Down the California Coast with the Sea Scouts

You never forget the experiences, accomplishments and impressions of your first sailing voyage offshore.  Here is Greta Hull’s account of her Sea Scout voyage from San Francisco Bay to Southern California. 

             On December 28, 2009 I sailed underneath the Golden Gate bridge and out into the Pacific Ocean.  After four years of sailing on the San Francisco Bay and California Delta, I was going out to sea.  The San Francisco Bay is tricky and wonderful but it is not the same as being surrounded on three sides by open water.  I was on the Schooner Seaward with eight of my peers, one of our adult leaders, two other passengers and the four person crew.  The trip went from December 27, 2009-January 2, 2010, and we sailed from Sausalito to San Pedro(LA). It was one of several legs the Seaward and its crew would be making on their round trip to Baja, Mexico.

            Everyone except the cook was put into one of three groups called watches, and life aboard the ship revolved around meals, napping, and being on watch.  We followed the standard system of five 4-hour watches and two 2-hours watches in a day.  Each watch group had a Seaward crew member, an experienced Sea Scout, and a few junior Sea Scouts.  As a scout with four years under my belt, I was one of the four older and more experienced members and had a wider range of knowledge.  Over the course of the trip the newer scouts learned lots of practical knowledge, while we older scouts worked on our leadership and teaching skills.  Time off-watch was less stressful and a great time to study and play games.

             This opportunity was memorable because we were actually sailing 24/7 most days.  In our own program we have a two-week cruise on the Delta, but every night we either dock or anchor out.  Having to live on watches reinforces the schedule better than memorizing numbers on a page.  Practical duties included filling out a log with details of the current course and taking a bearing every half an hour.  This was done by whoever was on watch.  Because of the repetition, it was a good way to learn to how to classify weather using the Beaufort scale and use the results to forecast upcoming weather.  The responsibility of making sure tasks were completed on watch was initially done by the crew member but eventually given over to the older scout.

            Everyone had different personal challenges they faced through the entire trip. Most of the junior scouts were seasick at some point.  I liked below-deck because it was a great place to play cards and study.  It was also where the bunks were, a place to go and nap or read and spend some quality personal time.  I think personal time is the key to adjusting to successfully handle the living habits of fourteen other people.

Looking back, my favorite part, and probably the hardest part, was at the end of the trip:  a challenge was given to the four older members.  We had to sail a large triangular course, only knowing the three latitude and longitude coordinates.  This meant we had to organize getting under way, raising sails, navigating and plotting our course, with each other as resources.  This was structured as part of the Call of The Sea program and a part of the Sea Scout requirements for the rank of Quartermaster.  Not only did it require knowledge of know how to sail Seaward, but we had to be able to instruct others to reach a common goal.  This was what we had been learning throughout the cruise.  We all passed, thankfully, and had an interesting time doing so.

            The end of the trip, especially waiting at the airport, was bizarre.  Everyone was eager for a real bed and a real shower.  Yet we were satisfied with what we had individually accomplished and with what the group accomplished.  The shock of being back in society forced us to confront the large amount we had learned.  I had to absorb sailing from Sausalito to San Pedro and being away from society, then flying home Saturday night and driving back to college at UCSC on Sunday.  Everyone else started school again the next week.  All in all the experience was educating, fun, and something I eventually hope to repeat.