She recently passed her Coast Guard inspection, and is ready to go. Ellis says Alaska Eagle is one of a select number of boats that is Coast Guard approved for offshore sailing with students on board. Eagle will begin its 10-leg South Pacific journey on Thursday, July 1. Ten students will take part in each leg of the trip. Ellis says the first several legs of the Pacific journey have already been completely booked.
Spaces remain available for subsequent legs, however.
She was donated to Orange Coast College in 1982 by yachtsman Neil Berg, and has sailed more than 275,000 miles since her launching. Since 1982, she has taken Orange Coast students to Hawaii and Alaska more than a dozen times. She has journeyed through French Polynesia to New Zealand four times. For the sixth time in recent years, she'll enjoy the distinction of serving as the official escort and communications vessel for the classic Transpacific Yacht Race. She'll cross the finish line off Diamond Head and will tie up with the racing fleet along Transpac Row, in downtown Waikiki.