Day One: Adventure Begins!
We woke up in Tacoma to clouds and fog. That meant one thing: Tom Rogers was right; we need to do fog drills.
The crew met at Tacoma Sea Base at 9:00am. A lot of the youth were already checked in early and hard at work loading up supplies. In case you are wondering, it took three entire truck beds to transport the provisions – aka food and toilet paper. First order of business was making sure everyone scheduled to go onboard had a signed and unexpired passport, their Sea Scout book and Curtis blue polo.
Once everyone was checked in, the caravan to Anacortes began!
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Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes, WA
Our 1:00 pm arrival was eventful – lots of cars to unload and people to corral. The Marina was packed with vessels unloading and more getting underway. The crew of long cruise week 1 was busy deep cleaning and unpacking. No one was disembarking until Skippers Vern & Debbie Moore gave the A-ok!
Supplies for 24 crew onboard SSS #110 means LOTS of fresh fruit!
Meanwhile, we were busy loading up gear and provisions to board. At the marina there are industrial wheeled carts at the ready to help you load and unload when walking the long dock. Man, oh man, they should make grocery carts this amazing! We saw 6-year olds hauling loaded carts down the gangway with ease.
Speaking of carts, it took us 22 carts to get everything form the cars to the Curtis. Take a guess as to how many were full of food? NINE! Over 40% of the carts were full of fresh vegetables, baking supplies, buns and other galley provisions. Feeding a crew of 24 for 8 days is no easy job…so check back tomorrow when we post about EATING ON THE BOAT: DO’S AND DON’TS featuring our galley crew and head chef Sue Searles.
Teamwork is critical - even before we are underway.
It took three hours from boarding to get everything put away. If you have never loaded on day one, there is something in EVERY nook and cranny. Food gets stored in every place possible! Bunks are loaded with sleeping gear AND personal effects. For this reason, only fabric bags and duffle bags are accepted. Hard case suitcases are not allowed. At 4:00, Skipper Tom Rogers had an all crew meeting on the bow. Skipper’s message included topics such as:
· Not a love boat! Co-ed cruises with teenage crew need ground rules, and Tom set the stage.
· Conduct ashore is always to be professional and courteous. As representatives of the Tacoma Sea Scout Base and SSS #110 Charles n. Curtis, all eyes are on the crew.
· Budgeting! With 7 days ahead of us, it’s easy to go ashore and burn through all your spending money on the first day (or a picture of Frank Sinatra we heard about…). This is actually a really practical lesson – and one that resonated with the crew.
Skipper Tom giving orientation to the crew. Our March 2019 Quartermasters can be seen and are are serving as Officer of the Deck this cruise.
MIss Sue brought sweet treats. You just have to get caught being sweet to get one!
· Want candy? Unsolicited teamwork and positive reinforcement are the way to Mama Sue’s treasure of sweets. She introduced her reward system, and anyone can participate. Just don’t leave those wrappers laying around – or you’ll spend an extra two hours fishing it out of the bilge pump!
Shore leave was fun – we were even treated to a live concert by JAM – Jeremy Abbot! His acoustic rock and reggae tunes filled the air as our crew without galley duty challenged each other to chess and checkers. Jeremy was great, and when he sang “All-Star”, everyone sang along.
Shore leave is always a blast! Tom is predicting the win.
Dinner was great – have you ever had Chicken Dorito Casserole? We did.
Two helpings worth. Surprised we had room for creamy orange jello with fresh mandarins. Yum, yum! We will all sleep well with full bellies. Join us in wishing Quartermaster and Officer of the Deck Daniel Minch a Happy Birthday – we sang and celebrated after dinner.
Until tomorrow, “sea” you later.
From the SSS #110 Crew at Cap Sante Marina
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