Sea Scouts Will Fundraise To Replace Boats Lost In Shed Fire
A local ship of Sea Scouts lost all of their boating and water vessels after a shed fire at the skipper’s house on Saturday, April 23.
The shed fire on Rainbow Avenue was devastating to the co-ed group of Sea Scouts, which is a branch of the Boy Scouts of America aimed at promoting citizenship, seamanship and leadership to 14- to 20-year-olds through maritime skills.
Tara Valley-Guiliano, a mother of one former Sea Scout and one current one, said that the Sea Scouts have been an asset to the community through their various community service projects, and that through the program her daughters have learned a lot about being on the water and being a productive member of the community.
“They learn how to dock the boats, drive them, and all that stuff,” she said. “They learn a lot. They learn how to care for the boats, and that’s what is so sad. The weekend before they had gotten together to wax the boats and clean them and do the oil change stuff to get them all ready to put them on the water. And then the next weekend when we found out that everything burned, it was like ‘oh man.’”
The group is called Sea Scouts Ship 40. A “ship” is what the Sea Scouts call their groups, similar to a troop of Boy Scouts. Their skipper, William LaRuffa, was housing the ship’s vessels in the shed at his home on Rainbow Avenue, which is largely known around town as the Falmouth Christmas House for its extravagant light displays that are synced to music.
Ms. Valley-Guiliano said she was told the fire department was on the scene in about 12 minutes, but there was almost nothing left to salvage from the shed. The ship lost kayaks, paddleboards, a motor boat, and a sailboat, along with Mr. LaRuffa’s personal boat.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it is believed to have been an electrical fire caused by something relating to the generator that was in the shed. The fire was mostly contained to the shed and did not appear to damage the main home.
“Now they don’t have any boats at all,” Ms. Valley-Guiliano said. “They were devastated about it, they all were. Of course, thankfully they were safe, and their house didn’t catch on fire. I’m so glad that he and his family were okay.”
Though the Sea Scouts meet year-round, they spend Monday nights during the winter inside of St. Barnabas Church rather than on the boats. This is where they learn about things like tying knots and boat safety, Ms. Valley-Guiliano said. Starting around May, the warmer months are spent out on the water, getting a more hands-on experience.
“The springtime is coming and they were going to start doing their boating and they can’t,” she said, “They have a really short window of time that they’re able to be out on the water and learning water safety and learning about the tides and the currents and all that.”
The boating months are also the ship’s best recruitment time. For youngsters interested in learning maritime skills like that of the Sea Scouts, the draw of being on the water and learning to work as a hands-on team on a boat is strong. But without any vessels, recruitment may be more of a challenge.
“It’s hard to recruit when you’re just meeting at the church in the winter and you’re learning about knots and stuff like that,” Ms. Valley-Guiliano said. “For people to really be involved and interested in it, it’s being out there on the water. So this is the recruitment time and we’re kind of down to the wire with it.”
Ship 40 currently has 11 members. In the past three years, the Sea Scouts have named three Quarter Masters, which is the equivalent of earning Eagle Scout for the Boy Scouts. In the ship’s 78-year history, those three—Taylor Martin-Graham, Emily Newell, and Alex LaRuffa—are the only ones to earn Quarter Master.
The Sea Scouts are often recognized while in uniform on their ventures around town or over to Martha’s Vineyard and have often heard fond memories from passersby who are former Sea Scouts themselves.
“It’s an amazing group of people that are part of it,” Ms. Valley-Guiliano said. “They’re a really great group of kids.”
With an estimated $175,000 worth of damage and losses, the Sea Scouts are gearing up fundraising efforts to start saving up for new vessels. There are already two car washes on the calendar, set to take place from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday, June 11, and Saturday, July 9, at the Murray & MacDonald Insurance Agency parking lot. There are more fundraising efforts in the works, but the overarching hope is that the community will be able to assist the Sea Scouts in the same way the Sea Scouts have traditionally assisted the community through their service and volunteerism.
“Falmouth is such a great community, and people really rally together when things like this happen, especially for these youth programs, which are so important to keep these kids out of trouble,” Ms. Valley-Guiliano said.
In the meantime, Ms. Valley-Guiliano said that any efforts to help are graciously appreciated. The ship is hoping that they will be able to do calendar signups like in past years and find alternative ways to get out on the water. Ms. Valley-Guiliano said that the ship has previously used Coast Guard boats and the Steamship Authority, along with a few other individual vessels around town.
“They learn by being a crew out there and learning to work together and that’s what the vessels that they used [were for],” she said. “We’re looking at strategic ways of getting them out on the water. They were really sad about it but I think they’ll really step up to the plate to do all they can to fundraise. It’s just a matter of getting those plans together. In this community, I’ve found when there is tragedy with things, good things can really come out of it, especially in the time we have right now. What a positive spin could be put on this, with people reaching out and helping.”
Ship 40 can be contacted via email by those interested in helping out or joining the ship at sssnobska@gmail.com.