Pure Joy

Welcome to AQ! We’re so excited to meet our new crew today. Jake is the skipper and director of Dive Side, Megan and Gordon are dive instructors/mates & Dave is a mate and also a part of the AQ media team. Together, we’ll be sailing and diving on Pure Joy III. We cannot wait to get in the water and witness the crew become amazing, Advanced Open Water divers and Specialty divers.
Stay tuned for Pure Joy’s daily blogs, but for now, here is some more info about our staff!

Jake is a skipper and dive instructor. He first joined AQ as a student in 2016, and in 2020, he became a PADI dive instructor. Towards the end of 2022, he completed his Yachtmaster certification. Jake graduated from Rollins College with a degree in Business Management in December and has been working on a tall ship in Maryland since then. Growing up in New Hampshire, he spent a lot of time snow skiing and water skiing and is excited to teach students how to waterski in addition to diving and sailing. His favorite diving is in the British Virgin Islands, and he can’t wait to share the beauty of the underwater world with fellow divers. He is also very excited to have the opportunity to give new AQ students the same fantastic experience he had as a student for so many summers!
Gordon learned to scuba dive at his high school pool when he was 13 years old. He was instantly hooked and knew he wanted to continue. As he entered college, Gordon went on a Seamester program, where he became a Divemaster and gained lifelong knowledge and other certifications. After his Seamester experience, he went to Thailand with some friends from S/Y Argo and became a dive instructor so that he could bring the joy scuba diving gives him to others.
After graduating high school, Megan embarked on a gap year to obtain her professional diving certifications. She earned her PADI Divemaster in Honduras and participated in an International Yacht Training internship. Toward the end of her gap year, she completed her PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certification and several specialty instructor certifications in the Philippines. Megan is currently pursuing a double major in marine biology and oceanography at a university in Halifax, Canada, and recently concluded a research project mapping Atlantic Sturgeon in the Bay of Fundy. Outside of academics and diving, Megan loves surfing, being active, and spending time outdoors.

Dave first started diving when he was 14, during a family holiday in Turkey. He did a quick try dive in the hotel pool, and five days later, he was Jr Open Water certified! He then attended ActionQuest a few years later, where he fell in love with everything about AQ and the ocean. Dave participated in two sessions the following year and then returned for one more year, but this time as a PADI Dive Instructor! He then joined the Royal Navy Reserves while pursuing a career in media production. He spent five years in advertising production before joining film and TV as an assistant director. Dave is super excited to join ActionQuest again this summer as Media Staff!

We are excited for a great session!