FL Semester Phase course start

International Semester Students arrive from NC!

The Everglades welcomed the International Semester students on Monday, November 1st for their 2nd phase.  The welcome party included Trish, Julie, Kat, and of course thousands of excited mosquitos!

After arriving in Fort Lauderdale the students headed to Homestead for their Swim test.  They all passed swimmingly and headed to Robert is Here. 

Sadly, Robert was not there and will not be there until November 3rd for all those interested in knowing.  Once arriving in Flamingo, everyone crowded into the bug tent that Julie and Kat so graciously set up. 

Pita pizzas eased their tired and hungry bellies.  Soon after eating everyone gladly laid their weary heads down for the evening.  Visions of dolphins, manatees, and panthers danced in their heads. 

Duffle Shuffle commenced the following morning and the students were introduced to their surroundings for the coming weeks.  Some were very eager to try out  fresh coconut milk and were very creative with ways to extract it.  After loading all the gear back into the vehicles, the students were ready to be transported to the put-in.  

Everyone was in awe of the beauty of Flamingo! Julie and Kat left the students, Trish, and Jimbo with happy hearts!  Good luck semester and we will see you at resupply!

Blog entry by: Kat Triplett

Fall 2010 Work Weekend Project List

This weekend, Friday, November 5 through Sunday, November 7.  Sunset Island will be hosting it's semi-annual Work Weekend.  We are preparing in earnest and eagerly awaiting the arrival of all the Work Weekend volunteers. Currently there are 26 confirmed participants, a mixture of alumni, staff, and friends of the Outward Bound School.  Here is a link to the current project list - Fall 2010 Work Weekend Project List .

We will post a report post work weekend of the projects completed along with a photo album of the progress, sweat, and laughs.

Please contact Program Director, Jeff Lovett, via email, JLovett@ncobs.org if you are interesting in receiving information about future Sunset Island or NCOBS Work Weekend Dates.

Let the projects begin...

FL Semester Phase Precourse

We are into day two of precourse preparations for the FL Phase of the fall semester course.  Julie Springsteen is working behind the scenes as course director.   Trish Haitz is co-instructing with Jimbo Schley. Jimbo is still in NC with the crew, but Trish is here in FL  course planning...seen below working on her 72 hour plan.

Meanwhile our new Logistics Manager - Kat Triplett is growing familiar with the field libraries in the front office.

The semester students fly into Fort Lauderdale on Monday and will drive directly to Flamingo to begin their 15 day canoe expedition.  So the season begins here on Sunset Island.  I'll sign off with a parting image of our first gear pile of the 2010-11 season all wrapped up and awaiting tomorrow morning's loading party...

Can you hear me now?

We are making steady progress towards opening up the base on most fronts.   Despite open box surgery on the heart of the phone system we are still without our primary phone lines.

We're Back!

Anne and I arrived on Sunset Island a few days ago.  The base looks great due in no small part to the efforts of the 2010 caretakers Billy and Shannon Snyder.  All the major systems are up and running except the phones.  If you need to contact us please use the ferry phone 239.695.0014.  We are working with Sanjay to repair the phone system and hope to have it back online by next week.

The staff working the FL Fall Semester Phase will begin arriving next week; our first students arrive on November 1; and the Fall 2010 Work Weekend is scheduled for November 5-7.  There is so much to get done so the updates may be few, but we will do our best to keep everyone updated.

FL Programs 2009-10 Photo Album

Trish and I have spent the last couple days working on the FL Programs 2010-11 staffing.  Reviewing work requests, professional summaries, and work histories is dredging up memories from past seasons.  These memories and a renewed excitement for the upcoming season inspired me to post an album of images from last season.  Enjoy... FL Programs 2009-10

2010-04-08 FL Spring 2010 WW

Thanks to all the volunteers and staff that chipped in to make the Spring 2010 Work Weekend a success.  Please follow the link to the right under the Photo Albums Heading to view pictures from the weekend.