DE Beaches

Trip to the Delaware Beaches

6-8 August 2004

Updated 11 August 2004 11:05

Over the weekend of 6-8 August 2004, Ship 25 was privileged to be the guest of Sea Scout Ship EAGLE, Ship 198, at their sea base in Milton, DE near Rehoboth Beach. This also gave us the chance to reunite with our crewmember Amanda G. who spends her summers at her family's summer home in Rehoboth.

We departed York, PA about 1430, having been delayed by various matters (aren't we always?), and arrived at Amanda's about 1830. By the time everyone said their "hellos" and got caught up on summer vacation stories, it was about 1930 when we got to Ship 198's base at Mate Bill Sharp's farm off Route 1 on the Broadkiln River. Mate Bill and Skipper Al Herman were there to meet us. They gave us palatial accommodations, the boys onboard SSTV SWAN, and the girls onboard SSTV FANTASY. Our crew consisted of Skipper, CJ, Leah, Drew, Amanda, Mike, Isaiah, and new recruit Zach.

Next it was off to Crabby Dick's infamous restaurant on Route 1 for a delicious seafood dinner.

(click on any thumbnail photo to enlarge it)

Amanda and Leah model the new Sea Scout covers found at Crabby Dick's. In an amazing reversal of opinion, the national Sea Scout committee after a thorough review has decided to go with VERY traditional uniforms and bring back the 1700's era Sea Scout hats with very large bugs.

Recognizing the sort of crew they were dealing with, Crabby Dick found it necessary to post a cautionary notice on the wall. Note also the early Sea Scout recruiting poster in the lower right, with the typo errors. It should have read, "Gee, I wish I were a land Scout ~ then I could switch to Sea Scouts and have some REAL fun!"

Why is this man smiling? Because he's a former land Scout who made the switch.

Why is this girl smiling? Because she knows that Sea Scouts HAVE MORE FUN!

Drew and Amanda share a laugh. Did you know that Budweiser actually means "Sea Scouts" in Swedish? I didn't either, but that's what they told me.

Unbeknownst to Drew (or anyone else for that matter) the Crabby Dick's staff decided it was Drew's birthday and honored the occasion by giving him an extra desert. Here Anita Crab and the head waiter share in the joy of the occasion.

Drew seems a little hesitant about getting a kiss from Anita on his 16.833rd birthday.

Never one to miss a Sea Scout recruiting opportunity, Amanda attempts to sign up one of the other patrons at Crabby Dick's. Perhaps they got along so well because they both like pink.

It's probably disreputable-looking sailors like Isaiah and Zach that causes Crabby Dick's to post an additional cautionary message on the bulkhead.

Their spirits refreshed at Crabby Dick's, the crew decided it was now a fine time for a midnight swim in the Broadkiln River. Here Amanda shows off the fashion sense that has made her famous.

Drew is fearless when it comes to swimming in a river noted for it's eels and snapping turtles.

After the midnight swim, the crew decided it was time to watch the moon rise over Dewey Beach south of Rehoboth. Here Amanda instructs Drew in the Girl Scout skill of making smores over a butane grill lighter, since fires are not allowed on Dewey Beach. Amanda is a very resourceful girl.

THE NEXT DAY

The boys wake up the ladies onboard FANTASY. Why are girls always the last ones up?

Then it was into the speedboats REEL SHARP and AARDVARK for a high speed run down the Broadklin River to The Lighthouse Restaurant for breakfast.

While having breakfast on the LIghthouse Restaurant deck, we happened to notice a nice power yacht tied up on the other side of the canal. Probably belongs to once of those fancy West Coast Sea Scout ships. (To read the full story of the motor yacht ANDIAMO, click here)

Back at the EAGLE Sea Base, Drew, Isaiah, and Zach contemplate their next move.

For Drew and Zach, it was trying to see how fast they could get the AARDVARK going.

The answer is: with a 90 hp motor, up on plane AARDVARK will do almost 40 mph.

