Capt. Michael Bacher with Sea Cadets Mary Wang, Hedy Fu and Jessica Ma aboard a monohull boat at the Saipan Lagoon on Sunday, April 14.
AT a recent sailing exercise with the Sea Cadets of the Natibu Division, Capt. Michael Bacher said the organization is looking for more adult volunteers.
According to their website, the Sea Cadets are a youth development organization dedicated to “building leaders of character.” It is supported by funding from the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Bacher said the local organization needs more adults in key positions of leadership.
“We don’t have an executive officer,” Bacher told the Variety on Sunday. “We have about half a dozen active adult volunteers. We’re looking for more who are very involved. We’re also looking for someone to be an administrative officer so we can spread out all the activities to run the program.”
He said interested adults may visit seacadets.org to register as a volunteer. The national website will send a notification to Bacher on Saipan, and the inquiry can begin from there.
Bacher said the local Sea Cadets organize “advance training” for their youth participants. Past training sessions included courses in auto mechanics and culinary arts at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute; sailing courses with the Saipan Sailing School; field trips to 500 Sails’ Guma Sakman; island hikes; and more.
Future advance training will include scuba diving and a baking and pastry course at NMTech.
Bacher said students also participate in uniformed drill, which can include marching and ranked inspection.
They have recently incorporated a color guard into the Natibu Division, Bacher said.
“We encourage volunteerism and to be good stewards of the environment — to be good neighbors, to be respectful of the elders and people of authority,” Bacher said. “It is ultimately a uniformed volunteer service. Sea Cadets range in age from 10 to 18,” he added.
On April 14, Sunday, Variety was onboard a monohull sailboat as Bacher supervised Sea Cadets Jessica Ma, a junior at Marianas High School; Hedy Fu, a seventh grader at Dandan Middle School; and Mary Wang, a freshman at MHS.
On another boat was Capt. Dave Johansen, who supervised Sea Cadets Mike Pangelinan, an 8th grader at Francisco M. Sablan Middle School; Conrad Cruz, a freshman at Kagman High School; and Ciana Demapan, an 8th grader at Mount Carmel School.
Ma said joining the Sea Cadets will help prepare her for the U.S. Navy.
“The ocean is basically like my second home,” she said. “I did competitive swimming since I was ten. My dad is a diving instructor so I got my diving certification.”
All of the students interviewed by Variety said it was their first time to sail a monohull boat.
Bacher said the Sea Cadet registration fee is $100, plus the $40 cost of a physical training uniform. In addition, there is a $120 uniform deposit, and $20 monthly dues. There are other fees for advanced training.
Mary Wang, left, preparers to tighten the line that controls the jib sail, while fellow Sea Cadet Jessica Ma looks up at the mainsail.
Sea Cadet Hedy Fu mans the tiller under the supervision of Capt. Michael Bacher.
