Wayne Brandt
PADI MSDT Instructor/ USCG Master Captain
Tec Gas Blender / Gear Technician
wayne@redhookdivecenter.com

Wayne retired from a 30 year career in Law Enforcement in New York State, he and his wife Anne relocated to sunny St Thomas. As a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and a USCG 100 ton licensed captain Wayne worked for Chris Sawyer until the St Thomas store closed in July, 2008.

After the closure, Wayne spearheaded the formation of the Red Hook Dive Center LLC along with Tom, Peggy and Russell to keep a full service dive shop available in Red Hook and is now the managing partner of the operation.

Tom Baily
PADI Instructor
tom@redhookdivecenter.com

In 2003, Tom and Cindy packed up their snow shovel and snow blower and moved from Pittsburgh.  We were married in St. Thomas we had been considering moving to the Caribbean. St Thomas was our choice because of the weather and the closeness of the dive sights (you can do a 2 tank dive and be back by noon). 

Initially, Tom just wanted to work at a dive shop and dive, but he caught the “bug” and became a PADI OWSI. 

When  you dive with Tom do not forget the “‘Beer Rule.”
 

Russell White
PADI Instructor/ USCG Master Captain
russell@redhookdivecenter.com

Russell and his wife Ellen came to St. Thomas and planned to stay for 2 years. That was in July of 1986! Since then Russell has been instructing scuba and running dive trips. Ellen has her own business as a yacht charter broker, booking people on private, crewed yacht charters. Both had careers in Virginia before their move and maintain close ties to family and friends there.

His fellow dive instructors affectionately call Russell the “Dolphin Whisperer”. He won’t promise anything but he does seem to frequently find dolphins on his dives - or maybe they find him! Russell is committed to making sure his divers are safe and that they have fun.

Peggy Palfy
Bookkeeper/Office Manager
peggy@redhookdivecenter.com

Peggy, Tom calls her “Bubbles” (she insists this is not a stage name), came to St. Thomas for vacation in 2000. She flew back to Texas where she resided at the time, packed up her 3 kids and 2 others and boomeranged back to St. Thomas. Later, she temporarily returned to Texas to renovate and sell her house. In 2004, she found herself back in St. Thomas and resigned from her career in 2005. She became the former dive shop’s bookkeeper in 2007- little did she know what she drifted into or where the tide of life was taking her—Part owner of a dive shop was not on her Bucket List!

You’ll find Peggy greeting you at the door or on the phone; filling tanks; making reservations; stocking the store, ordering merchandise and parts; maintaining the books; running to the bank or doing all at the same time. We haven’t found her in the boat engine room, yet! When she has time she likes to dive, hike, snorkel, kayak, travel, go to the beach or challenge her mind with crosswords and books.

Travis "One Shot" Krueger
PADI MSDT Instructor/ USCG Master Captain
Gear Technician
travis@redhookdivecenter.com

Miki Bultman
PADI IDC Staff Instructor / Tec Gas Blender
PADI Sidemount Instructor
PADI Self-Relient Instrucor
PADI Tec 45 diver / TDI Cavern diver
miki@redhookdivecenter.com

Miki has been teaching diving since 2001. After making her great escape from a career in IT industry in Japan, she set out to dive her way around the world.

So far, she has worked in Thailand, Australia's Great Barrier Reef back to the southern Japan over to Mexico's Sea of Cortez then moved to St. Thomas in 2007.

Instructions in both English and Japanese available.
日本語でのガイド・講習も行っています。詳しくはこちらまで・・・

Kristen Churchill
PADI Instructor/ USCG Master Captain

Newest addition to the team, Kristen moved to St. Thomas in late 2011. Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, but Kristen calls Australia home after living there for the past 6+ years.

She has been diving since the age of 10 and has been lucky enough to travel and dive most of the world.

When Kristen is not out on the boat, her other passion is kicking boxing (Muay Thai style).