CMA cadets to set sail Sunday

Times-Herald 4/26/07

California Maritime Academy cadets and staff take to the sea in the Golden Bear early Sunday morning to put what they've learned in the classroom to use.

Cadets and their families will crowd onto Morrow Cove to say their farewells before the ship, a veritable floating classroom, heads westward to make calls at Kobe, Hong Kong, Da Nang in Vietnam, Apra in Guam and Honolulu at the end of June.

While in Honolulu, cadets and crew will trade places for CMA's second cruise which will take them to Subic Bay in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Nigata in Japan, and Seattle. The ship returns to Vallejo at the end of August.

Plans are on tap for cadets to engage in exchange activities at national maritime academies in the Philippines, and Vietnam. A contingent of marine science students from California State University at San Luis Obispo will travel on the first cruise while cadets from the Texas Maritime Academy in Galveston will take part in the second cruise.

The Golden Bear cruises give cadets extensive hands-on experience on every aspect of vessel operations, navigation, engineering, safety, watch standing, leadership skills and emergency training.