Aloha to the Staff!
Location: West End, Tortola
Hello to all the parents, grandparents, friends, and special people out there, and thank you for tuning in to the broadcast from the shores of West End, Tortola, off the good ship Aloha!
This is the staff, Ri, Rachel & Tommy, writing to you from our home dock on Frenchman's Cay.
We are beyond excited to meet our boat family and get out on the water. The scuba tanks are full, the dive books are stowed, and we have plenty of rescue equipment on board…
Keep checking in to hear about our daily adventures from one of the shipmates each day to find out more about what we have been up to.
For now, it's time to meet the staff:
Ri - Skipper & Dive Instructor
Hailing from the southern tip of Africa, Ri grew up spending most of his summers in the balmy Indian Ocean's waters off the coast of the Garden Route. From an early age, he lived in several African countries but would always head to the same little seaside summer holiday destination where he fell in love with the ocean. From his first dive on Aliwal Shoal, he knew he would one day be a dive instructor. It also ignited his passion for ocean conservation and interest in learning about the different marine life to be found under the sea. After completing his dive master in Mozambique, Ri started backpacking through South East Asia. When he discovered the tiny island paradise of Gili Trawangan, he knew he wanted to stay there for a while and finally become a PADI Instructor. Two years later, as a PADI IDC Staff Instructor, he decided to head to Thailand to begin diving somewhere different and made it to Koh Tao – just in time for COVID! Fortunately, at the end of the pandemic, Ri found himself instructing for the first time at ActionQuest. After combining sailing and diving, he enjoyed it so much that he had to return to the BVI, and after an exciting first session, Ri can not wait for the session to come!
Rachel - Dive Instructor
Rachel is originally from Charlotte, NC, and has loved the ocean since her first open-water dive at age 16. In 2022, Rachel sailed with Seamester on S/Y Vela's transatlantic voyage, on which she became a PADI Divemaster. Inspired by her Seamester staff and previous dive instructors, Rachel went to Bay Islands College of Diving in Utila, Honduras, to earn her instructor certification, and she can't wait to introduce new divers to the ocean's magic. The only other thing Rachel loves as much as the sea is technical theatre. She graduated from NYU with a BFA and now calls New York City home, getting to play pretend for a living as a freelance professional stage manager. She recently finished working on a Broadway production and pinches herself every day that she gets to pursue both of her passions. Rachel also has experience working as a counselor for traditional (land) summer camps and enjoys reading, writing, drawing, and exploring.
Tommy - Dive Instructor
Tommy was born and raised in the illustrious and awe-inspiring state of Delaware, where he spent his summers down at the Jersey shore, falling in love with the ocean and often staring off into the distance, pondering, "…what does life look like below the surface?" After becoming a dive instructor in 2016 and finding out the answer to the aforementioned age-old question, Tommy has since certified over 400 students in countries worldwide. When he is not spending his summers at AQ, Tommy works full-time in Delaware as a school teacher and a middle school soccer coach. He is one semester away from receiving a master's degree in K-12 school counseling. Tommy loves going for long walks on the beach in his spare time, getting caught in the rain, looking for excuses to quote Shrek, and researching clichés. He is ecstatic, enthralled, and enthused about his third summer working with ActionQuest, and he cannot wait to pass on his knowledge to his students and shipmates alike!