental Explorer Club 360. Club 360 is a group of middle school students who have a concern for their aquatic environment, do environmental studies and love boating. They are the 2017 Boat US Youth safe boating Award winners. For more information please contact skipper@seascoutship41.org.
Explorer Club 360 officers with trophy and check for $2,500.00
Ship 41 Flagship in the Water
Made it before summers over! Intrepid with motor operating is safely at her dock at Spitzer Lakeside Marina, Lorain, Ohio.
Sea Scouts aware cold water can be deadly.
The Sea Scouts watched “Cold Water Boot Camp” DVD and learned how dangerous it is to be in the water when its temperature is only in the 40’s.
With air temperatures soaring into the 80’s it is very tempting to get the boats out and go sailing but we now know better.
A link to the National Center for Cold Water Safety is here .
Bay Sea Scouts See Signs of Spring.
Spring officially started a couple of days ago but in Bay Village we know it is on the way because; the turkey vultures have arrived. A whole “kettle” of them fly up and down the shoreline searching for carrion.
First buzzards of the year scouring the ice on Lake Erie for dead fish.
The first ore boat of the 2014 shipping season has been sited off the shores of Bay Village. With the Lake Erie over 95% covered in ice it has been a difficult season for the shipping industry. A busy one for the USCG ice breakers.
Sea Scout Iceboating Plans are a Real Learning Experience.
The one thing we have leaned this winter is that to go iceboating conditions have to be just right. The ice is the number governing factor, it cannot be too rough.
Rough Ice not for sailing or skating on.
A nice smooth clear ice that is 8 inches thick is ideal for an iceboat and to reach speeds of 50-60 MPH you need a good breeze of 10+ MPH.
Snow covered ice really slows or prevents iceboats from getting up to speed.
You may have good ice and a nice breeze but then you need the space too. Is does not take long to travel a good distance at 40-50 MPH.
Your average skating pond while it may have good ice is hardly large enough.
So this year while it has been bitterly cold we have learned that iceboating takes the right conditions and a lot of patience.
Freezing Temperatures Thickens Lake Erie Ice for Sea Scouts DN Boat.
Link
It’s been a while since this blog was updated, so here goes, a quick synopsis.
The scouts spent the fall renovating an old Detroit News (DN) iceboat and had it ready to go before it really became cold.
Then the really cold weather came but with it the snow. The lakes and bays froze but were covered in snow mounds which made it impossible to iceboat. For more information:
http://westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2014/01/07/hoping-for-subzero-temperatures
Sea Scouts have refurbished boat and it’s ready to go sailing.
- Unfortunately iceboats don’t go to well in the snow.