TREASURE COAST BOATING
YOUTH BOATING
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established 1,000 acres of citrus groves west of Fort Pierce.
Binney realized that having a port and inlet close to his citrus
grove would help business. He pushed for the development of
the Port of Fort Pierce. Excavation through the barrier island was
initiated in 1920 and was completed in 1921. The channel was
originally 3.9 feet deep, 100 feet wide and protected by rock jetties
of native coquina.
By 1922, Binney had bought land on the mainland in the
surrounding port area and built the Indian River Refrigeration
Terminal. Robert U. Gladwin became manager of the terminal
and after Binney’s death in 1934, Gladwin started a Sea Scouting
unit and named it after Binney. The Sea Scout Ship Edwin
Binney 404 was chartered in 1936 and was co-sponsored by the
Indian River Refrigeration Terminal and the Fort Pierce Garden
Club. Gladwin served as the ship’s first skipper (the equivalent
to a Scoutmaster in Boy Scouting) and was involved with the
ship until 1985.
True to their tradition, the Sea Scouts in Fort Pierce assisted
the Navy during World War II. In 1943, the U. S. Naval Amphibious
Training Base was established on the barrier islands north
and south of the Fort Pierce Inlet and some of these service men
worked with the Sea Scouts. On occasion, some Sea Scouts were
said to have had to explain to Navy Shore Patrols that they were
not Navy men.
The Sea Scouts’ first boats were moth class sailboats built by
Tod Backus, brother of landscape artist A.E. “Bean’’ Backus, and
used for racing in sailing regattas. Later, Gladwin, son of Fort
Pierce boat builder R.R. Gladwin, built Windmill and Pelican
class sailboats, four hydroplanes and a cabin cruiser.
Fast forward to 2011, and the Sea Scout Ship Edwin Binney
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The first Sea Scout manual was published in 1915. This is a cover of a
1990s version.
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