Second Wind

With all prep work completed and finishing touches put on all ships, the AQ fleet is ready to take on shipmates for our third and final session of the summer. Our vessel, Second Wind, is a 46 catamaran and will be our home for the next 17 days. Aboard Second Wind, we have Marina, a skipper and dive instructor from Florida, Meghann, a dive instructor from Michigan and Ben, a dive instructor from Florida. The programs Second Wind will be hosting are the Rescue, Neptune, and Dolphin programs. These three programs will come to an incredible amount of diving, learning, and adventure. That being said, the shipmates on board are going to have one amazing trip that they will be sure to remember for years to come. Our activity schedule was bursting at the seams and packed with scuba diving, wakeboarding, beach BBQs, and so much more. After today, we leave our home base of West End with our sights set on adventure. We are bound to have an epic trip here on Second Wind!

Staff Bios:

Marina - skipper/dive instructor/Wilderness First Responder
Growing up in Sarasota, FL, Marina's passion for the ocean began at a young age. She joined AQ in 2006 as a shipmate on the Dolphin voyage and continued on completing two Atlantic crossings aboard Argo with Sea|mester. Marina graduated from Florida State University in 2013 with a B.S. in Biology. She holds PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, AAUS Scientific diver, WFR, and STCW-95 certifications and has interned at Mote Marine and Pritzker Marine Research Laboratories. Marina has worked with AQ since 2011 and is now the director of our Marine Science program.

Meghann -- dive instructor/mate
Meghann grew up in Auburn Hills, MI, and is currently residing in Edgartown, MA. Between the Great Lakes and scuba diving in the ocean, she has never been far from the water. 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 and is an instructor for our Advanced Scuba Diving programs. Meghann is excited to move to Vermont after the summer with her fiance and their new puppy!

Ben -- dive instructor/mate

Ben grew up in Florida with a passion for all sports in and on the water. By the age of 14, Ben was an avid surfer, jr open water diver, and competed in regattas. In 2005 he traveled Central America, wherein Honduras gained his Dive Instructors rating. Over the past nine years, Ben has traveled around the world to follow his passion for diving. Off the coast, Kauai, in 2012, Ben became a US Coast Guard Captain. In 2013 Ben moved to the island of Koh Tao. On Koh Tao, Ben worked as a speed-boat captain as well as a dive instructor, hiking guide, cliff jumper, and rock climber. Cool, calm, and collected, Ben loves big waves and storms and can often be seen sporting a contented grin while everyone else is running for cover!