Hi there

Besides being an avid shooter, I am also a volunteer with the Sea Scout Ship "City of Roses" (see URL in sig-line) and we are hosting a fundraiser boat tour of the Portland Christmas Ships.  The plan is to take out a group of people on Dec. 13 and another on Dec. 16 on the Columbia river for an up close viewing of the holiday-decorated boats.  The tour boat will be our former-Coast Guard 44 foot Motor Lifeboat that is operated and maintained mostly by Scouts.  The tour is free, but donations will be greatly appreciated.  I will post more details as I get them.  IM me if you are interested.

For an idea of what the Christmas Ships are, go here:  www.christmasships.org

Here's a link to our homepage:  www.sss601.org

Also, the obligatory recruiting plug:  We are always looking for new members who might be interested in boats, sailing, or similar activities.  Anyone 14-18 years old is eligible.  Think of us as Boy Scouts with boats (no canoes).

Update:

Full schedule:

Tuesday, Dec. 13
Friday, Dec. 16
Tuesday, Dec. 20

Times apply for all tours.
All passengers should arrive at Sea Scout Base around 6:00 PM
Tour will Depart around 6:30 PM
Will arrive back at Sea Scout Base around 9:00 PM

Sea Scout base is located at
7005 NE Marine Dr .
Portland , OR 97218

Map Here

Directions:

From I-205:
Take Airport Way East exit
Follow Airport Way to 122nd
Turn left onto 122nd
Turn left on to Marine Dr.
Follow Marine Dr. for about 3 miles.  
Sea scout base on the right.  Look for white building with the red roof.
We are located in the fifth boathouse (largest)

From I-5:
Take Delta Park/Marine drive exit.
Follow signs to Marine Drive
Follow marine drive for about 5 miles  
Sea scout base on the left.  Turn about 50 feet past the sign.
We are located in the fifth boathouse (largest)

Anyone with children under 12 should bring a life jacket if they have it.  Otherwise, we should be able to scrounge some up.

Please send requests and confirmations by IM.

thanks for the link.  I'll check it out.

*ETA* What does it involve?  My son is 16.

Quoted: thanks for the link.  I'll check it out. *ETA* What does it involve?  My son is 16.

Well, we meet Tuesdays evenings and Saturdays year round.  Winter is kinda the off-season 'cause it's cold on the river.  We do some boat stuff when the weather cooperates, but it's mostly a time for learning stuff and working on advancement.  In the summer we go sailing almost every week, with a cruise down the river in August, plus a host of other fun activities.  

Scouts learn a lot of stuff they probably won't learn in school such as sailing, small boat handling, large boat handling, engines, navigation, confidence, leadership, and a host of other things.  It's a hell of a lot of fun, too.

Most of our operating money comes from donations and fundraisers (such as the Cristmas ship tour), making the whole thing nearly free of charge for scouts.

As a further bonus, any scout who earns the rank of "Quartermaster" (the equvalent of Eagle Scout) is eligible for instant promotion to E-3 if they join the Navy or Coast Guard.

As I recall, you live quite a ways East of here.  There used to be a Sea Scout unit in The Dalles, but they folded up a couple years ago.  On of their volunteers was a Wasco County Cop who earned our ire by pulling over one of our sailboats at Pine Hollow.  The boat in question can't go much faster than 6 mph.  The speed limit on the lake was 10 mph.  "I'm concerned about the speed of that sailboat," he says.  What a dork.

Anyway, if you're in the portland area, I can arrange a tour of the base and probably a boat ride.

sound so cool.  Unfortuantely, I'm 3 hours East of Portland.  

Bump.

Still on for the evenings of Dec 13 and 16.  Post replis or IM for details.

PromptCritical I would like to take the kidlets down to see the ships on the 16th.  What should I do to sign up?

Quoted: PromptCritical I would like to take the kidlets down to see the ships on the 16th.  What should I do to sign up?

We don't have a signup "list" yet, but I think all that is needed is to show up at the base about 6PM.  I would also need to know how many are coming and the ages of the kids so we have proper lifejackets for them.

I'll also see if we can get coffee and hot chocolate provided as it will probably be pretty chilly.

As usual, more details to follow.

Prompt-

I'd like to take my gf to this, I think she'd like it and I know I would. We're in for a good donation too. Keep me updated.

