Camp Emerald Bay, Day 4

Greetings,
It's hard to believe that we are halfway done with our trip.  Things have gone very, very smoothly thanks to Matt's great leadership as SPL, and the cooperativeness and work ethic of the rest of the group.  This morning I asked Matt what he thought was the biggest factor in this week going so smoothly, he responded immediately with, "delegating".  Some examples of this are the following:  Matt named Stewart the 'Camp Fire Marshall', and he maintains a checkoff chart that includes an inspection component that relates to fire safety and the campsite fire extinguisher.  Justin is the 'Camp Inspector', and he encourages others to keep the camp clean, as we get inspected by the staff each day and earn points.  Zach was named the 'Camp Values Coordinator', and he maintains a 'Scouting Ideals worksheet with everyone's names, and leads a discussion of how the scouts have been demonstrating the ideals throughout their day.  After 2 days of being called last or second to last for most meals, David was assigned to 'Meal Duty Director', and he's assigned waiters to all of the meals and enforces them (arrival early to mess duty, etc...  Today, we were called first to breakfast and were one of the first groups called to get lunch.  Matt continues to find ways to involve and empower the other scouts by giving them specific duties and titles tied to our camp responsibilities.  So far, it's been working and the kids are gelling well.

Here are a few words/observations of the others:

The merit badge work is going well.  The Oceanography kids are working together tonight to get their 500 word essays done, as we have War Canoe tomorrow.

Ethan is doing well, is happy with his classes (especially Environmental Science), and just bought a fancy Emerald Bay Knife (thanks, Mom and Dad).  He's also been helping Mr. Finley with the blog, on occasion. 

Cody and Palmer are 'going with the flow' and just plugging through their tasks.  I noticed that Cody has already made 2 baskets and a stool.

Brock is 'Mr. Mellow', and is so easy to get along with.  He won our lunchtime 'frisbee throwing competition'.  He seems to be the most organized with his Oceanography essay on a type of sea turtle.

Cole is fitting in well and seems to be fitting in well and enjoying his camp experience, despite being finicky about the food. Tonight he DID eat the stroghanoff dinner, and seemed to like it! 

Stewart has been a huge mentor and big help for many of our younger scouts, including Max.  Max has seemed relatively happy and positive about his classes.  Tonight he is working on getting a bow built for his Archery MB. 

Ben has been really helpful and positive to the scouts, as well.  He also bought a cool knife, and is having a blast in his Kayaking class despite having issues with capsizing and cracking his Kayak today.

Josh is always smiling and seems to be on a 'high' every time I see him.  He went on a Bike Ride about an hour ago (4pm) with Matt, Palmer, Stewart, Max, and maybe one or two others.  He's having a blast, especially with Dad being here.  As of 7pm, he had completed most of his challenging Oceanography essay on Great White Sharks -- super!

Mr. Finley is doing a lot of sailing.  Today he was assigned the task of taking two younglings who had capsized 3 times during their first outing of the week.  We managed NOT to capsize today.  I also spent part of the afternoon/evening working with kids on their Oceanography essays (namely Josh).  

Mr. Thiry is 'Mr. Snorkeling' and 'Mr. War Canoe'.  He has been busy readying the troop for tomorrow's trip.  He's the right guy for this job, as he's already finagled getting spices, butter, and other special ingredients for our beach campout dinner.  We've been told to start dinner early, bring mattresses, and be prepared for damp conditions. 

Mr. Cook has been 'Mr. Supportive', and is always offering support to the kids.  He and Mr. Thiry continue to take all of the adult training classes.  Mr. Cook and Mr. Finley did the Adult Leader Archery Shoot and Astronomy hike last night -- it was a ton of fun!

We'll, we have to get up tomorrow at 6am to pack up and row our canoes 8 miles to Parson's Beach.  This 'War Canoe' day involves hiking, snorkeling, and making meals, as well.  We'll spend the night on the beach, awake at 5am Friday morning, then canoe back to Camp Emerald Bay.

Forgive any typos...
~Brian Finley

David waiting for his Lifesaving MB?? class.

Troop Kayak

Sailing Class

Getting ready for the Kayak MB Class

That's not a knife, THIS is a knife (in a box)!

Looking Good in our Class A's.  We 'dress up' for every dinner.

Morey Eels in the Camp Oceanography/Aquarium Building

Leopard Sharks, Horn Skarks, Rays, ... in the Camp Aquarium

Waiting in line for waffle breakfast

?!

What a fine looking crew!

Camp EmBay Day 3

Tuesday, July 30, 10am; by Brian Finley
Greetings! Apologies, but it has taken the computer literally 3 hours to download the pictures posted in our earlier post. The computer keeps crashing, and there are network issues. I will try to post a few more right now, before my sailing outing. Update: The breakfast burritos were delicious this morning. They were massive, and we had a few boys eat 3! The kids are busy in their session 1 Merit Badge classes, Mr. Cook is in training for Leadership Skills, I'm here in the same room with that training (cracking up every few minutes at the trainer's jokes), and Mr. Thiry is snorkling in the middle of the bay with his snorkling buddy Mike (another parent from the LA area).

