KAPAA — When the Coast Guard tall ship Eagle motors out of New York Harbor under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty Aug. 8, there will be two people from Kauai aboard, said Commodore Larry Richardson of the Boy
KAPAA — When the Coast Guard tall ship Eagle motors out of New York Harbor under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty Aug. 8, there will be two people from Kauai aboard, said Commodore Larry Richardson of the Boy Scouts of America, Aloha Council, Sea Scouting Program.
“That is so exciting,” Richardson said. “To have not just one, but two of Kauai’s youth aboard the Coast Guard academy training ship. I consider this a once in a lifetime opportunity. It makes me very happy to know there will be two Kauai youth aboard the Eagle.”
Tessa Ramsey, a three-year Sea Scout, was one of six Sea Scouts from across the nation selected to cruise aboard the Eagle. The trip is for seven days. They will sail at least four of them.
“I’m really excited to be able and cruise aboard the Eagle,” said Ramsey, a sophomore at Kapaa High School. “I’m speechless. To be selected as one of just six Sea Scouts across the country, I’m honored.”
Ramsey will be boarding the CGC Eagle in New York City on Aug. 6 and be paired with a cadet from the USCG Academy. Sunday is training where Ramsey will be assigned different duties, including navigation, working with sextant, polishing brass, mess hall, fire fighting, providing tours, and more, on each day and treated like a cadet.
“Monday, the ship sails and Ramsey is very excited to climb the 147-foot mast,” Richardson said. “They will come into port at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut on Aug. 13 where Ramsey will tour the facility.”
Kayla Ishida, a graduate of Waimea High School, is enrolled at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and on a recent trip home, Ishida and Ramsey met and became friends.
“Kayla will actually be on the ship when Tessa boards,” Richardson said. “They are both looking forward to seeing each other again.”
Ramsey participates on the Kapaa High School cross country team and is active with the swimming as well as the track and field programs. A Sea Scout for three years, Ramsey is working toward her Quartermaster Award, which is equivalent to the Boy Scouts Eagle Scout award.
She has been decorated in the Sea Scout Program, including receiving the Medal of Merit for her rescue of three boaters off the coast of Molokai during the Sea Scout summer cruise in 2014.
