The crew loads the trailer being towed behind The Ark in the cold
gray light of dawn ready to depart for New Jersey at Oh Dark Thirty.
Trailer loaded, the crew wiles away an idle hour waiting for Committee
Chairman Wes to wake up, get dressed, and find his way to the rendezvous
location. Can a Skipper keelhaul his own Committee Chairman?
Probably not.
H-Hour! The Ark arrives at the Holiday Inn Executive Conference
Center, Bridgeport, NJ. The YORKSHIRE crew prepares to go over the
side and hit the beach to rig the landship!
Landship rigged, the crew suddenly is nowhere to be seen. Are they at
the indoor pool, the weight room, the arcade, or just "hanging
out" with Sea Scout friends from other ships? While the crew
plays, the Skipper and the Boatswain don't have time to ponder this weighty question.
They are headed for that diabolical invention known as "leaders'
meetings." Are they fun, or what? Well, no, now that you
asked. But they are helpful, so that's why we go.
S.S.S. YORKSHIRE's fife rail and humungous brass bell. Also noteworthy
are the copper coal-oil running lights. What a neat touch! Well,
not really. The running lamps exuded lamp black all over everything on
the way down because the skipper tried to save time and not put each lamp
inside it's own plastic bag. Can a crew keelhaul their skipper?
Probably not. Just set him adrift in the ship's long boat and let him
navigate his way to South America.
Okay. Pop quiz. How many Sea Scout landships can you name that
have a ship's wheel with a chrome plated wheel drum or a working capstan
with reversible pawls? Well, S.S.S. YORKSHIRE comes readily to mind.
Boatswain's Mate Matt, Boatswain Tim, and Specialist Drew.
Cody, Yeoman Amanda Rose, and Purser Leah.
Mysterious Amanda and Ashley peruse the very nicely done Bridge of Honor and
Sea Scout Ball program.
The Ship 25 Parents' Committee was well represented by Kim Krynock, Lorna
Brenneman, and Mate Nancy Klinedinst. The Committee came to see for themselves
why "Sea Scouts have more FUN!"
Skipper Kain stops by to chat with Mate Nancy Klinedinst and Commodore
Young.
York-Adams Area Council Squadron Commodore Don Young and S.S.S. YORKSHIRE
Mate C.J. Diamond.
Yeoman Amanda Rose, Purser Leah, and Recruit Amanda (with the secret middle
name).
Sea Scouts are easily amused, in this case by making the table glasses sing.
Cody and Amanda Rose - a happy Sea Scout couple.
Purser Leah keeps trying to coax one additional note out of her drink
glass. Really - it's not hard to entertain Sea Scouts. Just give
them a high quality drink glass and they can amuse themselves throughout the
most boring of speeches.
Cody, Yeoman Amanda Rose, Purser Leah, and Amanda #3.
Matt and Drew. Matt is wishing he wasn't sick as a sea dog with the
flu, and wonders if he will toss his cookies right in the middle of the
landship ceremony, just like he did at McDonald's on the way down here this
morning. (He came through just fine - that's Sea Scout Spirit for
you!)
The S.S.S. YORKSHIRE V.I.P. table: Mate C.J. Diamond, Boatswain Tim,
Eagle Greg, Chief Bald Eagle (aka York-Adams Area Council Squadron Commodore
Don Young), Alex, Committeewoman Kim Krynock (Ship's Hornpipe Instructor),
Mate and Sailmaker Nancy Klinedinst (who is responsible for our uniforms
looking so good), and (partially obscured) Committeewoman Lorna Brenneman
(Ship's Logistics Officer).
Drew and Cody.
Paramedic Specialist Drew seems well pleased with the affair so far.
"Tim - I've told you time and time again - girls really go for a guy in
uniform."
Tim gets help adjusting his ScoutFleet medal. Or was there some
ulterior motive?
Purser Leah and Amanda #3 (she won't let me use her middle name) enjoy a
moment of relaxation.
These girls really seem to be having a good time. Could it be they are
sharing the endless variations of the joke about why Sea Scout service dress
blue bell-bottom trousers have 13 buttons?
Purser Leah is in a jolly mood tonight.
Our waitress was really good to us. We could have signed her up as a
Mate if we were closer to home.
