Living a seagoing dream

Lindsay Sandham

Larry Ho is a computer expert.

Richard King’s been working hard, and he’s ready for a break.

Jim Gagnon, in the midst of a career change, is exploring all the

ways to learn as much as possible about his new business.

They’re three men with very different stories who have one thing

in common: a passion for sailing and a dream of traveling the world

on a sailboat.

All will participate in Orange Coast College School of Sailing and

Seamanship’s annual Alaska Eagle three-month voyage. There are six

legs of the trip. After each leg, the boat’s crew rotates, with only

skippers Rich and Sheri Crowe and cook Pamela LeBlanc on board the

entire time.

The Alaska Eagle sails each year with multiple stops and crew

changes, so a number of students can have the opportunity to enjoy

the experience.

The 65-foot boat that was donated to the college in 1982 will set

sail July 11 on the first leg, where it will be the communications

vessel for the 2005 Transpacific Yacht Race. It will not return to

the Orange Coast College Sailing Center until Oct. 23, after stops in

Honolulu, Tahiti, the Tuamotus, Fanning Island and San Francisco.

Ho, a Redwood City resident, will be working with Transpac while

on board Alaska Eagle, assisting race officials with positioning

reports and making certain that all the information gets back to the

Long Beach Yacht Club, where the race starts, and the finish line in

Honolulu.

This isn’t Ho’s first time on the vessel. He was a crew member in

2003 during a race and has made prior trips with the Crowes.

“They’re great teachers,” Ho said. “They do a good job of looking

at people’s backgrounds and providing a crew with varying

experience.”

Although the trip has the potential to be awkward -- nine or 10

people who have never met, sailing together for weeks at a time --

Sheri Crowe said they work hard to be sure everyone shares the common

goal of improving sailing skills.

“I know that as soon as we all get on, we’ll be absorbed in

learning,” said King, a Los Angeles resident who has never sailed on

Alaska Eagle.

King does sound for motion pictures and recently finished working

on “War of the Worlds.” Before that, he worked on “Lemony Snicket’s A

Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Master and Commander.”

After “a busy couple of years,” he decided to take the summer off

and focus on sailing and relaxing.

Gagnon, who lives in Rossmoor in Northern California, quit his

factory job less than a year ago to pursue his dream of starting a

charter boat business. For the last 11 months, he has been out on his

boat, logging hours, six days a week.

“It [the Alaska Eagle trip] is an accelerated path toward my

goals,” Gagnon said of his decision to apply for a crew position.

Gagnon said he’s never sailed a boat as big as Alaska Eagle, nor

has he worked with such a large crew -- the Alaska Eagle usually has

a crew of 12.

Sheri Crowe said all students accepted for the Alaska Eagle

journeys have prior sailing experience, but most are looking for the

major offshore experience of being out for weeks at a time.

“What we really look for are strong, solid, intermediate sailing

skills,” she said. “A lot of people have a goal of retiring and

sailing long distances; it really is man’s dream to go off sailing.”