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If you look at the image at the top of this page, you see the thirteen scouts heading for Summer Camp at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island. The Scouts and four adult advisors are about to embark on a trip of a lifetime. For some, this is their first trip to Summer camp as a Boy Scout. Others are Summer Camp veterans and enjoy earning merit badges on their journey to the rank of Eagle Scout. The following pages are written from the point of view of one of the adult advisors. There are almost 500 images in the following pages which attempt to capture the essence of a week at Emerald Bay. These web pages are intended for the scouts and their families as well as anyone that attended Week 11 at Emerald Bay in August of 2007. Attendance in Week 11 was approximately 190 scouts in XXX troops. On any other week during the summer of 2007 the camp attendance was three times larger. There were many advantages of attending during the last week. Merit badge classes were smaller, which allowed more one on one interaction between counselor and scout. Because of the lower attendance, all meals were served out on the patio under clear skies and warm temperatures. The War Canoe trip emptied the entire camp for 24 hours allowing the merit badge staff a day off (sort of). They worked hard dismantling some of the tents in camps no longer required in preparation for the winter season. Summer Camp may be over, but the camp remains open until some time in November for limited use by other organizations. It's 10:00 AM on August 26th, 2007. Scouts begin to arrive at the designated meeting spot to pack their belongings in to vehicles. Once everyone arrives, gear is stowed, the Scoutmaster gives his minute speech, short good-byes to Mom and Dad, and we are off to San Pedro. The trip from Irvine to San Pedro's Catalina flyer terminal was estimated as 45 minutes by http://maps.google.com and turned out to be very accurate. We arrived at about 11:15am and were quickly checked in. As the veteran travelers knew, it was time to sit and wait. There were about eight troops already ahead of our group so we ended up waiting outside in the parking lot. The boys took time to eat their sack lunches, read books or just hang out. When the Catalina Flyer arrived the excitement level rose as we all picked up our gear. First let me explain something: Loading close to 180 Boy Scouts onto a sea going vessel while carrying gear, some with bags larger than they are, is no easy task. The transportation organizers for this trip have done this all summer, remember this was week 11. The loading went very smoothly, everyone walked to the front of the lower deck and dropped their gear into a huge pile. Then they were allowed to find a seat anywhere on the boat. The majority of our group ended up in the rear section of the second level. This area was partially protected from the very strong wind that blows on the upper level and the edge seats of the second level can be seen in some of the images. The boat ride took about 75 minutes from the dock at San Pedro to the edge of Emerald Bay. The Catalina Flyer was too large to dock at the pier, so a barge was brought out to carry the luggage to shore. The scouts and one adult from each troop is taken to shore in water taxis. The remaining adults remain on board to load the baggage onto the barge for transport. This feat is accomplished in a fire bucket brigade style and takes only about 25 minutes to load the barge and get the rest of the adults to shore. Once the scouts arrive on the dock, they meet their assigned ranger for the week. A ranger is like a group coordinator. Our ranger's name was Joe. The boys were instructed to walk past the barge and pick up a piece of luggage and take it to a pre-defined area in the main parade grounds. Each troop had a marker where their baggage should be dropped. The requirement to clearly mark your luggage with the Troop number all began to make sense. Once all the gear was in piles the camp sites were assigned. Our troop is to stay at a site named Carmel. Great I thought, it must be by the sea. I looked at the map in the Leader's handbook and realized it was not exactly by the sea. Ranger Joe stated, "All the camps are by the sea, this is Emerald Bay" and so it was. Continue with the At Camp Link at the left. |
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