Calling all Sea Scouts

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- It was the mid 1930s and they were young Sea Scouts off

on an adventure to the South Pacific.

Each year, 25 young men in the Sea Scouts, the nautical program of the

Boy Scouts of America, would set sail with the M.S. Stranger for a

seven-month voyage with Captain Fred E. Lewis.

They were learning everything there was to know about sailing. They were

seeing the world and getting paid $10 a month -- which for a young man

during the depression was quite good, said John Blaich, a former Sea

Scout.

It wasn’t until 20 years after their return, that the boys, now men, said

they learned they were aiding the war effort.

“We were updating nautical charts of the South Pacific,” said Victor

Alleman, a former Sea Scout who sailed with the M.S. Stranger in 1936.

“What we were really doing, which we didn’t know until 20 years after we

came back, was helping the war movement. The last charts of the area

before that, were done by Captain Cook.”

These were just some of the fantastic stories shared by four men who were

Sea Scouts in the 1930s who answered a call to all Sea Scouts in Orange

County, heralded by the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America. The

call was sent out in an effort to expand the programs’ alumni base.

So far, the organization’s three month search has turned up 23 Sea

Scouts.

Julie McComb, who was a Sea Scout on the all female ship the Triton in

the early 1980s, saw a notice about the search in her church newsletter.

She in turn called up her old scout mate Julia Hughes.

The effort to build up an alumni will culminate on June 9 with the

Opening Day Reception of the Boy Scouts Sea Base in Newport Beach.

Although opening day receptions are held every year by all yacht clubs,

the Scouts are trying to make this year extra special for them.

The purpose of this effort is to reunite Sea Scouts, building a strong

support system for the program and to raise money for the youth programs,

said Cristin Poda, spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts of America.

Programs at the sea base are open to boys and girls of all ages. It

serves 28,000 people each year, 14,000 of whom are not scouts, Poda said.

Each scout returned to the fold had a different memory to share and

different lesson learned.

McComb and Hughes fondly remembered the victories of sailing races won,

Alleman has his memories of walking on hot coals in Fiji. Blaich said it

taught him the work ethics, which he still employs today.

“It taught me to understand what a days work was,” he said. “In those

days we didn’t have coffee breaks. We learned you don’t fiddle around

when you have work to do -- you get it done and don’t dilly dally.”

FYI

If you are a former Sea Scout, know someone who was or want more

information, call (714) 546-4990, Ext. 147 and speak with Cristin Poda,

or write to Sea Scout Search Orange County Council Boy Scouts of America,

3590 Harbor Gateway North, Costa Mesa, 92626.