Broken mast strands Orange Coast College yacht

Danette Goulet

ORANGE COAST COLLEGE -- When Orange Coast College’s Bonaire set sail

from Hawaii bound for the shores of Newport Beach last month, she carried

a crew of eight.

Now, she floats broken and empty 750 miles off the coast of

California.

The final two crew members, Capt. Marcus MacKenzie of Newport Beach

and Robert White of Costa Mesa, had to abandon the vessel on Saturday

after a broken mast step crippled the ship last week, said Brad Avery,

OCC’s director of seamanship and sailing.

“The mast was still up but in danger of coming down at any time, and

it was coming apart,” he said.

All of the crew members, who included four scholarship students and

one adult sailing program student, are safe, unharmed and on their way

home, he added.

The 66-foot Moody ketch was returning from a successful run in the

41st Transpacific Yacht Race when the main mast dislodged 800 miles north

of Hawaii and 1,400 miles from the mainland.

When troubles began just six days into their journey, it was decided

that the students and first mate Armando Eason would be transferred to a

German-flagged 700-foot freighter.

They are set to fly into Los Angeles later this week.

“Our primary concern was the safety of our students, and we tried to

get them off as soon as possible. Even though the situation was stable,

we weren’t sure it would stay that way,” Avery said.

After five days of trying to get the damaged Bonaire to the West

Coast, the continued deterioration of the rigging and weather conditions

convinced the two remaining sailors to throw in the towel and abandon

ship.

MacKenzie and White were safely taken aboard the Japanese automobile

carrier Century Highway No. 1 headed for Panama, Avery said. They will

fly home next week.

The four scholarship students were awarded $2,500 by the

Timkin-Sturgis Foundation of La Jolla to sail aboard the Bonaire in the

Transpac.

One of the most prestigious yacht races in the world, the Transpac is

a 2,225-mile journey from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

The biennial race was the vision of a Hawaiian king in the 19th

century and continues to be the premier race of the Pacific.

The Bonaire was donated to the OCC Foundation in November and

chartered for the Transpac by Gil Jones of Newport Beach.

“It’s a loss for the program obviously, but our main concern was the

safety of the students and crew, so the boat seems to be a small issue,”

Avery said of the loss of the boat, which still floats in the Pacific.

-- Danette Goulet covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 danette.goulet@latimes.comf7 .