Shamwari

Hey Everyone! Welcome to Shamwari! We are so beyond excited to have our students aboard our vessel this session!

The staff has been working to prepare the boat for arrival, and it is finally ready to welcome our 12 shipmates, who will be calling Shamwari their home for the next 21 days! Here, they will learn all about sailing and diving, all while creating friendships of a lifetime,

Matty P, Mia, and Sela are the staff aboard Shamwari. Matty P is our fearless leader and skipper who will be sailing Shamwari around the beautiful British Virgin Islands. Mia, a mate, will be teaching sailing alongside Matty P and is one of the amazing medics in the ActionQuest fleet. Finally, Sela is a dive instructor and mate who will be teaching diving and bringing everyone on an underwater adventure.

Here is a bit more about your staff onboard:

Matty P:
Matt Pidden (better known as Matty P to his shipmates) is one of the fastest skippers ActionQuest has ever seen, and he is excited to return for his third year. Matt grew up by the water, surfing, and windsurfing from a young age; however, he only took up sailing when he was 16. Since then, he has gone on to race yachts worldwide, including a 36-day race from the Philippines to Seattle, 7200nm across the North Pacific (where his closest neighbors were on the international space station), and more recently, from Hong Kong to the Philippines (pictured above with his brother and dad, moments before he set a new boat speed record of 20knts down a giant wave in the South China Sea). Matt somehow found the time to get his Yachtmaster Offshore license and spend three months hanging out on Seamester’s own Argo. While Matt excels in the harsh offshore racing conditions, he is beyond excited to have a break from Bristol University, reunite with his ActionQuest friends, and enjoy a summer of chill cruising in the BVIs.

Mia:
Mia grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where she grew up boating with her family. She currently attends Tulane University, where she studies marine biology and marketing. She participated in a Seamester voyage from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean last fall, where she fell in love with sailing! Mia is also one of the medics on our team. Mia cannot wait to spend the summer in the BVI!

Sela:
Sela is excited to return for her third summer as a dive instructor at ActionQuest. She recently got her PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification. She cannot wait to head back to the British Virgin Islands to teach diving and sailing again this summer and see everyone. Sela loves sharing her passion for diving and the ocean with all her friends and students. When she’s not soaking up the sun and enjoying the waves, Sela lives in Miami, Florida, where she studies nursing at the University of Miami.