Staff Update Day 1
Location: West End, Tortola
As the sun rises and sets over West End, the staff have been working hard to ensure all equipment is prepped and ready for the upcoming journey. The vessel has been provisioned with fuel, food, water, educational materials, and other gear. All that is missing is the arrival of the crew. We are so excited to welcome them onboard our boat and begin sharing our love of the ocean with them! The vessel, Breakaway, is a beautiful 51-foot monohull and will have 12 Vega programs students. This means the shipmates will be working towards earning their PADI Open Water Diver certification and IYT International Crew Certificate.
We are lookingforward to 21 days of learning, new friendships, and fantastic adventures out there on the waves of the Caribbean Sea!
Here is an intro 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 over 10 years as a youth worker, teaching traditional heritage skills, environmental sustainability, and more traditional outdoor adventure. He did eventually leave, spending 2 years riding a bicycle from the UK to Asia, guiding glacier hikes in Iceland, and climbing skiing and mountaineering across Europe.
Annie - Dive Instructor/Mate
Annie was born and raised in North Carolina, where she visited the beach frequently and developed a great respect for the marine world. When she was fifteen, she attended ActionQuest for the first time and fell head over flippers in love with diving and sailing. At 18, she joined the ranks of PADI as an Open Water SCUBA Instructor and has been teaching ever since. She enjoys working with young divers and believes teaching is the art of assisted self-discovery. Annie is going into her senior year at Northeastern University in Boston where she teaches diving to fellow students and spends as much time as possible on the water with Northeastern’s sailing team. In her spare time, she studies Business and Economics. When it’s extra cold outside Annie can be found snowboarding or making baked mac and cheese. As an avid traveler who’s been to almost all of the continents (Antarctica I’m coming!), the BVI is still a favorite. This summer will be Annie’s fourth summer with AQ.
Henry - Mate/WFR
Henry is a new addition to ActionQuest this summer. He is a native of New York but has spent the last 27 months in West Africa. Henry has just returned from Peace Corps service in Senegal. There he worked on fighting malaria, malnutrition, and promoting water sanitation and hygiene. He is also a graduate of our Sea|mester program from 2013, where he sailed from Tahiti to Australia aboard Argo. He has spent time leading sail-trip groups out of the San Juan Islands of Washington, working in the Scottish Parliament, and teaching science in Oregon. He loves sailing and scuba diving, and can never get enough of either. Henry is always ready for the next adventure, whether he is sailing, diving, exploring, or integrating into a rural Senegalese fishing village.