Mr. Thiry and Cook went through a lot of the leadership trainings yesterday (the same ones I went through my first year here at EmBay). I spent about 5 hours in the dual-session MB class (I was the only adult participant). I had a great time with the kids. The highlight was directing the 3 kids on our small Catalina 14.2 boat about a mile offshore. The scout operating the tiller was a little inexperienced, and we ended up capsizing the boat. We tried to right the boat for about 25 minutes. It was comical, tiring, and challending, as the seas were somewhat rough at that time. In my 20s, I could right a Holder 14 in about a minute by myself. These Catalinas are much harder! We did it, though, without losing any shoes, hats, nor sunglasses!

As I mentioned in my email yesterday, the highlight of the day was our troop kayaking trip. We kayaked to the south part of the bay, where the kids turned our relaxing trip into a capsize-fest. I first became aware of the situation when I saw Zach paddling for his life (as if he's just seen a shark!). I managed to stay afloat and avoid the transgressors. It was a hilarious situation. Even a post-capsized, swimming Ethan tried to coax me close to him, saying, "Mr. Finley, I'm your friend. Please give me a ride. You can trust ME. PLEASE!" I wasn't about to fall for that! I paddled away from him, and the first thing I noticed as I looked back at him was that he had a huge grin on his face.

I'll try posting some pics, now, but if it's still slow, I may have to try again later today. Cheers.

Emerald Campfire Ampitheater

Greetings from Camp Emerald Bay, July 2013

From Ethan Somers: Hello anxious adults out the wondering about your kids' safety. You will be glad to know that your kids are all okay and fit as fiddles! We have had lots of fun swimming surviving in the wilderness and such. We even had a few laughs when someone took a seat on a cactus!!! I believe the boys most enjoyed kayaking. They were continuously flipping the others' over and then swimming to the attacker and doing the same to him! Some new scouts in our troop have delicate tastes and won't eat the food. This one particular scout is surviving off Cliff Bars. Here are some pictures of us boarding the boat and enjoying fun activities on the island.

~Tuesday, 7/30/13 7:45am, From Brian Finley
Yes, there seems to be one scout who is not eating as much of the food as the others, however, the vast majority are pigging out on seconds and often thirds at most meals. The food is quite good. For instance, last night we had chicken breasts with potatos, gravy, broccoli, salad, and a piece of cake. Hopefully by now, all of you have received my emails regarding our first two days. Ethan and I are in the process of trying to download a couple dozen pictures. The techology here operates very, very slowly, so bear with us. I'll write more later. ~Brian

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Departure Time!

One final picture for the parents before we leave...

Waiting for our boat.  We lucked out and were selected to ride on the third of three boats!  The two+ hour wait actually passed pretty quickly as kids played frisbee, ate, got organized, and clowned around.

Despite the long wait, the kids had a great time joking and playing around.

Clowning around while waiting for our boatride.



Finally leaving to board our Catalina Express ride.



The largest of the 3 boats which ferried kids to the camp.  We were on this boat.  This was taken shortly after we arrived.  A smaller boat brought us in shifts to the camp dock. 

Arrival at the dock.

Camp Newport, our camp, which is the furthest camp from the parade field.  It's a gorgeous setting, with gently rolling hills similar to the Central California coast.

Scouts basking in the sun, waiting for the troop kayaking trip.

The parade field (as viewed from the dining hall porch).

The right side of the bay (kayaking and small boat sailing area).

This is the dining hall (faces eastward towards the parade field and bay).

NYLT thoughts

After coming back from NYLT each boy wrote something about what they did there and what it meant to them. Here are their thoughts.

Matt:

NYLT was an interesting experience. There was a lot to do and a lot to learn. It was however really fun. For one, at the beginning of the week you’re separated from boys in your troop and put into groups of random boys from different troops. For me I was the oldest by 2 years, I was even older than the staff member assigned to my patrol. The staff was great with plenty of different people, some of which I exchange videogame names with and still play with. Over all it was a great experience to go through with Zach and David and I recommend anyone who wants to become the SPL one day to go and really participate in NYLT.

 

David:

NYLT was a very good experience. Looking back, I am glad that I attended. The staff was great and had been together working for eight months which meant that they really knew their stuff. My favorite part was the meals, because the food was great and very organized. Yes cleaning was a pain and the raccoons where extremely obnoxious, but those were the only real downsides of NYLT. I encourage all the scouts to attend as it is a great experience and looks fantastic on a resume.

 

Zach:

NYLT was a great experience for me.  I learned about leadership, camaraderie, teaching skills, and lots more.  Some of my favorite things where playing dragon tales, getting to know my patrol, working together to complete our vision, and singing the moose song with Matt and I hope I can bring some of the fun to the upcoming end of summer ILST leadership course for our troop.  There were some things that I didn't really like, doing dishes, but over all it was a great experience and I encourage you to go. 

Summer 2013 Nominations

The following Candidates have declared:

Senior Patrol Leaders
          Justin Chung

Patrol Leaders (need 2)
          Palmer Finley
          Zach Redmond
          Ethan Somers
          Nathaniel Marquez

Scribe

Librarian
     Daniel Marquez

Webmasters
     Thomas Godden

Chaplains Aid
     Ben Roderick

Instructors
     Cody Finely
     Brock Singley
     David Divjak

If anyone else wants to run contact Matt immediately.

Elections will be held at the July 9th Merit Badge Outline workshop.

Workshop will be in the Divjak's barn on Tuesday July 9 starting at 1 pm

If you can't be there in person to cast your vote please contact Matt Adams, Mr. Adams or Mr. Gamble and let us know who you want to vote for.