Okay, Ship. Set taut. The S.S.S. YORKSHIRE Bridge of Honor landship
crew boards National Sea Scout Committeeman Ryck Lydecker, Associate Editor
of BoatUS Magazine. Officer of the Deck Wes Garrod prepares to receive
our honored guest.
Northeast Region Commodore Bruce Chr. Johnson installs the new Northeast
Region Boatswain, Crystin Johnson.
S.S.S. YORKSHIRE's Sea Scout of the Year Award is presented to our Yeoman,
Amanda Rose, by National Sea Scout Committeeman Ryck Lydecker, Associate
Editor of BoatUS magazine. Northeast Regional Commodore Bruce Chr.
Johnson (left) and YORKSHIRE's Skipper George Kain (right) look on. For the
details of Amanda's accomplishments, click
here.
Skipper Kain departs the landship at the conclusion of the Bridge of
Honor. "Ding Ding! YORKSHIRE Departing!
OoooooEEEEEEooooooE Peep!" What a way to build a skipper's
ego! "We ought to do this every meeting." "No,
skipper. That could lead to a second Caine Mutiny." :-)
Drew, Greg, Alex, and Tim by the ship's fife rail and flag bag.
Drew, Greg, and Alex.
Now for something really different! "I thought I heard the Old
Man say, 'Leave here, Johnny.'" Ship's Yeoman Amanda Rose doubles
as the Ship's Chanteyman to lead the YORKSHIRE crew and the Bridge of Honor
guests through that great old Sea Chantey. You don't see working
capstans manned by singing Sea Scouts just everyday.
Mission accomplished,
the crew prepares to lay ashore.
Drew arrives late for the crew photo. Was he busy talking to some
good-looking female Sea Scouts?
"Da Croo"
Here they are, folks, the 2003 Regional Bridge of Honor Landship Crew!
We got a standing ovation. That says it all. Thanks, guys, for a
job well done. BRAVO ZULU!
S.S.S. YORKSHIRE - the 2003 Northeast Region Bridge of Honor Landship
Crew. Wow! That was a rush. Now, "Let the good times
roll! - Let the Sea Scout Ball begin!"
Just where does Drew keep finding these good looking women?
Sea Scout friends from other ships cleverly disguised as high society types.
There's our Drew again, right in the thick of things.
Our friend from ScoutFleet days, Skipper Al Herman from Delaware.
Could this elegant couple be none other than our Purser Leah and Boatswain's
Mate Matt? Naaaah. Wait a minute. Yes, by golly, it IS
them. Well, I'll be a son of a gun.
Matt and Amanda of the mysterious middle name.
Elton John and entourage put in a surprise appearance at the Ball. The
flu is GONE! It's seems to have departed exactly concident with the
successful conclusion of the landship ceremony.
Cody, Amanda Rose, Leah, Matt, and the "lady of mystery."
Lorna, Kim, C.J., Chief Gray Eagle, and Nancy pose for photographers.
Kim, C.J., the Old Man, Nancy, Cody, and the Ship 25 Sea Scout of the Year
looking her elegant best.
Matt, Leah, Cody and Amanda Rose.
Some of our Sea Scout friends including outgoing Regional Boatswain Grant
Cutler (in dress whites) and Skipper Garth Wells (looking like a
distinguished Real Estate wheeler-dealer).
The cat in the hat.
There's Drew again, this time modeling the somewhat unusual short-sleeved
version of Sea Scout service dress blues.
Drew, too, finds that girls go for a guy in uniform. Or is his shy,
quiet, suave demeanor?
Drew, Tim, and Greg glide across the dance floor.
More dance floor action.
It's YORKSHIRE's lucky day! Greg gets picked as the Royal Court Crown
Prince and Tim ends up as the King of the Ball. Now we'll have to call
them "Your Royal Highness" and "Your Majesty" for the
coming year. That's a daunting prospect.
King Tim helps his Queen adjust her royal crown.
The Royal Court leads the courtiers in a dance.
The Royal dance continues.
As eight bells toll the mid watch, the dance winds down. Memories of a
truly fabulous day will live long in the annals of S.S.S. YORKSHIRE's history,
to be re-told time and again to future recruits "who missed
it." If ever there was proof of the old adage, "Sea Scout
have more FUN!", this is it.
dances since 1 April 2003
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