Sea Exploring Ship 1001 was formed in the mid 1990's as a support unit of the summer camp that is held at the San Diego Youth Aquatics Center on Fiesta Island.  All the members of the summer camp staff were registered as members of the ship.  The ship did not really do that much.

In 1997 the members of SSS 1001 were introduced to the Sea Scout program including advancement.  They decided to start working on the advancement and started to plan activities.  In the first year many of the ship members obtained scuba certification and successfully completed a sail trip to Catalina Island.  In the fall of 1998 the ship participated in the Southwestern Rendezvous at the Amphibious Base in Coronado.  They did not have a name and where known as Ship 1001 and wore the dark green venturing uniforms.  Not knowing what to expect they did achieve the level of Sloop.

After the Rendezvous the youth membership decided to change to a Sea Scout uniform.  This uniform was adopted and has been worn by the staff during the summer camp season. 

In the next couple of years the ship had sporadic meetings and activities outside of the summer camp staff development weekends and the summer.  They did continue to work on advancement.  Enough time was spent by members to obtain the rank of Quartermaster.  In April 2002 Adam completed the requirement for Quartermaster and passed his board in September.  Taylor completed all his Quartermaster requirements in September 2002.

In the fall on 2002 the ship started holding regular meeting and again participated in the Southwestern Rendezvous.  This time they had a name (Fiesta Island), wore a Sea Scout uniform and knew a little more what to expect.  They finished in the middle of the fleet with a level of Ketch and returned back motivated.

In January 2003, Joe completed his requirements for Quartermaster. 

In 2003 the way that summer camp staff is trained was changed.  This change gave the ship more time and opportunity to plan FUN ship events.  Activities for 2003 include sailing, Scout Fair, water skiing, eating pizza and more.