At the age of 16, Port Townsend 10th-grader Seamus Waibel is already entering his third year as a volunteer rescue boater.

Waibel was hooked as soon as he attended a CPR class taught by Erik Wennstrom, education director for Salish Rescue.

“Seamus has demonstrated a lot of initiative in a very difficult program,” Wennstrom said. “He’s demonstrated levels of commitment and independence that have qualified him to go out in harsh conditions to help save lives.”

Wennstrom moved to Port Townsend in 1985 and volunteered with East Jefferson Fire Rescue for more than 20 years. He was instrumental in the creation of East Jefferson County’s fireboat and marine rescue programs, and led a search and rescue Explorer post for the Boy Scouts of America.

Salish Rescue has offered hands-on, on-the-water search and rescue skills training for both youths and adults since 2004. It routinely provides safety coverage for community events, and supports nearshore search and rescue operations.

“You have to train enough to have a high level of skill, because if you mess up, you could kill someone,” said Waibel, who has trained as often as two hours a day, from four to five days a week, while keeping up with his schoolwork through Washington Virtual Academies (WAVA), a full-time online public school for students across the state.

LOVE OF THE SEA

While Waibel’s first year with WAVA has also seen him take part in several of its extracurricular activities, including student government, the DIY Club and the Leadership Club, the school’s flexible schedule allows him to complete his classes in the morning and practice rescue boating later in the day.

Waibel credits his upbringing in Port Townsend, where he’s lived since the second grade, with fostering his love for the sea, while his mother, Melissa Love, asked, “What teenage boy doesn’t want to go out on the water and play in powerful boats, speeding through the wind and the waves?”

Waibel has had to develop a certain measure of responsibility to be granted that power.

“You have to be able to do precise maneuvering in small areas,” Waibel said.

“That means being aware of the wind, the weather and the current,” Love added.

“Well, yeah, that goes without saying,” Waibel replied, rolling his eyes.

Waibel has also picked up medical skills, including how to warm patients to counteract hypothermia from a dip in cold waters, as well as how to coordinate his efforts with those of emergency responders, including the U.S. Coast Guard and East Jefferson Fire Rescue.

“You need to figure out where to drop off the folks you’ve rescued, so the ambulances can meet you,” Waibel said. “For search and rescue operations, you need to take into account when and where someone was last seen, and then use the current direction and water speed to figure out where they might be now.”

“And regardless of what you’re doing, you have to know what the waters are like in certain areas, and how to get to various locations quickly,” Love said. “Speed is of the essence.”

Learning these rules has not only afforded Waibel more hours of play with the boats, but has also benefited the handful of rescues in which he’s been personally involved. Notably, Wennstrom praised Waibel’s role as part of a rescue crew for a sailboat that was in distress during last year’s Race to Alaska.

“Seamus helped bring the boat to shore and recovered broken pieces of the boat that were drifting in the ocean,” Wennstrom said. “It’s great when you get to see these kids grow up in front of you. They start out not being sure of themselves, and become confident mariners.”