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British Virgin Islands - 2017, Session 3

Luna Kahuna Staff Update Day 1

Location: West End, Tortola

The staff of Luna Kahuna (Matt, Sarah and Lucy) have been busy preparing for the arrival of our new shipmates! All of the scuba tanks and dive gear is onboard and we've prepared the whole boat by cleaning and stocking it with a full 3 weeks worth of food to be ready for arrival day! We are all incredibly excited to welcome all the new members to our boat family. We're so pumped to spend the next 17 days sailing and diving with everyone!

Here is an introduction to the crew of Luna Kahuna:

Matt- skipper/dive instructor

Matt was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. Matt joined the GXG team in the summer of 2014 as a dive instructor and has worked here every summer since then. After acquiring other certifications, Matt works as a skipper, dive instructor, and member of the medical team. He sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with AQ on S/Y Argo in 2012, and sailed across the Indian Ocean with Seamester on Argo in 2014. He will be graduating next year from Florida Gulf Coast University with a major in Criminal Justice and minor in Computer Science. When he is not in school or working he spends his time pursuing a variety of hobbies, including woodworking, surfing, and building computers.

Sarah- dive instructor/mate

Sarah is incredibly excited to come back for a second summer at ActionQuest. She grew up in the landlocked state of Colorado, but has always been drawn to the ocean. She graduated from the University of Colorado in 2011 with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She took a job for National Marine Fisheries collecting catch data on commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea. The contract-based work allowed her the opportunity to travel and do other ocean research internships, like study great white sharks in South Africa 2012. In 2013, she moved to Florida to pursue diving and became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor in early 2014. She has since been teaching, diving, and transitioning from the research field to the education field.

Lucy- dive instructor/mate

Lucy's mission is to educate others about marine science and SCUBA diving and spread the word about conservation. This has led her through a Masters degree in Marine Biology at the University of Southampton (U.K.) and to dive around the world. It does not matter where she dives; Lucy is always fascinated in learning species and habitat identification. By volunteering and working with various different governments and institutes Lucy has built specialisms in both temperate and tropical marine research, specialising in habitat mapping with GIS. Lucy currently works seasonally at her new activities centre in the Seychelles where her roles include: business manager, head instructor (PADI MSDT), resident marine biologist and skipper. Island life has become something of a norm to Lucy, who enjoys its proximity to the natural world. Where possible she does travel with an electric keyboard to keep her piano skills afresh. Whilst back in civilisation you will often find Lucy on the netball court or the swing jive dance floor making up for lost moves!