Josiah's Reach

For the past week, we've been getting Josiah's Reach ready for our shipmates. Skipper Bryant and dive instructor Evan and I have been loading the vessel full of dive tanks, flashlights, libraries of fish ID books and other training materials, and our lovely dive compressor. This morning we've put clean bed sheets and pillows on each bunk. We've cleaned all the PFDs and have them on the lines waiting for the shipmates. We have a mix of Dolphin, Neptune, and Barracuda programs so that we will have a great variety of learning and fun. Bryant, Evan and I are super excited to begin session one. Josiah's Reach is all ready for adventure!

Here is an introduction to the crew of Josiah's Reach:

Bryant- skipper/dive instructor

Bryant is a native of Sarasota, Florida, and was first certified in diving at age 14. While attending The New College of Florida, he became a PADI Divemaster then Instructor and obtained a 50 Ton Master Captain's License. He has worked as a captain and dives professionally in Florida since 2008. During school Bryant also interned with the Mote Marine Laboratory Center for Shark Research and was involved in captive and field studies of Florida's coastal shark species. He graduated in May of 2011 with an honors degree in Environmental Science with a focus on the marine environment. His senior thesis covered the effects of oil dispersant used in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Since graduating Bryant has traveled around the world spending time in Australia and Southern Africa working as a dive instructor and volunteering as a field biologist.

Meghann- dive instructor/mate

Meghann is from Auburn Hills, MI and between the Great Lakes and scuba diving in the ocean, has never been far from the water. Meghann attended Oakland Community College and graduated in 2009 with an Associates Degree in Architecture. Meghann previously worked at an adventure summer camp in the Florida Keys, working her way up to Advanced Open Water through Divemaster and in 2010, she became a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Meghann joined ActionQuest in 2011.

Evan- dive instructor/mate

Evan was born in Buffalo, New York and lived the first ten years of his life along the east coast of the United States. After that, he moved to the Middle East to spend his next eight years in Doha, Qatar. After graduating from high school in Qatar, he moved back to the US to attend university. As of this summer, he is a rising sophomore at the University of Miami studying Marine Science and Biology. He spends most of his weekends underwater with the University of Miami Scuba Club. After three trips with AQ as a shipmate, he decided to come back as a PADI Scuba Instructor (with MSDT and EFR ratings) along with side specialties in DAN O2 First Aid and Equipment Repair.