The Sea Scout Ship Pearls (Ship 669) of Santa Cruz, California, Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, has been named the 2025 BoatUS National Flagship based on their outstanding Scouting program.
The SSS Pearls is led by Boatswain Oly B. and Skipper John Fisher. Since COVID, their program has grown from 2 scouts to 28 active Scouts and has 22 registered adult leaders.
The SSS Pearls participate in various activities, including cruising, regattas, advancement, and community service.
Cruising highlights include trips around the San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento Delta, and Monterey Bay. They also attended four Regattas, achieving their best results ever, including winning Golden Wind Jammer at the Southwestern Regatta.
Advancement activities included training with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, lifeguard certifications, CPR and first aid certifications, and rank achievements.
The scouts also participated in community service and fundraising, such as a benefit dinner, selling Christmas trees, and working in elementary school gardens.
Please join us in wishing the Sea Scout Ship Pearls congratulations on being selected as the 2025 BoatUS National Sea Scout Flagship.
See the Pearls (Ship 669) on YouTube
The 2025 National Fleet
The National Fleet honors the top Sea Scout Ships in the county for their outstanding programs. All of these Ships have amazing accomplishments, service to youth, and adventures to last a lifetime.
Let’s meet the 2025 National Fleet
SSS Valkyrie – Ship 9024
The SSS Valkyrie (Ship 9024) took every opportunity to get on the water they could get, since the Michigan winters limit on the water activities to just a few months out of the year. The planned and carried out a total of 14 on the water events over a period of just 4 months. They also were extremely involved with off the water activities totaling over 25 different activities and campouts throughout the year.
See SSS Valkyrie (Ship 9024) on Youtube
SSS Spear – Ship 25
The SSS Spear (Ship 25) had two Scouts receive their quartermaster awards in 2024, one of which completed a very impressive project. She led a team of volunteers to build beds for the local Non-Profit Chapter called Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Her initial goal was to build 10 beds and her and her team blew that number out of the water by building a total of 33, giving 33 children in her town a comfortable place to sleep.
See SSS Spear (Ship 25) on YouTube
SSS Alamo – Ship 26
The SSS Alamo (Ship 26) helped advance many of their youth members further towards Quartermaster and complete numerous different training sessions. They had 2 scouts attain the rank of apprentice, 3 scouts attain the rank of ordinary, 7 scouts attain the rank of able, and 3 scouts attain the prestigious rank of Quartermaster. In addition, they had 16 scouts complete ILSS, 12 youth complete First Aid/CPR, and 13 complete NASBLA boater safety education.
See SSS Alamo (Ship 26) on YouTube
SSS Salvagers – Ship 1926
The SSS Salvagers (Ship 1926) had many impressive on the water activities covering all categories including Large boat sailing (greater than 26′), Small boat sailing, Kayaking, SCUBA, Whitewater Rafting. Most notably, 4 youth and 3 adults travelled to Exuma Cays, Bahamas for a 10 day liveaboard trip and hosted a week long trip where they sailed around the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Lake Superior.
See SSS Salvagers (Ship 1926) on YouTube
In 2002, BoatUS and Sea Scout, BSA, created this award to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Sea Scout program in the United States. The award is presented to a Sea Scout Ship that demonstrated excellence in youth servant leadership and strong adult mentorship that resulted in a quality character development program and outstanding youth membership achievement during a calendar year.