Drew and Zack look pretty happy. Ah, the "need for speed."

So where can one go at high speed on the Broadkiln River? Answer: if you go UP river, you arrive at the village of Milton, DE. What's in Milton, DE you ask? Answer: one of the best ice cream parlors in the world. Did we get any ice cream? Need you ask...

Of course if you can go UP the river, you can also go DOWN the river, in this case to Roosevelt Inlet on Delaware Bay and then out to the inner breakwater wall, where we found these two dolphins, the original Sea Scouts, enjoying a fine summer day. Then it was down the Atlantic shore of Cape Henlopen past Fort Miles almost to Rehoboth and back. On the return trip, the ocean swells and a good wind combined to give AARDVARK substantial air time off the top of each wave. The motion of boats was such that no photos of the boats could be taken, so you'll just have to image AARDVARK flying along with Sea Scouts and boat suspended in mid-air. The landings, of course, were rough, but that's why Sea Scouts are tough.

"Okay, Mr. DeMille - I'm ready for my close up now." Actually, this is our Boatswain Leah, getting ready for the Toga Party.

Amanda and Leah talk girl talk, while our Sea Scout INTEL department attempts to intercept and translate.

Remember that crane in the background of the EAGLE Sea Base photo above? Well, Sea Scouts can get high on simple pleasures, like crane jumping. What is crane jumping you ask? Well, it's simple.

First, as Zach demonstrates here, you stand on a platform suspended beneath the crane.

Next you have the crane operator lift you up to the top of the crane, or as high as you feel comfortable.

Then you jump. (into deep water, of course)

Voila! One of the many reasons Sea Scouts have more fun. Are we nuts? Yes, probably.

Other high flyers include:

Mike

Leah

And Amanda. Boy, that girl can fly!

How high can you fly? Isaiah runs our altitude measurement department, and scientifically records the angle of each drop. With trigonometry, you could calculate ..... (oh, forget it - this is vacation!!)

What better way to celebrate an evening on the Broadkiln than with water skiing! As if we Sea Scouts couldn't get enough of the water. Here, Mike demonstrates the aquatic skill that has made him famous.

Was there more to the weekend? Yes, but as Mike tells our roving Sea Scout Action News Reporter, "You Had to Be There."

ANDIAMO

Here, courtesy of Mate Bill, and the Cape Gazette is the story of ANDIAMO, the huge motor yacht we saw docked at the Lewes City Dock on Saturday morning. At 139.5 feet in length, she is the largest vessel ever to tie up there.

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Cape Gazette • Covering Delaware's Cape Region | Tue, Aug 10, 2004

Expedition Motoryacht Andiamo calls on Lewes

By Dennis Forney

One of the world’s great expedition motoryachts sailed the high tide into Lewes Aug. 6 and tied up at the city dock to enjoy some of the First Town’s hospitality for the weekend. In turn, the 139.5-foot Andiamo drew hundreds and hundreds of people into town to marvel at the largest vessel to ever tie up at the dock.

Nancy Mueller, founder in 1977 of Nancy’s Specialty Foods in Newark, Ca., commissioned construction of the vessel which was christened in January of 2003. Her daughter, Carin, is married to John Rollins III whose family has deep roots in the Lewes community. John Rollins Sr. - now deceased - moved to Lewes from Georgia many decades ago and with a car dealership started the business empire that includes Rollins truck leasing and rentals, Dover Downs and other NASCAR tracks, and a wide variety of other national and international businesses.

“Andiamo is traveling the world and is on the east coast for the summer,” said John Rollins III. “We needed to show off Delaware and our home town of Lewes. So many people worked with us to make the visit possible, from the mayor to Capt. H.D. Parsons to members of the Pilots Association. Nancy was overwhelmed by everyone she met - the pleasant nature of everyone in Lewes. And the captain was too. They really enjoyed their stay in Lewes. The stop made sense. They were on their way from New York to Baltimore so they had to come right by. Then they’re headed for the Caribbean for the winter.”

