Meet your "Sandy's Sunday" crew!

Sandra Brammeier        

Padi MSDT Instructor/USCG Captain/Biologist/EMT

.... The heart of “ocean quest” is Sandy.  Growing up in Colorado near the beautiful Rocky Mountains, she had never seen the ocean until her freshman in college.  Once she did everything changed as the ocean seemed to reach in and touch her soul.  After college she spent several years in the US Coast Guard, and was even stationed right here in Palm Beach on “Peanut Island”.  Sandy returned back to Florida in 2000 with a “quest” to spend her time doing what she really loves, teaching scuba and getting as much bottom time as possible in this wonderful underwater world.  Spending five years as the operations manager of long time friend Jim Abernethy’s company Scuba Adventures, she continued to build her students as an independent instructor. Sandy has become one of Padi’s busiest and  popular dive instructors in Florida.  With the addition of “Sandy’s Sunday” she left her full-time position at JASA, and now  looks forward to spending her days teaching and diving off of her own boat. Sandy is also a 8 year Breast cancer survivor, and tributes her strength and ability to fight this disease to her family and friends that are always there with their love and support.  Sandy is an avid big game hunter, enjoys softball and is hooked on watching survivor and the amazing race.  (The only two time frames during the week she isn’t willing to teach)  Sandy hopes to build a training center in the Palm Beach area in the near future, to push the range of Ocean Quest’s scuba instruction to the top!  You’ll find Sandy on the boat just about everyday, unless she is teaching in the pool.   Sandy has a very close family, and just adores her nieces Chelsea and Danielle, and nephews Dustin, Colten and Jackson. Sandy’s main goal is to stay cancer free long enough to teach all of them to dive.  (Colten is only six but already looks forward to “swimming with the fishies”)   

Capt. Sandy and Co-Capt. Colten

         Little Colten came along the same year Sandy was fighting stage four invasive breast cancer.  He was the little light that gave the family joy and hope, during this hard time.  He and his Aunt Sandy have a special bond that glows.  Colten lives in Longmont Colorado, but spends time on the "Sunday" and has even been on a Ocean Quest trip to Bonaire with the "gang".  With recent visits this year on his spring break in April and then to return in June with the entire family, he mastered being on the boat and took his duties as "co-captain" very seriously.  He also has mastered his snorkeling skills and even did some free diving.  Then to help make his trip complete he did a little "scuba" diving in the pool.   

Chelsea and Dustin Brammeier

     Although Chelsea and Dustin live in Arizona they are very close to their Aunt Sandy.  With little letters, notes, drawings and phone calls these two little people were a huge drive in the energy force that took Sandy through almost two years of chemo-therapy and radiation treatments.  Which all made it's final pay off with the dive of a life time....Sandy, Chelsea and Dustin all in the water scuba diving together for the first time!  With co-captain Colten shouting the orders "dive, dive, dive" off they went, rumor has it Sandy was a little choked up....naw, that can't be true?    Now at the ages of 10 and 14 they are old enough to spend time each summer on the Sunday.   Next year they want to work on Jr Rescue diver and some specialty courses. 

Vicki Shaffer 

Operations Manager/Dive Master

        Vicki is the “glue” that keeps our schedule together.  From taking bookings, filling tanks, assisting students, scheduling, taking care of feeding the crew, working as deck hand, being the “go-for” and basically keeping Sandy from going crazy, it was a simple decision to make Vicki the ops manager. You will most likely talk to Vicki when you call in to make your reservations, and she will be happy to help you with any questions.  Vicki enjoys being on the boat despite her unfortunate curse that she gets sea-sick easily.  However she is a trooper and you’ll see her on the boat as deckhand from time to time.   Vicki is an avid big game hunter, and one of USSSA top female softball pitchers, winning the 1998 Top Female Triple Crown Player award through out the US.  Vicki is quiet and mild mannered until she walks onto a softball field, where she is competitive and has a winning spirit. Several members of our crew still play softball on Friday nights in a coed league.  Vicki hopes to do more diving now, and really enjoys meeting and greeting our customers.  Vicki is also responsible for those “home” baked goodies on the boat on Sundays. Vicki's family is right here in West Palm Beach, and when it's possible to slip away from the boat, she enjoys bass fishing with her mom.  email:  vicki@oceanquestscuba.com

Mollie Carroll

Assistant Operations Manager/Padi Dive Master

      Mollie and Sandy go way back to the years when Sandy was still with the Coast Guard.  Mollie and her husband Danny live in the acreage and have two great kids Taylor and Colton.  Colton is the little boy looking over the side of the boat in all of our ads.  You’ll find Mollie working the boat as deckhand, and now even as dive guide.  Mollie is assistant operations manager, and runs the company in Sandy and Vicki’s absence.  Mollie is friendly and very helpful on the boat, and is one of the few people that can get away with throwing Sandy off the boat!   Sandy is thrilled to have this long time friend part of the company and enjoys diving with her.  Mollie had a huge fear of sharks, but recently was able to put those aside while diving with reef sharks, and a 12-14 ft Hammerhead swam right over her head.  Mollie has become a very solid diver and a very good dive guide.   Mollie is also an avid softball player, enjoys NACAR racing, and spending quality time with her family.

