Bear456

The Out Island Adventure is the "more" adventurous one. Our group just came back from Out Island, and the kids enjoyed it, and I have to admit i had reservations because I am not a fan of having to be uncomfortable, but i actually enjoyed myself and my time on the island and the program activities that we did on the Out Island Adventure. The Keys Adventure runs most of the same activities that you do on Out Island, but you spend your nights in air conditioned dorms instead of camping on the island (although you do camp one night on Munson with Keys Adventure) It's a lot of work for the staff members to put on their program on the island, and everyone of them did an excellent job.

That was the first thread I found about Sea Base, so thank you very much for that one, I did find another Sea Base thread several pages down. Good point on having a van for hurricane evacuation. I was wondering how that contingency was covered in the event of a hurricane while out on the island. How much gear are we allowed to take out to the island?

So the swim test at Sea Base is the standard BSA swim test? jump in the pool and do the 4 laps and float for a minute? Someone mentioned that the paddle to Big Munson was no joke, so no preparation is needed other than everyone needs to paddle? How long does this paddle take to cover the 6 miles to the island? I'm looking at the chart and I'm trying to figure out how we get from Brinton to Munson or someone from sea base takes care of the navigation and we follow a boat out there?

I was thinking like 10 or 15-pax van when I saw limo. Some of those Mercedes Sprinter vans that some hotels run are pretty nice. and overkill IMO, but I'm just looking for transportation from the airport to Sea Base and back to the airport at the end. I didn't know if Sea Base had space to park a van for the whole week we will be on Munson Island. so it seemed like a waste to rent a van from a rental company for the whole week when all it would do is sit at Sea Base for Days 2-6 and only be used on Day 1 and Day 7. The rental car companies I'm looking at 11 months out are quoting about $1300 for a 15-pax van for a week rental. Although at work my employer contracted for a shuttle van to transport us from point A to point B, and a stretch limo with a fully stocked bar showed up - not the normal Sprinter. So that was pretty nice.

Hello, My troop signed up for an Out Island Adventure in 202 at the Florida area Base. I have a whole bunch of questions for those who have had crews out there. lve found found a few threads from previous crews and I am grateful for them What training did crews do for Out Island.? How do you prepare for the boat trip out to Big Munson Island? what does the swim test consist of at Sea Base. Our Scouts are all swimmer. But for some reason I think if some of our scouts are “barely” making swimmer, then other than putting scouts on a swim training program for this next year? for snorkeling, is it just enough to have kids pick up any snorkeling gear? for now I’ve been focused on logistics getting to from sea base. Our crew is planning on flying into Key West instead of Fort Lauderdale. We found a house on Big Pine Key to house the crew for the night before, hit up the Winn Dixie on Big pine Key for groceries for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning before then taking the bus/ public transit from Big Pine Key to Summerland Key to get to the Brinton Environmental Center at 1300. or would it be better to rent a 15 passenger van from a rental company and park the van at the brinton? Is there place to leave our van at Seabase for the week? Instead of chartering a van from Key west to Big Bine Key and from Brinton back to Key West at the end of our trip? I understand that sea base provides a camp stove for our 4 nights on Big Munson Island, but are we responsible for providing our food or what are we cooking? I saw the post that says it gets cold on the island at night and that it might be possible to have hammocks, and the smell… So I am grate for any info thanks in advance.

Hello all, I am Steve in Hewitt Texas. I am so glad I came across this forum last night. I am a first time Bear Den leader for 9 active, energetic Bear Scouts. I was very apprehensive taking on the role of the Den Leader last summer, but that apprehension has been unwarranted with the support I've gotten from the parents and having the Den Leader's guide has made my role fun and much easier than I thought. I am glad to find another resource to help and to find out that I am not alone in some of the problems I've read about in the forums. Which leads me to my first question in my one post that I am allowed to make until I'm approved to post more... I am trying to do Grin and Bear It, and am wondering if having a Cake Walk violates the BSA stance on no games of chance for fund raising. Grin and Bear It is a Cub Scout carnival and I was thinking about having parents each bring cake/cupcakes and we'd play the game, but we don't intend on charging anything to play the game, so we're not running a fund raiser, but it is still a game of chance. We run the game for each cake that is brought and whoever wants to play can play, no one is forced to play. Thanks and I look forward to reading more.