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At the Palo Alto Christmas tree lot on Middlefield Road, every Noble and Douglas fir comes with a nautical bonus: you’re not just bringing home holiday cheer, you’re helping power a crew of Sea Scouts learning to captain a 95-foot ship.
The Christmas tree sales serve as a fundraiser for three units of Sea Scouts – a youth leadership program that one leader, Max Rosenberg, likened to “boy scouts with boats.”
“What we like to do in Scouting is we like to teach teamwork and leadership and problem solving,” Rosenberg said.
The Sea Scouts have been running the tree lot in Palo Alto for at least 31 years, Rosenberg said. That’s how long Rosenberg, 47, has been involved in the program, first as a youth and now as the “skipper,” or the primary adult leader, of the all-boys Sea Scouts Ship Terrapin – the name of the Palo Alto-based unit. In addition to the Terrapin, the Christmas tree lot serves as a fundraiser for two other units: the Sea Scouts Ship Gryphon and the Mariner Scout Ship Tradewind, an all-girls program similar to Sea Scouts.
The Scouts provide a full Christmas tree service: the youth will help you select a tree from one of four species —Noble, Douglas, Nordmann, and Grand Firs — and carry and tie it to your car. They will also deliver and set up the tree at your home for an additional fee. Trees are priced according to species and height, varying from $35 for a small tabletop tree to a few hundred dollars for an 11-foot tree. They typically sell 1700 trees per year, Rosenberg said, and the Terrapin Ship almost solely relies on the fundraiser to support their programming throughout the year.
The Terrapin do maritime activities aboard a 95-foot ex Coast Guard cutter, a boat built in 1953 to complete Cold War-era missions such as anti-Russian submarine patrols and search-and-rescue operations. The boat, which was originally called Cape Wash, was acquired by the Navy in 1987 and then retired and donated to the Sea Scouts in 2012. The boat was renamed the Terrapin this year.
The Scouts cruise the Terrapin in the Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta, an expansive maze of inland waterways. The youth take on all the roles needed to to run a ship, from steering and navigation to emergency preparedness and food preparation.
“We try and teach them everything that we can,” said Rosenberg, who is a marine engineer. “When we get underway, our goal is that our crew can, for the most part, operate the vessel with oversight from the adults.”
Andrew, 16, said the learning curve of running the ship – maritime skills, using power tools, maintaining equipment, tying knots — has been quicker than he thought. Andrew, who is from Los Altos, has been in Scouts for about a year and a half. All last names of youth are omitted in accordance with the Sea Scouts’ media policy.
“When you think about a 95-foot boat, you probably imagine something that’s very large, but once you get used to it, it doesn’t feel as large,” Andrew said.
Rishi, 18, has been in Sea Scouts for five years. Rishi ascended the ranks of the Terrapin unit to boatswain, the highest ranking youth officer. In that role, he directs the rest of the crew, oversees their work and focuses on engine operations. Rishi said he enjoys being on the water and that the program has given him leadership and teamwork skills.
Several of the Scouts said they enjoy the program because they like working with their hands. Nate, 18, said he has learned to use tools he’s never used before.
“You show up to the boat every Saturday, and there’s something you have to fix,” Nate said. “It’s like, there’s a hole in the deck. There’s something wrong with the engine. So you use a lot of power tools. You learn how to use an angle grinder to grind off rust or stuff like that. So it’s a lot of experiences you don’t usually get with anything else, especially here, where it’s all so tech-focused.”
Nate, who is a junior officer from Los Altos, will attend the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, where he’ll get a four-year degree in mechanical engineering along with a Merchant Mariner Credential, a Coast Guard’s license that will allow him to work in the commercial maritime industry. He said his career choice was informed by the Sea Scouts. Rosenberg said some Sea Scouts go into maritime careers such as the military or commercial positions, but the majority do not.
“I had no interest in this before I joined, and now I want to do it as a job,” Nate said.
For some of the youth, the highlight of the program is the 10-day cruising expedition the group takes in the spring up the Delta toward Stockton. The group alternates between cruising days and sitting days, where they anchor and take out a smaller boat to go water skiing. Throughout the expedition, the unit is sleeping aboard the Terrapin, which can accomodate 21 people, and splitting all the duties of running the ship. Julien, a 15-year-old Scout from Redwood City, is the deckhand, meaning he makes sure the deck is clear of objects and helps with docking, anchoring, and departing. Will, 14, was on galley duty last spring, helping to plan and cook the meals.
In addition to the unique skills they learn, several Scouts said they enjoy the unique community and the camaraderie of working on a ship together.
“You really don’t get this anywhere else…working on a boat, especially a bigger boat like ours, and learning about how the engines work, learning all the different rules about how you drive the boat,” Julien said. “It’s a very nice community, very fun people to hang out with.”
The Sea Scouts’ Christmas tree lot is located at 3672 Middlefield Road by the Mitchell Park library. The lot is in the Little League’s parking lot, and the Scouts donate a portion of their proceeds to the League. For the last few years, the Scouts have also donated some trees to families in need through organizations such as Upward Scholars and Family Connections. This year, they are planning to donate 50 trees, Rosenberg said.
The tree lot is open 11am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 9pm on weekends. More information can be found on the Terrapin’s website.
“We can confidently say that all the proceeds from the tree lot continue to support youth programs,” Rosenberg said.
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The article mentions the Mariner scouts and their boat the Tradewind. It is an all girl group as it was when I was a member over 60 years ago. Our boat was an surplused, open motor launch. We also learned to handle sailboats and canoes. Even then we had an annual trip into the Delta, an occasion when girl and boy scouts would socialize. Glad to hear these activities continue but sorry that girls are not getting opportunities to learn skills needed on the larger Terrapin. They too might seek the same career opportunities mentioned.