Many people ask how the sea scout program is different from boy scouts.  For starters it is for slightly older youth.  You have to be 14 years old or have graduated 8th grade to join.  To join a boy scout troop you have to have graduated 5th grade or be 11 years old or 10 and have gotten the arrow of light.  Another difference is that the units are co-ed.  It is true that the boy scouts are also co-ed but there are boy troops or girl troops.  The sea scout ships (that is what we call our units) are co-ed units.  You age out of a boy scout troop the day you turn 18.  You age out of a sea scout ship when you turn 21.  

There are several things a sea scout is allowed to do that a boy scout may not do.  Mast of them are because the sea scout is usually older and therefore considered to be more responsible.  These allowed activities change contently so they will not be posted here.

Sea Scouts teach to a different audience due to the age difference.  Sea scouts are youth led.  I know boy scout troops say that as well.  But our ship really is.  Our adult leaders are there for safety reasons only.  On a boat of course that might happen much more often than if you are going camping mind you.  But how often does an adult leader in your troop tell you what to do or when to do something?  Then again you have to see it from a troop's point of view, the scouts are all minors.  In the sea scouts half of the scouts are over 18.  The sea scouts have a scout position called the purser.  That is the youth position in charge of the money.  Yes, there is an adult position as well who has access to the bank account but the purser collects the dues, does the reimbursements, etc. . .  In short the youth have the responsibility and therefore if you really want to learn leadership, sea scouts is the way to go.

Many troops think that if you join a sea scout ship you will do less with your troop.  From our experience, this can not be farther from the truth.  Most of our members who have gotten eagle have gotten eagle while being sea scouts.  They remained boy scouts till they went off to college or aged out from their troop and then even stayed on with their troops as adult leaders.  In our experience joining a ship dedicates a scout even more in the scouting mentality.  Our ship works with several troops and a venture crew (they are harder to find than troops) on occasion and have had (in my recollection) no had negative reactions. 

https://seascout.org/manual-resource-center/