Sea Scout Base Emigsville is transformed into "party central" in preparation for the Detters Mill to Camp Ganoga Great Canoe Race and Sleepover of 2002.

  Isaiah wonders why he gets to move all the heavy stuff while everyone else gets to put up decorations.

  The Budweiser guitar.  The Ship's Fun Committee, in charge of decorations, assured the Skipper that Budweiser is actually Swedish for "Sea Scouts."

  The Ship's Fun Specialist, Chris, installs a laser light for the party.

  Drew and Matt unload two 100 pound bags of coal from the Skipper's trunk.  The coal will be used to heat the wardroom on the side of the Sea Base.

  Taking a break from decorating the Sea Base, Isaiah, Drew, Tim, and Matt prepare to go for a row in the Ship's long boat, Tuscarora, a 14' sailing Whitehall.

  Drew, Tim, and Matt will be serious competitors in next year's visit to the British National Sea Scout Pulling Boat and Canoeing Regatta at Kingston Upon Thames in England.

  Deciding that sailing is much less work than rowing, our intrepid Sea Scouts rig Tuscarora's sprit sail.

Race Day

  Ship 25's Boatswain, Adam, straps two canoes on the roof of his Volvo and prepares to move out for the race course.  The Volvo is the only one known to have a live hula dancer on the dashboard.

  York-Adams Area Council Commodore Don Young is introduced to Ship 25's race mascot, Mr. Earthworm, by Adam and Chris.  No primitive life forms were hurt in the filming of the Great Race.

  The Ship 25 race event crew:  Skipper Kain, Isaiah, Mate Klinedinst, Tim, Chris, Leah, Adam, Amanda Marie, Matt, Amanda Rose, Drew, Commodore Young, and Course Safety Officer Mr. Blackford.

  Amanda Marie shows the type of spirit that makes her both a track star and a Sea Scout star.  Amanda Marie and Leah had never canoed before, yet entered the race determined to finish.  Offered a chance to pull out 2/3 of the way through, Amanda Marie echoed the famous words of John Paul Jones, "I have not yet begun to paddle!"  She and Leah earned 4th place honors overall, and a 1st in the all-women's division.

  Adam and Chris embarking at the start of the Great Race.

  The Big Conewago Creek was lovely on race day.  Adam and Chris appear in the distance, leading the pack.

  The Sea Scout Fishing Contest - object: to catch a Sea Scout canoeing down the Conewago.  Bait:  anything tasty and sweet, such as a can of Coke.  Method:  dangle the bait from a bridge under which Sea Scouts will be passing in their canoes.  Success ratio:  3 out of 4.  For some reason, our competitors though we were trying to trick them and bashed the can of Coke to pieces with their paddle.  They ran aground shortly thereafter.  A case of cause and effect?  You be the judge.

  Amanda Marie and Leah demonstrate the power stroke that carried them on to the finish.  A decent respect for the opinion of mankind forbids us to mention that Amanda Marie and Leah did tip their canoe over in an attempt to catch the Sea Scout bait (a can of Coke) that Matt was dangling in their path at the Route 74 bridge crossing.  However, Coke in hand, Amanda Marie and Leah were soon back on board making full steam ahead.  Nothing stops Sea Scouts from their appointed rounds!

  At Camp Ganoga, Mrs. Brenneman demonstrates the joie de vive that made her ever-popular on the party circuit.  She also cooks up a mean hamburger for tired canoeists.  Tim and the Commodore look on in amazement.

  Adam and Chris power on down the Creek, trailing clouds of glory behind them.

For a great 30 second action video of Adam and Chris shooting the rapids, click here.  It's well worth the wait for the file to load!

  Adam and Chris, 1st place winners with an overall time for the 19.6 miles of 4 hours, 35 minutes, a full 46 minutes ahead of the 2nd place finishers, the YAAC Camp Tuckahoe Venturing Crew 544 waterfront staff.  

Official Great Canoe Race results:

	1st place - Ship 25 - Adam & Chris - 4 hours 35 minutes
	2nd place - Crew 544 - various, due to switch outs - 5 hours 21 minutes
	3rd place - Ship 25 - Tim/Isaiah/Drew/Matt/Amanda Rose - 5 hours 37 minutes *

4th place - Ship 25 - Amanda Marie and Leah - 6 hours 17 minutes.

*  They claim they would have placed 2nd, but decided to hop out of their canoe and go swimming instead and wait for the girls.

  Tired but victorious, Adam and Chris pull their canoe up at the finish line on the banks of Camp Ganoga, the former York-Adams Area Council Scout Camp.

  Later that night, at the dance party, Boatswain's Mate Joe meets Warington, the Ship 25 headless Sea Scout.  For photos of the dance party with laser lights, fog machines, lava lamps, glitter balls, black lights, rotating searchlight, wild music, etc. - sorry, you just had to be there.  Come next time and see for yourself.

  While the party-goers trip the light fantastic inside the Sea Base, Drew and Matt look suspicious underneath a flag hoist signal that reads, "These are the girls' swimsuits."  Consult the U.S. Hydrographic Office Pub 102 for further details.

The morning after the night before

  Chris and Adam where they crashed and burned at the end of the dance party.

  Boatswain's Mate Joe decides sleeping inside the "Deviled Egg" is preferable to sleeping on the Sea Base floor.  Later that morning, while Joe used the Skipper's car to get an emergency re-supply of breakfast donuts, the "Deviled Egg" was mysteriously levitated to the middle of a nearby field.  Alien abduction?  Both the US Air Force and 60 Minutes are investigating.

  The first rays of the morning sun greet the revelers.

  Ship 25's bell, running lights, and taffrail.  Lookouts report, "All lights, bright lights, Sir!"

  Guess what ship we're from!  In the final competition of the weekend, the "How fast can you chew one donut and swallow it" contest, Leah brought in another victory for Ship 25 with a record time of 53 seconds.  Tuckahoe staff again placed second with a time of well over one minute.  Leah's stunning victory was all the more remarkable in that she had already consumed five practice donuts.  Way to go, girl!

  After a 20 mile canoe race, partying until 3 a.m., and with a 0900 Reveille the following morning, Isaiah, Leah, and Tim still find the energy to go sailing in Tuscarora on the Susquehanna River just below the Wrightsville Bridge.

  Tuscarora under full sail, manned by Isaiah, Tim, and Leah.  As the water rat said in Wind in the Willows, "There is nothing, ... nothing so much fun as messing around in boats."  Or, as the Skipper is wont to say, "Sea Scouts have more fun!"

  The perfect ending to the perfect weekend.  If you weren't there, you really missed one for the history books.

This page is from the website of SSS YORKSHIRE - Sea Scout Ship 25, York, PA, USA - http://ship25bsa.org