Lewes Mayor Jim Ford said he has been in touch with Rollins for several weeks about he visit. “We explained that we have a no reservation policy for our city dock so we couldn’t make any promises. But we said we would work with them and it all worked out. When Andiamo came in, there were some other vessels at the dock. Through cooperation, we were able to find them docking at nearby docks, such as at Sam Gossage’s house next door to 1812 Park. Everyone involved was very pleasant and I think it worked out well for the town as well. A lot of people came into town to see the excitement.”

Ford noted that Andiamo’s captain made arrangements to follow Fisherman’s Wharf’s Thelma Dale IV into the canal with the rising tide Aug. 6 after the morning fishing trip. “The captain wanted to make sure he stayed in the channel to avoid running aground.” Ford said he was told that the $25 million vessel draws nine feet of water. The canal was dredged two years ago to a mean low water depth of 11 feet.

Rollins, who wanted to make a good impression on his mother-in-law, said he breathed a sigh of relief when he received a phone call saying the vessel was tied up safely at the dock.

Ford and other members of Lewes City Council toured the vessel Saturday morning, meeting the owner and captain. “It was the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ford. “Everything about it was absolutely gorgeous - the woodworking, the lighting, the decorating - the 12,000 CD music system, the multiple galleys and eating areas, the teak floors. The security system includes electric doors and pressure sensitive plates in the decking. When the system is turned on at night, alarms will activate if someone steps aboard and walks on the plates. I was also impressed by the captain’s breadth of knowledge - not only of the sea and seamanship, but of fire prevention and fighting, first aid and organization of the seven crew members. He showed us the extensive first aid system with items all packaged and numbered. Since the vessel may often find itself in waters where there are no medical facilities, they have a system of contacting a physician. The captain is then in charge of doing what the physician orders with the different numbered materials based on the diagnosis of the symptoms.”

Ford said Andiamo was “the talk of the town. Considering our town’s number one core value is its historic relationship with the sea, the efforts that it took to get this vessel in town says a lot for Lewes. All the correspondence we’ve had with the owners and crew have been very complimentary about Lewes.”

Shipbuilders at the Feadship/Royal Van Lent Shipyard in Holland constructed Andiamo. Owner Mueller played a strong role in the vessel’s design including galleys and eating areas that emphasize the sociable aspects of preparing and eating meals. That’s not surprising from a woman whose Nancy Specialty Foods company manufactures and distributes frozen appetizers, quiches and desserts to supermarkets and warehouse stores throughout the US and Canada. She also asked that her main stateroom be amidships where there is less rock and roll than in the traditional bow location for many staterooms. Mueller reportedly made the maiden voyage aboard the vessel when it left Holland and then motored south across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal and up the coast of California. The steel-hulled vessel was also constructed with an ice belt two feet above and two feet below its waterline which means there is - in Andiamo’s case - 50 percent more steel in than in the rest of the hull to protect against ice damage in colder waters and floating debris. The vessel carries 15,712 gallons of diesel fuel to give it a range of 4,150 nautical miles between refills. Powered by two 720 horsepower Caterpillar diesels, she cruises at 11 knots with a top speed of 14. Her beam measures 20.2 feet.

Mayor Ford presented a flag of Lewes to Andiamo. After her captain eased the vessel away from the dock near the top of the Aug. 8 flood tide at the end of her visit, she passed the Lightship Overfalls where many people stood on the bow to give a final salute. Councilwoman Barbara Vaughn blew the Overfalls whistle and, in true nautical fashion, Andiamo returned the Overfalls’ salute. The Lewes flag presented earlier was flying from Andiamo’s stern.

“Maybe somewhere along her world tour the captain will pop up the Lewes flag in some exotic land and the crew can tell the people there about Andiamo’s visit to Lewes,” said Ford.

Citation: Citation: http://capegazette.com/storiescurrent/0804/bigyacht080604.html

"Andiamo", by the way, means "we go" in Italian, according to online Babelfish translator. Just thought you'd want to know.

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