By Bob McChesney, Executive Director, the Port of Edmonds

There are all kinds of reasons to be proud of your Port. Having been named the best marina in America certainly tops the list.

Not far behind, however, are the Edmonds Sea Scouts. The Port has been the official sponsor of that worthy organization since it’s inception 16 years ago, in 1994.

Not only has the local program trained scores of our finest young people in seamanship, citizenship and teamwork, but they have provided untold hours of service to the Port of Edmonds and, indirectly, to you.

The Edmonds Sea Scouts are officially listed as Ship 6 of the Mt. Baker Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Don’t be misled by the Boy Scouts label, however. The Sea Scout program is open to boys and girls, age 14 through 20.

The Edmonds Sea Scouts have had a significant number of female members and today some of the most dedicated and energetic of the youngsters are young ladies.

On overnight voyages, there is always a female adult leader along, more for reasons of decorum than for any real need.

The Edmonds Sea Scouts are a sailing organization. They generally have two or three beautiful, fully rigged sailboats, which are provided at the local level, but are legally owned by the BSA Council.

The Port provides moorage space for the boats, a place for weekly meetings, and certain other services, such as haulout for periodic maintenance.

In return, the Scouts provide literally hundreds of hours of service to the Port in the form of dock maintenance, participation in Port events such as the Boat Show and Waterfront Festival, and other time- and money-saving activities.

At the moment, the Scouts are repairing 65 of the marina dock carts that have become badly abraded after of years of use. The alternative is replacement of the carts and, at nearly $300 each, that is a substantial saving for the Port.

During the winter season, the weekly Sea Scout meetings are mostly spent shoreside, either in classroom and learning activities or performing maintenance on the boats and, quite often, earning their keep with the Port by repairing dock lines, replacing broken fresh water piping and other such activities.

The summer season, which is about to begin, finds the Scouts out on the water, provided the weather is suitable.

The kids seem to love something as simple as a Burger Cruise across the Sound to Kingston.

Participation in Sea Scouting is a very low cost activity. Members will tell you that the price per moment of fun is one of the best bargains around. The organization is always willing to entertain new members.

If you know of a young person 14-20 that would like to learn to sail while performing a significant public service to our local community, have them contact the Sea Scouts directly.

The Skipper is Jeremy Makin. He can be reached directly at 206-579-3955. There is no obligation to come down, look the boats over and check out the program.