Break Away

The whole team has been waiting all year, but ActionQuest 2018 is finally here! Dave, Amanda, and Kayleigh are super excited to welcome the 11 shipmates to the ActionQuest family. The last two weeks of training/preparation has gone fantastic, and Breakaway is now ready and loaded with food/snacks and equipment for the adventure ahead. From all the crew on Breakaway, we can’t wait for you to get here and have an awesome summer with us! See you soon!

Here is an introduction to the crew of Breakaway:

Dave- Skipper/WFR

Dave grew up in the shipbuilding industrial wastelands of Northern England, and here learned to climb, sail, cave, and run in the hills and lakes of the Lake District. He worked here for over ten years as a youth worker, teaching traditional heritage skills, environmental sustainability, and more conventional outdoor adventure. He did eventually leave, spending two years riding a bicycle from the UK to Asia, guiding glacier hikes in Iceland, and climbing skiing and mountaineering across Europe.

Kayleigh: Dive Instructor/Mate

Born in Warwickshire, United Kingdom, Kayleigh has spent most of her life traveling all over the world exploring new environments and cultures. Following her love of the ocean, she completed her PADI Open Water course in 2012 and was immediately captivated. In 2013 she graduated from Plymouth University, UK, with BSc Hons Degree in Conservation Biology. Shortly after she headed to Utila, Honduras for six months training from advanced open water to PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, IYT Dive Boat Mate, and International Association for Handicapped Divers (IAHD) Instructor. Aside from Scuba diving Kayleigh loves to draw and enjoys anything adventurous, from trekking the Great Wall of China for charity to taking her dogs on country walks- any excuse to get out of the house. She is currently teaching scuba diving in the UAE and is looking forward to heading back to BVI to spend the summer with AQ.

Amanda: Mate

Amanda is new to the AQ team this summer and is very excited to return to the BVI. She started with GXG in the summer of 2015 as a student on S/Y Ocean Star, where she became advanced open water scuba and IYT certified. Since then, she has earned a Bachelor's degree in Marine Science from the University of Maine and has completed a year in the Master's program at the University of New Haven for Environmental Science. Amanda is Rescue diver, lifeguard, and certified US sailing instructor. She enjoys teaching others about the wonders of the ocean with hands-on experiences above and below the surface of the sea. During the school year, Amanda competes in cross country and track, as well as tutors fellow athletes and instructs biology courses. Despite growing up in the Northeast, Amanda has always been called to the ocean-especially water above freezing!