Harbor House Out

Hi all! Meet the staff on board Harbor House Out for session 1! We’ve been working hard for the last two weeks getting everything shipshape for the students to arrive. We are so excited to meet all ten of our new shippies today and to have an amazing first session of 2025.

Meet the crew:

Skipper - Skyler

Skyler grew up mainly in Vancouver, Canada, and spent a few years in the Cayman Islands. Luckily, both are very close to the ocean, her happy place. While living in the Cayman Islands, she tried scuba diving and sailing for the first time. Eventually, she got scuba-certified in 2023 while aboard STV Vela, sailing from Antigua to Fiji. Her time on Seamester was life-changing, and she can’t wait to give that experience to the students at ActionQuest. She has spent the last year working on a boat in New Zealand, but is very excited to return to cruising with the wind. She loves hiking, skiing, or finding the nearest cold lake to swim in! She loved her time at AQ last summer and can’t wait to come back this year and see everyone!

Dive Instructor - Tyler

Tyler grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. At ten years old, his parents introduced him to sailing, and he immediately fell in love. Tyler raced 420s and FJs for his high school sailing team during his teenage years. Eventually, he enrolled in two Seamester voyages, where he became a PADI Rescue Diver. Realizing that college would not be a good fit, Tyler became a PADI professional to introduce people to the fantastic underwater world. With this goal in mind, he packed his bags and moved to Bali, Indonesia, for a few months to learn as much as possible about being a PADI SCUBA Instructor. He is ecstatic to provide a fantastic experience for the ActionQuest students, just like his staff did for him many years ago.

Mate/Medic - Zoe

Zoe spent most of her life in the landlocked state of Pennsylvania, but found her way to the water during summers spent on the Chesapeake Bay, sailing small dinghies called Sunfish. She embarked with Seamester from Bali to Cape Town aboard S/Y Vela for an action-packed fall semester in 2023. While not in the water, sailing, or diving, you can find her enjoying the water in its solid form while skiing at the snowy University of Vermont, where she studies geospatial technology. Previously working as an Environmental Educator for Philadelphia schools, Zoe loves to spread her passion and knowledge about the world around her. She is beyond stoked to be joining AQ again for a second summer and hopes to get to see another Spotted Eagle Ray.

Mate/Medic - Aden

Aden is originally from the landlocked state of Pennsylvania. However, his family decided to move to Florida when he was 11, where he promptly fell in love with sailing and the ocean. Aden spent much of his teenage years racing various high-performance sailing dinghies and catamarans. Each year, when the racing season wrapped up, he would spend his summers using his U.S. Sailing Level One certification to coach a learn-to-sail class at a non-profit sailing program based in Sarasota. Last summer, Aden took on the exciting role of running ActionQuest’s sail-side support boat, Under Pressure! Here, he learned the ins and outs of the ActionQuest program, made great friends, and earned scuba certifications. This summer, Aden is stoked to be returning, having just gotten his Wilderness First Responder certification, and is looking forward to using his background in sailing to teach students how to sail. When not in a tropical paradise, Aden is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Jacksonville University, and when he isn’t overwhelmed with school work, you can usually find him surfing with friends, in the gym, or sailing whatever boat he can get his hands on.

We are all stoked to get this session underway and get out on the water!