The Christmas ships are always cool, we check them out each year. Never been to the Tour though. I'd like to take the family. IM sent!

Update:  We are adding another tour scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 20th.

Still working on details, but it would appear that the girls ship, SSS Voyageur (who also has a 44' Ex-USCG MLB) will also be doing tours.  I will verify if this is the case, and find out which nights they are doing them.

Send me an IM, including which tour you want to join us for, and how many people are coming.

Since any thread is useless without pics, here are the tour boats:

Any chance I can go out on one of those crusier ships?

Quoted: Any chance I can go out on one of those crusier ships?

Sure.  Which day?  How many?

Bump for updates.  Read top post!

Quoted: Quoted: Any chance I can go out on one of those crusier ships? Sure.  Which day?  How many?

I want to go on one with guns on it.......

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Any chance I can go out on one of those crusier ships? Sure.  Which day?  How many? I want to go on one with guns on it.......

I keep saying we need to mount an M2 on the foreward deck, but they keep blowing me off.

PromptCritical I'm going to have to cancel my children and my reservation.  My husband's uncle died and he'll be going down to the funeral and I will need to stay home with the dogs.  I'm very sorry.  We were looking forward to this.

Patty

Quoted: PromptCritical I'm going to have to cancel my children and my reservation.  My husband's uncle died and he'll be going down to the funeral and I will need to stay home with the dogs.  I'm very sorry.  We were looking forward to this. Patty

Sorry to hear that, I was looking forward to meeting you.  My condolences.  Maybe I'll see you at the January shoot.

Quoted: Quoted: PromptCritical I'm going to have to cancel my children and my reservation.  My husband's uncle died and he'll be going down to the funeral and I will need to stay home with the dogs.  I'm very sorry.  We were looking forward to this. Patty Sorry to hear that, I was looking forward to meeting you.  My condolences.  Maybe I'll see you at the January shoot.

Thank you, I too was really looking forward to this.  I hope to make the January Shoot but we'll have to see.  I have had to put a lot of things on hold this week.

First trip went pretty well.  Two more are scheduled for friday and next tuesday.  Possible pics to be posted later...

Quoted: First trip went pretty well.  Two more are scheduled for friday and next tuesday.  Possible pics to be posted later...

What time are you pulling out Friday?

My condolences to you and your family Patty.

I was the only other member aboard.  It was nice to meet John (PromptCritical).  This was a fun tour and was the closest I've ever been to the Christmas ships.  

Here is my Brother (left) and myself (right)

The ship

The ship again

Christmas ship (camera on wrong setting)

Christmas ship (camera on wrong setting)

Christmas ship (camera on wrong setting)

Quoted: My condolences to you and your family Patty.

Thank you very much.  It was my husbands uncle Floyd and he was an extraordinary man.  He fought and was wounded in the battle of the bulge.

We had a good time Tuesday, and we have another cruise on Friday Dec 16.  Like the others, we will be departing 6:30-ish and returning around 8:30.  IM me if you're interested.

We will also have a third cruise next Tuesday starting at the same time.  I would recommend getting to the base at 6:00 since traffic seems to be pretty bad at those times, and I wouldn't want any one to miss the boat, so to speak.

We had the last tour tonight.  Orygunman brought his wife and kids and they all had a great time.  Aside from a little rain, and the cold wind, the weather pretty much cooperated.  

We'll be running tours again next year!

Thank you for the invitation to join you on the Christmas ships tour.  We all had a great time!  Everyone on board was so friendly.  We were very impressed with the crew's skills. The boat's condition was exemplary for being almost 40 yrs. old, it definitely has been maintained and preserved well.

Not only did our little excusion afford us the best view of the Christmas ships that we've ever had, it also made quite a positive impression on my kids!  My daughter is looking forward to the day that she can join (in about 10 years) and my 9 yr. old son can't stop talking about being able to take the helm. I only wish my eldest son (16) had been able to join us.

It was a great night that we won't soon forget!  It was great to meet a fellow board member, as well! Looking forward to sending some lead down range with you, after the holidays.

Thank you, again.

Glad to hear it!  If you get a chance, bring the 16 year old down, and we'll show him around.  Always looking for new members, always.

Show him the website:  www.sss601.org