Nine members of Chanhassen Boy Scout Troop 303 set sail on the adventure of a lifetime last July. The group of 14- and 15-year-olds got the rare opportunity to live and work on a 45-foot sailboat.

Their adventure is the featured story in the March issue of Boy’s Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts.

The group hit the open seas with the Boy Scouts of America’s adventure camp Florida National High Adventure Sea Base. They set sail off the coast of the Florida Keys in two different boats and went wherever the wind took them for an entire week.

Eleven-year Scout veteran Mitch Cress, of Chaska, said that among the things they learned during the week was navigation, sea fishing and sailing. The troop was also tasked with two-hour shifts during the night to make sure the boat stayed anchored and safe.

“That was one of the worst parts,” said Cress, noting that getting up in the middle of the night for duty was not popular among the group.

But it wasn’t all work and no play. The young men also got a chance to snorkel coral reefs and go tubing.

Cress said that seeing the reefs was the highlight of the trip for him while “sunburn and seasickness” ranked among the lowlights.

“Everybody got sick,” said Cress.

Two years prior, the group began fundraising efforts for the trip which cost more than $1,000 per person.

“It takes two years of planning,” said Cress.

The group did everything from working at the annual pancake breakfast to selling Christmas wreaths in order to raise money.

After two years of working to pay for the trip, there was plenty of excitement when it came time to actually set sail, Cress said. And it didn’t disappoint. In fact, Cress would highly recommend the trip to other scouts searching for adventure.

“Best thing I’ve ever done in Scouts,” said Cress.

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer