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British Virgin Islands - 2021, Session 3

Welcome to Aquamarine!

Location: West End, Tortola

Welcome to your new home for the next 17 days! We are so excited to welcome 10 new shipmates on board. In the last few days, we sent off our last group of shipmates, refueled and recharged, and feel excited to wrap up the summer with this next group! Tonight is a busy night of welcoming everyone on board and getting to know all the ins and outs of living in our new home! Tomorrow we will set sail to our first island in the British Virgin Islands and begin our diving adventures. Can’t wait for what’s in store for this session!

Meet the crew:

Cate Hayward- Skipper and Dive Instructor

Cate first went sailing aged 3 weeks old and hasn’t looked back. Since then, she has sailed over 10,000 nautical miles, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and worked 3 summers as a flotilla skipper. She also started scuba diving at a young age, getting her open water at age 11, and then 14 years later becoming a scuba instructor in Thailand, where she took part in a coral restoration program. Cate is passionate about marine conservation, and when she isn’t on the water, she enjoys skiing, snowboarding, hiking, horse riding, and cooking.

Alexandria Fiew- Dive Instructor and Mate

Alexandria grew up in a small town in south Texas, just a quick drive away from the Gulf Coast, where she first realized saltwater ran in her veins. Alexandria graduated from the University of North Texas with a BS in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing. During her studies, her passion for the world and her curiosity for other cultures took her across the ocean to places all over Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Australia. After a few years working in the corporate world, she decided to pack her life into a backpack and start traveling the world full time. It was her time in Australia and Thailand that opened her eyes to the world’s oceans and made her fall in love with scuba diving. She then spent several months on the island of Koh Tao, training with PADI instructors and falling in love with teaching diving. Alexandria describes herself as an overall optimistic and energetic person who you will probably find dancing around trying to bring everyone in on the fun. She is looking forward to her first summer working with ActionQuest.

Sarah Packman- Dive Master and Medical Support Staff

Sarah has lived her whole life in Atlanta, GA. She spent her summers throughout high school learning how to sail and dive at ActionQuest, and she is so excited to now be a staff member! Between high school and college, Sarah took a gap year circumnavigating the Atlantic Ocean with Seamester. During this voyage, she became a PADI Divemaster, discovered a passion for environmental policy, and decided to become a Wilderness First Responder. Outside of diving, Sarah enjoys teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to refugees through the International Rescue Committee. She will begin as a first-year at Harvard this fall.