A South Seas Seminar : College Yacht to Carry Select Crew to the Tropics

Imagine sailing over azure waters to faraway tropical islands.

Imagine seeing thousands of stars at night as the boat sails hundreds of miles from civilization. And now imagine that all of this is part of a community college’s adult-education course.

” . . . Every crew member on this extraordinary adventure will have gained an experience that many only dream of,” said Brad Avery, the director of Orange Coast College’s Sailing Center here.

On Saturday morning, 10 adventurers, ranging from a 49-year-old firefighter to a 22-year-old student, will gather at the Orange Coast College dock on Newport Bay. They will board the college’s sleek, 65-foot racing yacht, the Alaska Eagle, together with three professional crew members. And the 13 men and women will cast off for a 21-day, 2,800-mile cruise to the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific, with the volunteer crew learning sailing skills en route.

The Marquesas are the first of five legs for this learn-by-doing Polynesian sail of the Alaska Eagle. More would-be college sailors and adventurers replace the initial volunteer crew at four other island stops in the Pacific.

“It’s a great experience for these people,” said Avery, who serves as skipper of the Alaska Eagle on its first two legs. “And many of them come back from these cruises knowing more about themselves. They have much more self-confidence.”

No college credits can be earned by taking the cruise. And no tax dollars are involved, Avery said. “The college’s sailing program is self-sufficient through its own fees and through donations,” he said.

The Alaska Eagle itself was a donation to the college. Neil Bergt, an Alaska businessman who formerly lived in Newport Beach, donated the yacht to Orange Coast College immediately after using it in 1981-82 for an around-the-world race. The aluminum-hulled ocean racer is packed with sophisticated electronic gear and is valued at about $500,000, Avery said.

“When the college first got the boat, we weren’t sure what we’d do with it,” Avery said. “We slowly built up a program of sailing on it, and in 1984 we first started offering long-distance cruises. These cruises get more popular every year. This year we had 300 applicants for the Polynesia cruise.”

Avery said 50 positions were available--10 persons per each of the five cruise legs. Applicants had to be 18 or older and have at least intermediate-level sailing skills. They also had to be in good health and have a “willingness to work with others in all aspects of shipboard routine,” Avery said.

“We try to get a mix of men and women, of professions and of age groups,” Avery said. “We give preference to some professions, such as medical, because we always sail with at least one surgeon or emergency medical technician aboard.” On the Alaska Eagle’s first leg, leaving Saturday, Dr. Gilbert Roys, 46, a surgeon from Yorba Linda, will be among the crew of 10.

The initial crew will leave the Alaska Eagle at the Marquesas and fly back, at their own expense, to California. A new crew of 10, which will have flown to the Marquesas to meet the racing yacht, will then board. The second leg of the cruise will be a 13-day trip from the Marquesas to Tahiti; the third leg will be an 11-day sail from Tahiti to Bora-Bora; the fourth leg is a 22-day trip from Bora-Bora to Honolulu, and the fifth leg, from Honolulu to Newport Beach, lasts 18 days.

Those accepted for the sail pay the college fees ranging from $1,695 to $1,295, according to which leg of the cruise they select. The fee includes all meals on the boat but not air transportation to or from the boat.

Three sailing professionals from the college--the skipper, first mate and a cook--are on board during each cruise leg. Avery, 37, serves as skipper for legs 1 and 2, with Lydia Bird, 36, as his first mate, on Leg 1 and Bruce Tice, 34, as first mate for Leg 2. On legs 3, 4 and 5, Richard Crowe, 40, and his wife, Sheri, 33, interchange as skipper and first mate. Suzanne Mullen, 39, and her sister, Cathie, 28, rotate as professional cooks for the various legs.

The 10 amateur sailors who sign on for each leg do a variety of chores at sea. Among other things, they take turns steering the boat--day and night--and navigating. “There’s a lot of work to do on a boat like this, and the crew has to be able to work together and get things done,” Avery said.

Two of this year’s amateur crew for the South Pacific are already experienced Alaska Eagle hands. “We sailed last year from Vancouver (Canada) to Newport Beach,” said Dave Miller, 39, who owns Oxygen Service Co. in Orange. Added Michelle Rainville, 28, a graphic designer in Corona del Mar: “That trip taught me I could sail for long lengths of time. I didn’t want to get off the boat when we came to Newport.”

Both Miller and Rainville became lyrical as they continued to describe that cruise.

“I felt very confident on the boat,” Rainville said. “A lot of people later asked me whether I felt confined in such a small area, but I never did feel that way. People on the boat know when you want to be alone. I found time to read and be by myself. Actually, I look on a cruise like this as an adventure. It’s also an education, since I get to try out my celestial navigation.”

Miller said: “I liked being on the boat because it was very isolated from the rest of the world. You’d travel along, hearing only the water along the hull. I especially liked sitting at night on the boat, listening to everything you can hear--so many sounds, yet so peaceful.

“The boat trip makes you realize how wonderful it is to see a sunrise and to see a full moon. To see light on the water. It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Orange Coast College Aboard the Alaska Eagle

Orange Coast College is sailing its racing yacht on a five-leg cruise to the South Pacific, starting on Saturday.

1. Newport Beach to Marquesas: 2,800 nautical miles

2. Marquesas to Tahiti: 700 nautical miles

3. Tahiti to Bora-Bora: 300 nautical miles

4. Bora-Bora to Honolulu, Hawaii: 2,600 nautical miles

5. Honolulu, Hawaii to Newport Beach: 400 nautical miles