Sea Scouts hold annual regatta at Onondaga Yacht Club

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

While most scouting activities take place on dry land — whether it’s camping, selling snacks or doing community service — Sea Scouts take to the waves for adventure. This past weekend, five Sea Scouting ships gathered at Onondaga Lake for the third annual Erie Canal Flotilla Sea Scout Regatta.

An offshoot of Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scouting is open to both boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 20. While the program teaches nautical skills and boating safety, there is also an emphasis on leadership, citizenship and teamwork.

“The main objective is to promote leadership, to get these young people thinking about taking charge,” said Rob Stone, skipper of Sea Scout Ship 876, which calls the Onondaga Yacht Club home. “[Sea] Scouting is different from other types of organizations … most of the leadership comes from the Scouts themselves.”

Sea Scouts can work to achieve the highest rank of Quartermaster, which Stone said is more difficult to reach than the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scout rank.

“Whereas there’s a couple thousand Eagles every year, last year there were [37] Quartermasters in the United States,” Stone said.

In addition to Ship 876, Upstate New York is home to a few other units; among them are Ship 23 in Skaneateles, Ship 25 in Ithaca and Ship 1 in Clayton. A ship from northern Pennsylvania joined the local units at Onondaga Lake for the 2016 regatta.

“The majority of Sea Scout units will have a couple of larger boats. A lot of these kids, they’ve never done the small vessels,” Stone said.

The yearly regatta includes two or three races throughout the day. Ships are given a handicap based on the design and speed. The boats follow a triangular course and ships are scored on their performance.

“We’ll average those out at the end and declare a winner,” Stone said.

The regatta isn’t just about sailing. The three-day event also includes knot-tying contests, chances to earn merit badges and a galley cook-off.

“It’s more of a fun thing than a real serious sailboat race,” Stone said. “It’s not just about the sailing — it’s all about the camaraderie of the kids.”

Ship 876 is looking for new members, especially girls. Currently, only four of the 17 Sea Scouts registered are female.

“When my son joined, it was all girls and only two boys,” Stone said. “We want more girls in it because we’re a bit imbalanced at the moment.”

To learn more about Sea Scouting, visit seascout.org. To join Ship 876, contact Rob Stone at [email protected] or 766-5780.