Seacrest Course!

Hmm, What about that Seacrest Course? Ari's first course in the 'glades! And judging by this image it gave her food for thought. Ari worked the course with Alan Coulter. Dave Genova paired up with Jo Higgins. For both Dave and Jo this was the second outing of the season. Jenny Reeves teamed up with Mark Wulff and to round out the line-up Chavo and Marya co-instructed. Julie Springsteen held down the home front as CD. While Luiz made a guest appearence as the logistics manager.

Of course we started with some name games... Started at Smallwoods Store, Chavo and Marya busted out some dance moves for their name game.

And there is the classic first night on the boards. This shot of Alan Coulter and crew was taken on a new route, Lockbox Creek. Discovered last season via a google earth recon, Lockbox Creek connects Hwy41 to Faka Union Canal. The first crew to paddle the creek last season found a lock box along the route. The box bore no treasure, but the name stuck.

The expeditions took crews to the Pumpkin River Shell Mound-

And to the beaches of Pavilion Key -

The day before course end

I decided to take a break at 2 pm. Jeff, Steve and Diana are safely in Nassau, Bahamas by now. Hopefully they make it to Georgetown this evening. There is some weather heading their way and hopefully it will be over by course start.
Luiz and I picked up a van which Vanessa drove down. 10 action packers full to the brim from the food huts in N.C. I don't know who packed the van but they did an impeccable job. There was even a full mummy of sleeping bags wedged into the passenger seat. I didn't feel lonely while driving it to the Everglades from Miami. I am sure Vanessa loved having an extra friend along for the ride. But really back to the packing of the van. It was amazing how much was in that vehicle and you could still see out one back window and the use the mirrors. AMAZING. Thanks to all involved with getting this load down to us. It is great to be able to use all this food and not have to buy more. I am set for Pine School!!!
The day is a perfect everglades day. It is hot and sunny, low humidity and a light but sustained wind that is strong enough to blow the bugs away. I am going to have to take my lunch on the dock. I am going to try to add a video to this post. We shall see how it works. I just want to share this perfect day I hope you see a little friend at the end.
cheers!

Monday November 12, 2007

by - Anne Lovett

Hey, it's course start day! Seacrest High School in Naples sent 4 crew of students. We have some new faces working and some returning staff. The pairings are Marya and Chavo, Dave G. and Jo Jo, Alan C. and Ariana, Mark and The General. We have a great group of folks here! Julie is doing a great job herding these cats. What a wonderful time was had by all during pre course. We had a smooth food pack out the first day and Anne had everything available, except for one oddball request of relish. Lots of folks were using the contact paper to make cards to go out on course. Talk of recipe cards/cookbook for the everglades is going around. Loading party the second day and I think nothing was forgotten. We'll find out during debrief. We have new equipment this year, VHF radios are now issued gear and as such the safety brief includes a show and tell. The radios are great as they have a distress signal if one needs to contact the coast guard as well as being a weather radio. Folks are learning the alphabet all over again. It is good to work for November Charlie Oscar Bravo Sierra. The staff also were able to try the expired flares. That is always a good time!

Course start was over at the Everglades National Park. The students were a bit late for the 10 am. course start time but better late than never. When the students were assembled in a circle Julie gave a bit of NCOBS history and a talk on the 4 pillars and how the students can try on these ideas while in the field. They then broke off into their crews and began their journey. It was amazing that even though we have a skeleton homefolk group we were able to pull off 4 mobile course starts. This made Carlie the dog so happy as she was able to run around the island all day long!

A huge thank you! goes out to: Luiz who is working so hard in the roll of top logi/site, Jeff who is trying to get Bahamas, budget, program and logi work done each day and Julie who is picking up lots of the slack logi-ing, airport runs, CD-ing...This fall has been full of days where I don't know how we get so much accomplished and the time off is cherished.

Welcome to Sunset Island!

Welcome back to everyone inbound to Sunset Island for the 2007-08 season. We have just successfully completed the Oak Hall Course Block under sunny skies with hi temps in the 80's and lows in the 60's. The moon is waning and the near total darkness looking southward towards the Gulf of Mexico is highlighting all the winter constellations. Yep, the season is upon us and we can't wait to see all the returning staff and introduce the new faces to our amazing course area. The image included is of our basecamp (bottom center) looking SSW down Indian Key Pass, across the Ten Thousand Islands, and on to the Gulf of Mexico - visible as a thin blue strip where the curvature of the earth blends water and air.

