Glassdraggon Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 Hello fellow Scouters! My name is Rod Campbell and I am an Eagle Scout aswell as a Sea Scout who is approaching the rank of Able Seaman. I'm one of the youth crew about the Sea Scout Ship (SSS) Odyssey which is based out of Tacoma Washington. The Odyssey is a 90 Ft sailing yawl with a mast towering over the water at 105 Ft in the air. Odyssey was built as a massive racing yatch in 1934 for by one of the wealthy Vanderbilts in New York. She was designed for racing and is one of the fastest ships in her class! Every summer between July and Auguest we sail to the San Juan islands and run week long charters for boy scout troops! Your troop would leave from Friday Harbor on San Juan island and sail with us for a full week! Consider this the ultimate summer camp. I have been to over 12 summer camps in the U.S. (including the National Jamboree) and NOTHING compares to a week on the Odyssey. By the 3rd day we hand the ship over to your Troop and you are take control. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! You will spend the week learning: deck leadership, navigation, large boat sailing, small boat sailing (we also have smaller sailboats on board), emergency preparedness, nautical first aid, sail trim, sail repair, nautical history, local marine biology, rules of the road, rowing, marlinspike seamanship, and piloting! You can also earn small boat sailing and rowing merit badges! So this costs a fortune right? Wrong! For one week and 12 people the cost is only $8000 or roughtly $665 per person. Compare this to Sea Base (a fantastic program). Sea Base not only costs significantly more money but it also does not allow you the freedom that Odyssey allows. For the week that you charter Odyssey- the ship is in YOUR hands! We still have openings for Summer 2005 and we can also book you for '06-'08. Check out our new website at www.SSSOdyssey.org See you soon! -Rod Campbell Eagle Scout Able Seaman P.S. The money we earn through charters goes directly towards maintaining our program and the historic ship itself, so by chartering Odyssey you are not only having the time of your life and attaining an incredible amount of knowledge- you are also supporting an incredible cause! This ship is also entirely youth led and youth run. Charters are also considered High Adventure and are therefore open to scouters 14 and up. ********************************************************************** Interesting Odyssey stuff: *We are the flag ship for the 2005 Tacoma Tall Ships Festival! We will be featured alongside a 300+ ft Russian sailing ship, a 160+ ft Mexican Naval training vessel, and the ship seen in Pirates Of The Carribean. Check that out at - www.tallshipsfestival.com *Also featured in Scouting Magazine.- http://www.seascout.org/graphics/history/sc9203-1.jpg *Odyssey has been to Cuba to visit Ernest Hemmingway and has also ventured to the Galapagos Islands. *Odyssey was commandeered by the United States Navy during WWII to search for submarines in the Atlantic using experimental sonar sounding devices. *Odyssey was bought by BSA for $1 in 1978 *Odyssey is a sea scout program open to boys and girls between 14 and 21. *Odyssey is estimated at being worth $1.5 Million even today! *Odyssey can cruise past nearly all the other ships at an incredible 13-14 knots! *Odyssey has one of the largest masts on the West Coast and very probably has the largest mast of any Yawl in the U.S. (a type of sailboat). *Odyssey is literally the only program of it's kind in the world. *If you are between 14 and 21 and live in the Tacoma, Seattle, Olympia area- join up! More questions on Odyssey, it's history, or our program? Email me at goldendraggon@hotmail.com! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGreyEagle Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 See thread in High Adventure/Camping section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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