Sea Explorers is a program for young men and women that are between the ages of 14 and 21. Sea Explorers is for anyone that is interested in the sea as a career or lifelong hobby. We learn everything you could ever want to know about boats. We also learn about ways to prevent and prepare for emergencys at sea. Sea explorers was actually started as Sea Scouting. It began at a campfire where Lord Baden-Powell spoke of a program for older scouts to learn about boat management and seamanship. He wanted them to prepare for service on their country's ships.

Baden-Powell's older brother, Warington, wrote a book about Sea Scouting. This book found it's way to the United States in the early 1900's. Sea Scouting in the U.S. was founded in 1912. In late 1917 James Austin Wilder became the director of the Department of Sea Scouting of the Boy Scouts of America. He organized the Sea Scout units into a national organization that sparked the first national interest in Sea Scouting. Wilder supervised the making of the first Sea Scout Manual in 1919. Sea Scouting was very similar then to Boy Scouting. The khaki uniforms and the Scout Oath and Law were used. They were also required to pass the Tenderfoot requirements and be at least 15 years old and weigh more than 112 pounds.

Commander Thomas J. Keane revised the program between 1922 and 1925. He changed the boy scout nature of the program into a more sea oriented program. In 1927 he became the first full-time national director of Sea Scouting. During World War 2 Sea Scouting had reached a membership of 27,000 and many used the knowledge they had gained in Sea Scouting to serve the country.

In May of 1949 the National Executive Board made huge changes in the older scout program. The change recognized all young men who were 14 years of age or older and registered with BSA as Explorers. On September 1, 1949 the Sea Scouts officially became Sea Explorers.

 

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Questions? Comments? E-mail Jesse Gifford at Portalis@hotmail.com

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