See you in the Everglades!

The Damage...

Here is a closer look at the damage...

"No Wake"

Just before circling up for dinner in the lodge tonight, we hear a thud out on the water. Jeff, working in Bridge Office, office heard a boat cruising up and down the river fast enough to be on plane (the river is a no wake zone). The offending craft did not have their running lights on, and it was already dark. After the thud all went quiet for a few seconds , then we could hear some cursing, some giggling, and a starter motor attempting in vain to bring an outboard back to life. No luck, the voices in the dark finally drifted to the vacant docks across from ours. With no moon above we tried in vain to figure out what was going on by scanning the darkness with binoculars. When they arrived at the vacant docks the light from our front porch spotlights finally afforded us a glimpse at the scene. A white, vee hulled power boat with a 250hp Johnson and shiney "T" top had the No Wake Zone sign wedged on its bow. Four to five people were scurring about the area. Efforts were underway to start the motor and remove the "No Wake" sign. A Collier County Sherriff Officer arrived at the scene within 30 minutes. The officer caught the group trying to escape down the dock, but his flashlight ran out of batteries. He told them, 'Stay there, and don't move' as he walked back to his car to get new batteries for his flashlight. Cornered on the dock, with the Sherriff seconds away, a second boat steathily drifted onto the scene from upriver. The second boat, also running without lights, pulled up along side the the dock, took on the addition crew, and slipping back into the night. When the Sherriff returned with his light he found only the damaged boat with the "No Wake" sign mounted in it's bow. After the scene settled, we boarded the school's ferry boat and ventured off to see the damage close up.

Later in the evening Sea Tow arrived, pryed the "No Wake" sign off the bow, and towed the offending boat out Indian Key Pass. The evenings events left us doubting we will ever hear the conclusion of the story and wondering how long it will take to replace the "No Wake" sign that so many people choose to ignore. The wakes can only get worse with our sign missing.

Fall 2007 WorkWeek - THANKS!

Josh, Anne, Chavo, Carlie, Jeff want to shout out a huge,

THANK YOU!


to all the work week participants.


Anne posted some images from the weekend on her Flickr site. Please click on the link below to veiw the images. http://www.flickr.com/photos/18274640@N08/



Here is an abbrviated list of the projects completed Between Thursday October 25 and Monday October 29.

· Test all smoke detectors and replace units & batteries as needed
· Move “bathtub” planter and plant vegetables & herbs
· Paint the tops of all dock pilings to prevent water damage
· Re-attach dock gangways (removed to avoid possible storm damage)
· Replace missing dock boards
· Treat all exterior docks and decks with Thompsons water seal
· Sink all raised nail heads on docks and decks
· Remove or open storm shutters on all Sunset Island Buildings
· Fall cleaning of all community spaces and rooms (dust, sweep, mop)
· Complete construction of replacement deck on rear of main lodge (previous deck destroyed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005)
· Create concrete footers for upcoming repair and expansion of deck on rear or shop (existing deck damaged in Hurricane Wilma in 2005)
· Install new lights in main lodge kitchen
· Repair leak in hot water heater lines in main lodge
· Install new ceiling fans in dining room in main lodge
· Re-install lattice work around main lodge foundation (removed to avoid possible storm damage)
· Set up and test fire pump system
· Replace rotten siding on fire pump shed
· Cut back all shrubs and limbs touching buildings
· Cut back grasses and evasive plant species encroaching on yard
· Mow grass
· Organize, inventory, and hang ferry PFDs, Paddles, and boat fenders
· Clean Flood Shed and store all sea kayak gear and coolers in shed
· Move North Canoes from storage behind Food Hut and store in yard
· Move Sea Kayaks into storage behind Food Hut
· Move wooden decking onto footers behind the warehouse.
· Shuttle field equipment from vans, trailers, and various places on basecamp to warehouse
· Inspect and inventory all dome tents – replace parts as needed
· Assemble and test all field stoves
· Inventory and restock 4 first aid kits for crews in the field
· Inventory and Restock 8 flare kits for crews in field
· Inventory and restock 4 crew bins for upcoming November and December courses
· Set up four sets of drying lines for student de-issue stations
· Mag & Sunfish fiberglass hull repairs.
· Launch Jon boat

Mark your calendars the Spring 2008 Sunset Island Work Week is scheduled for Friday April 4th through Monday April 7th. We welcome all volunteers to come help us close up Sunset Island and share in our community.