About Us-who we are and what we do

Ship 202 Deja Vu is a co-ed Sea Scout unit for youth 14-20 in Cascade Pacific Council located in the Portland Metro area. We have a 40’ power vessel named Odyssey located in the Multnomah Channel. We meet weekly in the Beaverton, OR area and attend monthly Order of the Arrow Chapter meetings the second Thursday of every month and participate in local events or take the boat out for cruises at least one weekend per month, and usually more often than that. The vessel has 8 youth crew bunks and 4 adult officer bunks, a galley, and a head (bathroom). We boat year round with day and weekend cruises to places like St. Helens, Government Island, John Storm, Camas, Beacon Rock, Kalama, and River Place and do a 7-8 day Long Cruise (our version of summer camp) during the summer. We boat on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers and on long cruises have gone to John Day (through three sets of locks), and on another cruise, to Astoria and back. Every few years, we charter another unit’s vessel in Seattle and take a Long Cruise to the San Juan Islands. Long Cruise is often the highlight of our year. We love to boat, but our crew also learns how to maintain the vessel, including working on the engine, electrical work and structural work like painting, fiberglassing, etc.

Besides boating, we also participate in a number of events and community service projects. Our biggest event of the year is the Nor’Wester Regatta held at Camp Rilea every April. It’s a multi-unit maritime skills competition with units from Oregon and Washington similar to Camporee (only much more competitive). Ship 202 begins practicing for the event in January and has taken first place in the competition every year since 2022. We also participate in Opening Yacht Day, our District Webelos Woods, Memorial Day flag plant, visits to maritime locations such as Coast Guard bases, tugboat companies and NOAA, and Safety at Sea in Seattle. We volunteer to work at the Portland Boat Show and attend the Seattle Boat Show with other units from Oregon and Washington.

Our structure is similar to a troop in regard to leadership. We have a Boatswain (Senior Patrol Leader), Boatswain Mates (Asst. Senior Patrol Leaders), as well as a Yeoman (communications), and storekeeper (quartermaster). Our adult leaders are Skipper (Scoutmaster) and Mates (Assistant Scoutmasters). We have four ranks (Apprentice, Ordinary, Able and Quartermaster). Quartermaster is our equivalent to Eagle and requires the scout to be a certified lifeguard in addition to completing a project and other rank advancement requirements. Rank and awards are presented at Bridge of Honor/Landship ceremonies (similar to Courts of Honor).

Our ship has an amazing crew and has earned many awards. We were named to the 2024 National Flagship Fleet (the five best units in the Nation), earned the National Medal of Merit in 2023 for putting out a boat fire and received the Order of the Locks award. We have had nine Quartermasters since beginning the ship was founded in 2005. We have had two youth on the National Quarterdeck (one as National Boatswain’s Mate of Western Support and one as Territory Boatswain). Two of our adults and five youth have been awarded the Council Sea Scout Leadership Award and one adult and one youth were awarded the Territory Sea Scout Leadership Award. A number of our youth have gone on to military academy’s and careers as well as other maritime careers, and all have retained their love of boating!

Sea Scouts is an amazing scouting program that is different than any other you will find anywhere. We combine scouting skills and values with water based activities and maritime skills. Our crew has had one of a kind, exciting adventures! Because we are a small unit, the crew bond and work together in ways that other scouting units don’t. They learn to trust each other when boating, especially during safety drills and docking. If you are looking for a youth program that is different and exciting, Sea Scouts may just be a good fit. We have multiple units around the area and invite you to check one out! Just fill out the contact information page, send us an email or give us a call and check out our upcoming events page.