The Sea Scouts guide the 28-foot sloop Columbia through Fell's Point and back toward the dock after one of its weekly, Wednesday evening excursions.

It's early evening and the mercury still reads 91 degrees, the humidity seems to match and the air quality is labeled Code Red, but none of the busy Sea Scouts at the Marina at Henderson's Wharf in Baltimore's Fell's Point appear to notice.

They'll soon be making their own breeze, and once out on the Patapsco River they plan to catch some of Mother Nature's own.

Members of "Columbia Ranger," Sea Scouts Ship (group) 361 of Howard County, clamber over two sailboats _ the 30-foot sloop, Delphinus and 28-foot sloop, Columbia _ following a list of tasks ranging from checking the oil in the engine to the seaworthiness of life jackets, compass and radio.

Skipper Laurie Davis and Mate Dave Fairchild arrived earlier to scrub the boats and flush out the fresh water tanks before the group's weekly Wednesday evening cruise.

It's evident from the work they do that there's a lot more to this boating business than climbing on board and hoisting sail. Tasks are plentiful and pr

Ezra Milby, left, and Tim Correll prepare the sails.

eparation is key.

No surprise then, that the Sea Scouts program is a nautical coed youth branch of the Boy Scouts of America's Venturing division.

Columbia Ranger's membership consists of about a dozen Howard County-area resident Sea Scouts aged 14 to 21, plus 32 adults _ including graduates and interested parents of past, present and future Scouts.

Instead of building campfires and identifying animal tracks, these Scouts learn boat handling, piloting, navigation, reading weather and yes, even some nautical knot tying.

Amazing persistence

Scout Melanie Erb's mom, Jill _ along for the ride this evening _ is "amazed at the number of young people who stay with Sea Scouts."

Being able to continue with the organization, adds 20-year-old Melanie, was one reason she chose to attend the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, rather than enroll in an out-of-state school.

The ship's sailboats, both received as donations, are tied up at the Marina at Henderson's Wharf, which Davis _ who, as skipper, is the rough equivalent of troop leader _ says "has been very generous to Sea Scouts." A 14-foot skiff _ also donated _ that is used to make recruiting appearances at Columbia mall, has joined them there.

Davis _ a Columbia resident and longtime scout leader who will command the Delphinus this evening _ is descended from four or seven generations of seafarers, depending on which side of the family he's counting, and is the first who hasn't made his living from the water.

Having grown up among the tugboats in the port of Baltimore and sailing all his life, he's full of maritime lore.

He asks his crew of teens and young adults which of two sailboats headed in the same direction has the right of way, and why. (Answer: the boat which gets the wind first; it can maneuver better.) He also shows them a way to tell how long until sundown: Hold your fingers together horizontally between sun and horizon; each finger-width equals 15 minutes.

Columbia leaves the dock first; perhaps Delphinus is delayed by the presence of a reporter and photographer inadvertently getting in the way. No one seems bothered, though.

When Bosun's Mate Lindsay Fairchild releases the bow line, we motor out until the skipper tells the crew to head into the wind, and says "Let's make a sailboat."

Melanie Erb turns down the gas and frees the main sail. A second sail, the jib, is raised. In movies, this is where the dramatic music swells with the sails.

Sometimes crew members speak pirate lingo - "Yar, we be draggin' fenders" - and sometimes not; they call the spinnaker "Puffy", that bow sail so often pictured puffed out by the wind.

That's what happens when you sail with girls, jokes the skipper _ the father of four sons and one daughter _ asking the crew if they feel like "puffy sailing" tonight.

They do, and there's a good wind for it. Course decided, Scout Ezra Milby of Sykesville, 15, and Tim Correll, the 20-year-old boatswain from Eldersburg, set the jib on a whisker pole so that it can catch more wind and the motor is turned off.

"Welcome to silence," the Skipper says.

Nautical beauty, tranquillity

Periodic trimming of sails aside, we're free to gaze at nature's special effects: Sky changing from blue to pink to lavender; golden sun shining on silvery water, reflected in a line leading directly to Delphinus.

The evening provides painless lessons in current events and history, as well as seamanship.

We cruise by the U.S.S. Comfort, back home after assignment to the Persian Gulf; see the schooner Clipper City on an evening harbor tour and sail out of the path of the huge container ship, Saga, from Central America, being towed into port.

Those not occupied by nautical responsibilities can view Fort McHenry, the Lehigh Cement plant opposite and a police boat speeding out toward who-knows-what maritime miscreants.

Delphinus goes almost to the Key Bridge, as far as the starred-and-striped Francis Scott Key buoy marking the site from which Key _ aboard a British ship _ is said to have watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

We ponder whether this is possible, then acknowledge that Code Red air wasn't a problem in those days.

Beyond the bridge we see Fort Carroll, built by Robert E. Lee as part of the harbor's system of defense, now home to nesting cormorants and other sea birds.

It's time for us to come about and head home, too.

Annual voyage

Prospective Scout Geoffrey Serrao of Ellicott City, who learned to sail in a lake near Munich, Germany, takes the tiller.

The evening's sail seems all too short, but Scouts make up for it on the annual summer Long Cruise.

Last year, Columbia Ranger sailed from Annapolis to New York City to celebrate the organization's 90th anniversary, joining more than 400 Sea Scouts in the Parade of Small Ships past the Statue of Liberty.

This year they'll spend 10 days on the Chesapeake Bay _ possibly going as far as Virginia Beach _ but deciding each day's course as it comes: no destination, total serendipity, going where the wind takes them.

Sailing season for the Scouts runs from June through "whenever the kids go back to school and the sun sets too early," Davis says.

The rest of year, the group's regular Wednesday evening meetings are held at the First Presbyterian Church of Howard County at routes 108 and 29.

A challenge, Mate Zoe Gray admits, is to keep members involved year around.

Not that there isn't plenty to do. Scouts take courses in first aid, cardio pulmonary resuscitation and Coast Guard Auxiliary sailing and seamanship. They also hold fund-raising activities and social events.

On board Delphinus, there's occasional banter _ by voice and body language when close enough, by radio when not _ with the crew of sister ship, Columbia.

"Your bow looks good; how's our stern?" Columbia radios from ahead.

"Yeah, it's the first time you've ever seen it," we respond.

Although this is not a race, Davis keeps assuring his crew that larger and speedier Delphinus will overtake Columbia, skippered by Mate Julia Montz of Eldersburg. At one point she does, albeit temporarily.

The ships pass Lazaretto Lighthouse _ whose melodious name belies the site's history as a tuberculosis sanatorium _ and a barge dredging the channel, looking strangely festive with its red, white and green lights.

The sun disappears below the horizon, but its rays still cause the underside of a line of clouds to blush. Lights at the marine terminals and tide point are twinkling in the haze.

Davis says, "If you've ever had a bad day, come out here and take a look."

For more information about Sea Scouts, call 410-381-7004, or see the Web site www.seascout.net/ship361. Power boat devotees can inquire about Ship 759.

E-mail Lane Page at lpage@patuxent.com

Staff photos by Sherry DiBari