In 2002, to honor the 90th anniversary of Sea Scouts, BoatUS, the nation’s largest recreational boating organization, instituted the annual Sea Scout National Flagship Award. This recognizes the Sea Scout Ships that excel in all areas of Sea Scouting. Additional ships that exhibit excellence in their Sea Scout program can be selected for the National Flagship Fleet. This year, Ship 502 “Invincible” from Sam Houston Area Council was awarded the National Flagship. For the first time in Alamo Area Council history, a Ship was awarded the honor of being selected for the National Flagship Fleet with three other Ships from across the United States. Sea Scout Ship 26 “Alamo” was awarded this honor. Ship 26’s Charter Organization is the Texas Transportation Museum.
Selection of the National Flagship Fleet was for the activities of the Ship from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. Boatswain Eirik Sutton, under the leadership of Skipper Shawn Sawyer, spearheaded the effort to apply for this distinction. The criteria follow the Journey to Excellence scorecard and emphasizes excellence in on-the-water activities, advancement, training, recognition, community service, leader professional development, growth and recruiting. Along with the application, the Ship must submit a video, a picture of the Ship in The Official Sea Scout Uniform, and obtain a signed authorization from the Council Executive.
For the first half of 2023, Ship 26 was under the leadership of Boatswain Franky Johns and then Boatswain Eirik Sutton for the latter half. The efforts of the entire Ship contributed to the success of the Ship.
Below are some highlights of activities that contributed to us achieving the award:
General
- The ship conducted regular membership meetings
- Contributed to Council events
Monthly or more on-the water activities
- Sailing
- SCUBA
- Paddle boarding
- Power boating
- Swimming
- Fishing
- Frequent attendance at nautical events
- First annual Council event, Weekend on the Water
- Sailboat races
- The annual territory-wide practical skills competition, Minto, where they placed 3rd overall
- Eliza Sutton’s Quartermaster Cruise where she had to plan, fund, and lead a crew of 5 through practical skills and drills for 40 hours
- Texas 200 where a crew of 3 youth and 4 adults attempted to sail 200 miles through the Intercoastal Waterway from Port Isabel to Magnolia Beach. Successfully sailed 100 miles, had to pull out due to equipment failure.
- Sea Base Florida
Ship 26 by the numbers:
- Over 60% increase in membership
- 79% advancement within the Ship
- 5 long cruises of a week or longer
- Service to other Scouts BSA units (Small boat sailing MB, Water safety, Sea Base prep, Kayaking BSA teaching, rain gutter regattas)
- Extensive community service hours
- Multiple recruiting events
- 16 adults attended Sea Badge
- 100% of the adult leaders took some form of additional professional development (STCA, Aquatic Supervisor, Powderhorn, Lifeguard BSA, SCUBA certification, Range Safety officer, Shooting sports instructor, outdoor ethics, EDGE, commissioner’s university)
- 100% of the youth took some form of leadership training (ILSS, NYLT, NYLT Academy)
- Over 60% of the youth participated in additional practical skills training (CPR, First Aid, Lifeguard, NASBLA Boating Safety, SCUBA certification, Aquatics School
Check out this video about Ship 26!
