Hope

Welcome aboard the good ship Hope! The paddle boards are strapped down, the Gatorade is stashed, and we have a safe full of secret cake mix and frosting for a special surprise - don’t tell the shipmates… We, the staff, are super excited for session two, and we can’t wait to meet the old and new friends who will be joining us for the adventure of the next three weeks. Here’s a quick intro to the staff;

Shona - Skipper, Medic, and Divemaster

Shona is returning for her eighth summer with ActionQuest and is more excited than ever to return to her second family and the amazing waters of the British Virgin Islands. She graduated in 2013 with a degree in outdoor education and geography. Since then, she has worked in several locations, applying these skills to promote learning through experiential education. From a young age, she has had a love for the outdoors and all sports, whether that be sailing and kayaking in the summer or snowboarding and mountaineering in the winter. Her goal is to inspire and educate her students in a fun, safe learning environment. Shona holds certifications as an RYA Yacht master, RYA cruising instructor, PADI dive master, and Wilderness EMT.

Kaleigh - Dive Instructor and Mate

Kaleigh is so excited to have the opportunity to share her love of living on a sailboat and exploring the underwater world this summer! A competitive swimmer from age 5 through high school, Kaleigh feels most at home on or in the water. At 13, she stepped onboard her first ActionQuest boat and earned her Advanced Diving certification with the goal of one day being a member of AQ Staff. Returning every summer, Kaleigh has built her diving and sailing quals culminating with a trans-Atlantic and Mediterranean crossing on Seamester's S/Y Vela and, the following summer, earning her Divemaster certification at AQ. During winter break from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she's majoring in Film and TV Production with the hope to be a film director/screenwriter/cinematographer, Kaleigh traveled to the Bay Islands College of Diving in Utila, Honduras to become a SCUBA instructor.

Cara - Dive Instructor and Mate

All the way from a rural, kangaroo-filled corner of Australia, Cara will be teaching diving, knots, and how to avoid sunburn. She has been living in Central America and the Caribbean for the last five years and flew in from Utila, Honduras, this time ‘round. Initially an English Language Teacher, she realized she loved teaching but would rather teach diving than verb tenses. Cara has a Bachelor’s degree from Aus that she never uses and is a PADI SCUBA and Emergency First Response instructor with three years of experience. This is Cara’s second year with ActionQuest, and she can’t wait to meet the shipmates and see the boat family and in-jokes develop over the next 21 days.