OCC’s Alaska Eagle Sails Into Home Port After Year’s Voyage

The people who did stints crewing the Alaska Eagle on a yearlong trip to New Zealand are different today.

For some, it was diving from the Eagle’s deck to swim across the Equator that changed something inside. For others, the changes came with driving rainstorms and crashing waves, midnight watches under the stars or endless swells of water that soothed their heartache.

All told, about 100 people participated in the cruise, flying to various locations to meet the boat and work as crew for two- to three-week stints as part of their sailing instruction at Orange Coast College.

On Saturday, the 65-foot sloop sailed in from Vancouver on the final leg of a tour that took it to Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti, Alaska and numerous other ports.

There were shouts and tears from those who had found something--new family, friends, courage--while on board. And there was reflection too from those who lost something--whether it was fear or just their hearts--to the water.

For the college’s sailing students and faculty, the Eagle’s arrival was a time for celebration. A fleet of dinghies and 30-foot shields left Orange Coast College Sailing Center shortly before noon, as did the Honu IV, a 60-foot powerboat.

The Honu arrived at the sloop first, meeting the Eagle as it entered the bay.

“Hey, what’s that big dent in the side?” joked Dick Williams, 63, who had sailed on the New Zealand leg in September.

Orange Coast College President David A. Grant, also on board the Honu and a veteran of several Eagle trips, had the joyful reaction of a seasoned sailor when the Eagle returned, and the practical reaction of an administrator.

“It’s wonderful to see her go, but it’s even more wonderful to see her come home,” he said.

In 12 yearlong trips through the South Pacific and up to Alaska--this year to New Zealand as well--the Eagle, which was built for and won the 1977 around-the-world Whitbread race, has weathered every storm without mishap. But Grant still gives a sigh of relief every time the crews return safely.

Standing on deck of the Honu and watching the Eagle come home, Laurene Keane, 34, of Fullerton started to cry. In three hard years before she sailed in January, her husband, her mother and her sister all died of cancer. Out on the water she had regained a sense of peace.

“My husband was with me the whole time, and through my grief he brought me to a safe place to be with people who would help me,” Keane said, wiping away tears. “So for me it’s symbolic to be here for her homecoming because it was out on the Eagle that I found my way home.”

After the Eagle docked, the college hosted a barbecue, with crew members from different legs of the trip swapping stories about night watches, soaked clothing that never seemed to dry and going days without seeing other people.

“I like the long passages, as opposed to the ones where you anchor every night,” said Barbara Stauffer, 52, of Irvine, who has been on every Eagle trip since 1989. “I feel sailing is very spiritual. When I’m out there, I always find time to meditate.”

“Yeah, it’s like driving through Texas,” deadpanned Kelley Dixon, 31, of Studio City. “Next time I’ll go on a trip where they anchor more at night.”

But while at sea on the Tahiti leg of the trip, Dixon and other crew members swam across the Equator, one of the best parts of their trip.

“It’s just something that everyone who sails wants to do,” she said.