She’s on her way to the Tall Ships Tacoma festival, July 3-7 in the Foss Waterway. She’s coming down Admiralty Inlet today, bound for Seattle, and will stop in Edmonds to pick up several “Distinguished Representatives of the World Press”. Oh, and me, too, by the way.

So until I get a chance to post something about my trip, I’ll assign some background reading to the class. Be sure to do the reading…the vessel’s Nazi history is fascinating, and the fact that she was “taken a prize” at the end of World War II harkens back to traditions from the age of sail.

Eagle’s home page at the USCG Academy

Eagle info page at the USCG website

USCGC Eagle article at Wikipedia

This is one of those uplifting, heartwarming stories I sometimes feature. No gear and gadgets this time around, although I suspect lots of unique, special-purpose gear and gadgets are in use aboard some of these vessels!

“Greg Williams used to be an ironworker before he fell seven stories and emerged a paraplegic. Ed Gallagher had great eyesight most of his life before a fateful motorcycle accident led to blindness. Cristina Rubke, a 28-year old lawyer, was born with no use of her arms or legs. The one thing these three have in common? They’re all avid sailors. And they’re all good ones at that. “

It turns out they’re active members of the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors. Navagear salutes BAADS and its members: You guys are awesome! By the way, that logo is just too cute.

Click here to listen to a 16-minute podcast about these sailors, produced by The Idealist.