Mollie with her daughter Taylor who just got certified this past summer.

Taylor is 12 years old and is already on her way to being an excellent diver. 

Matt Rainey

Dive Guide/Deck Hand

    For those of you that have been on the boat with Matt, you already know this is one awesome kid.  He is friendly, professional and is the definition of good customer service.  Matt like many of our crew, is one of Sandy's students, and she found a soft spot for him during his class.  His enthusiasm and excitement about diving made him stand out.  Sandy really enjoyed diving with him and decided the best way to keep him around would be to give him a job.  He attends the Riviera Beach Maritime High School, and is a senior this year.  He loves the ocean and every aspect of being on the water.  Matt has fine tuned his diving skills and has almost reached his goal of making a 80 cu ft. tank last as long as Sandy can...keep trying!!   Matt is our resident expert on fishery laws, and a good solid spear fisherman.  We consider Matt as a very valuable crew member and look forward to having him as part of our team for years to come. 

Capt.  Ryan Helmig

 USCG Capt/Naui Instructor/EMT

      “Little Brother Ryan”, is how you will hear Sandy refer to him.  Everyone else will tell you that he is a hell of a guy.  Ryan is soft spoken, friendly and one of the most talented boat captains you’ll ever find.  He has an unbelievable ability to quote dive site coordinates of the top of his head.  He can find a needle in a hay stack with his eyes closed, and knows the bottom from Jupiter Inlet to Boynton Inlet as well as anyone.  Ryan is also an instructor, and you may find him on the boat as dive guide, instructor or private guide.  Ryan is a avid underwater hunter and you’ll enjoy being on the boat with him.  Ryan has a son Riley and daughter Brea and they keep him and his wife Chrissy busy.  We look forward to the day they are both old enough to join us on "Sandy's Sunday".

Ryan Bell

 Padi Dive Master/Hunting Guide

     Ryan Bell is one of Sandy’s dive master students, that turned into a friend and crew member.  He is a great guy and will make sure you have a safe and fun time.   Ryan is a structural engineer and has even spent many weeks in Iraq.  We are glad to have him safe at home and you’ll see him on the boat on weekends. Ryan really enjoys the thrill of the hunt and is a very talented spear fisherman, and he is always willing to help out a newbie!  Ryan has also taken interest in our Shark education program and guiding our dives in Shark Canyon.   Sorry girls....Ryan is no longer available, he has been caught by a Colorado girl named Jessica and we love her also. 

Lu Dawson

Padi Dive Master

    Lu lives in Ocean City Maryland, but you'll see her just about once every couple of months out on the boat for a few days at a time.  She is one of  Sandy's students that just became one of the gang. Completing her dive master course, she now helps guide our trips, and is a friendly and enjoyable person to be around.  She enjoys taking photo's and following the rest of the gang around while they are hunting.  Don't ask Lu to guide you in Shark Canyon though, because she is the only Ocean Quest Scuba crew member that is afraid of sharks!   Lu's favorite dive site in WPB is "Paul's Reef" where she likes to take photo's of the large school of Spade Fish that lives there. 

Kevin Mitchell

USCG Captain/Dive Master

    Kevin has been a customer and friend of ours for years.  Recently he earned his Coast Guard Captains license and is working on getting his instructor.  We thought how better to join our forces then somebody already familiar with our boat, customers, style of diving and fits in so well.  We look forward to having him as part of our crew and know our customers will enjoy having him on the boat.  We are excited to have him as a part of our instructional team for our ever growing certification program. 

 John Peckham

Dive Master/Paramedic

    John is one of our newest graduates of Ocean Quest Scuba Schools dive master program.  John actually lives in NY but will be down several times a year to both work and fun dive.  We are very proud of John and the fact that he is a fire fighter/paramedic, he is a modest, easy going guy, but we all think of him as one of America's true hero's.   John's  positive energy makes him the perfect candidate to make your diving day even more enjoyable.  We are thrilled to have John join our quality part-time crew and look forward to years of diving with him.  

John Krayeski

Padi Dive Master

    John is one of Sandy's long time students and dear friend.  John took the open water course from Sandy several years ago and has now worked his way up to dive master.  John helps out on the boat with our special events, photo shoots and film crew days.  John is also one of our hunting guides and one of Sandy's most trusted dive masters both in and out of the water.  John has a little girl Anna and a baby boy Luke on the way.  We look forward to the day they can join us on the Sunday.  John is a full time contractor and his job and family keep him pretty busy.  However, you'll see him just about every weekend on the boat.

You can hire our crew as your personal private guide on our boat or yours...call for details. 

Dive Through Life....Don't Just Float

561-776-5974

ocnquestscuba@aol.com