SEBASTIAN — The Sea Scouts of Ship 501 based in Sebastian continue to be landlocked after the No Name Hurricane of October severely damaged all three of the organization’s boats docked at Mulligan’s Beach House and Restaurant. The Scouts are now raising money to repair the damage and find a better home for the boats.
“Right now, we’re kind of boatless,” Skipper Wayne Newland told the audience at the LoPresti Aviation First Saturday Charity Breakfast.
The group’s 33-foot Columbia sailboat lost four feet from its nose, ground off by the dock from the thrashing waves associated with the storm.
The 25-foot Erickson sailboat lost its mast and its stays were broken. And the 26-foot Chris Craft motorboat lost its solid roof.
All three boats need a trailer for transport and hull insurance – an expense the Sea Scouts have yet to be able to bear. They also want to move their boats north to the Sebastian Inlet Marina, where they would be better protected.
“It’s not a cheap thing,” Skipper Newland said of maintaining boats, a miscalculation when the Sea Scouts Ship 501 was formed not quite three years ago.
The group is the largest in the Sea Scout Council, which includes Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Glades and Hendry Counties.
Bryan Throm, 16, who has been in the Sea Scouts for almost two years, said nautical Scouting appealed more to him than the traditional camping style of Scouting.
“It seemed the Boy Scout Troops I’ve been in weren’t really my thing,” he said, explaining that he was more interested in learning about boats and boating. “I’ve met some really cool people.”
Not being able to go out into the water has put a damper on the Sea Scouts, who are now relegated to working on their knots, rather than their boats.
For Seaman Throm, that means taking a break from the water, a place that has caused him angst in the past but has since overcome due to his involvement with the Sea Scouts.
“I tended to stay out of the ocean,” he said of his life prior to joining the Scouts. Now, “I fear the water a lot less.”
Catlyn Cole, a 16-year-old Yeoman with Sea Scout Ship 501, is not keen on boating but joined the organization just the same.
“I really felt devastated,” she said of learning about the boats’ conditions after the storm had cleared. “These boats meant a lot to us.”
She said the crew had recently finished painting the boats and making other improvements just prior to the storm.
Skipper Newland estimates that Sea Scout Ship 501 will need to raise several thousand dollars to make the necessary repairs and relocate the boats, which was the reason for being the beneficiary of the LoPresti breakfast.
Another fundraiser has been scheduled for Saturday Feb. 25 starting at 5 p.m. at the Sebastian VFW Post 10210. There will be an $8 North Carolina-style barbecue dinner with all the trimmings. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the Scouts.
Both the Sebastian VFW and the Sebastian American Legion Post 189 sponsor the Sea Scouts, providing the majority of the funding the Scouts receive.
Anyone interested in assisting Sea Scout Ship 501 is encouraged to call Skipper Wayne Newland at (772) 388-6677.
