Sea Scout Ship 1000 of Texas wins 2015 National Flagship award

Captain Kirk would be proud.

Sea Scouts, BSA has named Ship 1000 — also known as the Enterprise   the recipient of its 2015 National Flagship award.

The annual award honors one ship that demonstrates the best in program quality, youth achievement and adult commitment.

Ship 1000 of Rockwall, Texas, in the Circle Ten Council includes Boatswain Aaron Parks-Young, Skipper Don Henry, a dedicated youth crew and many adult volunteers.

Sea Scouts, BSA will inscribe the name of Ship 1000 and the Enterprise on a trophy that lives at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.

The ship will also get its own identical version of the trophy to place on its mantel.

What did Ship 1000 do that was so great? Read on for the story.

In the spotlight for some time

The 2015 National Flagship award is not the first time Ship 1000 has been in the BSA’s spotlight. Boatswain Aaron Parks-Young was named 2014’s Top Scout in the Sea Scout Experience Advanced Leadership program (SEAL). Ship 1000 was also awarded the 2014 Texas Flagship award. The ship annually achieves Gold status in the Journey to Excellence.

Chartered by Dallas Sail and Power Squadron, Sea Scout Ship 1000 has 18 youth and 16 adults.

For its modest size, Ship 1000’s 2014 program was ambitious. Highlights include:

  • Local and regional high-adventure events
  • A Scout-planned high-adventure trip to Galveston, Texas
  • A five-day sailing camp, partnering with a ship from a neighboring council
  • Piloting/navigation training culminating with a weekend cruise aboard SSS Point Glass

The five-day trip to Galveston included nine Scouts and four leaders. They visited Battleship Texas, met with the U.S. Coast Guard, toured Texas A&M Maritime Academy at Galveston, kayaked at Galveston Sea Base and more.

Regular greatness

Ship 1000 has an impressive high-adventure record, but it shines during the “regular season,” too.

The ship holds regular unit and quarterdeck meetings in addition to advancement days where adults and youth work together on all levels of advancement.

Members participate in monthly overnight cruises, Dallas Race Week, regattas and weekly club races.

Adult and youth members don’t just sail. They also volunteer as race officials, assisting with the intricacies of course plotting, mark setting and race safety.

Ship 1000 funds all this fun through pancake breakfasts, yard sales, donated boat sales and camp card sales.

To see a summary of Ship 1000’s 2014 activities, check out the ship’s official website.

2015 National Flagship Fleet

These Sea Scout Ships also had outstanding programs this past year:

  • Dragonlady Ship 1942, National Capital Area Council, Arlington, Va.
  • Response Ship 911, Capitol Area Council, Austin, Texas
  • Runners Ship 212, National Capital Area Council, Bethesda, Md.

About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.