AQUATRON Staff
When you call, visit or email - these are the guys (reprobates) who will do their very best to help you.
Chris McKendry is Aquatron's Managing Director. He became an instructor whilst traveling in Australia and South East Asia. Currently holding the rating of IDC Staff Instructor he joined the company in September 2002. His youthful good looks and cheeky sense of humour belie the experienced professional that his conduct on the dive site and in the dive centre demonstrate.
Martin is our top man in the shop. He also developed as a diving professional in Australia and Sunny Scotland, where his fascination with sharks and all things large and exciting came about. On his recent trip to South Africa he dived with Great Whites (in a cage - phew!), which takes his count up to 15 different shark species! Any adventure sport gets his enthusiasm gene excitable(!), so he's the man for all your diving needs. Please note that Martin is the one with the regulator, the other two are not full-time members of staff.
Eric is the man to see about your servicing needs (oo err missus!), he would like to think of himself as an knight errant, a tarnished Galahad perhaps. As an itinerant Marine Engineer he has ended up in Antarctica, Africa, India and Glasgow. The reality is that he's just an ageing hippy with more than a passing resemblance to Shrek.
Billy joined us after serving his country in the RAF for the last 10 years. He qualified as an Instructor in the Far East while he was away, and has come back to join us in the shop and out back as a technician. Now that we have found a suit small enough to fit him he is a regular on the dive site too!
Tall, medium build, GSOH, WLTM.....sorry, wrong write up! Lynne is an Instructor with us, and now works in the shop too. She is a true Aquatronian, having done all of her training with us, and has gone on to dive all over the world, including the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and the Med, but keeps ending up back in Loch Long! Good fun at the dive site and at the pool, and always among the last to leave the nights out
Ronnie is the longest serving staffmember (now founder Tom has retired from the diving business) and is by far the most grumpy. He is a source of loads of useless information and is frankly, ananorak when it comes to regulators. Anything you want to know about kit service and repair and he is your man. Ronnie no longer teaches diving but still loves his annual trips to the best dive destinations to be found...Norway next, hopefully!
Jeremiah, is our complaints manager. Some customers have suggested he is a bit nippy but we think that, whilst he's a bit crusty, his velvety smooth manner and cheeky sidestep make him a joy to work with.
Our Contractor Staff
Ally is a highly valued member of the team who helps us out part-time. You'll find him in the dive centre of a Saturday and often out diving with the school. He learned through the Scottish Sub Aqua Club, of which he is an instructor and has now gained his PADI Staff Instructor ticket with us. With a wealth of local diving experience and a real talent for socialising, he's great to have on the team.
Alex has gone from Open Water to Instructor entirely with Aquatron, and now has too many specialities to count! A true professional in all situations, he is a welcome addition to the team.
Greg is one of our most experienced Instructors, having dived all over the world including the Far East. He usually only needs one pair of fins though: there must have been a particularly strong current that day!
Krzysztof is one of the instructor team here at Aquatron, and not only is multi-lingual (being polish) but can teach you to salsa too! Could make for some interesting sights underwater!
Mark is one of our new instructors, and a keen regular at both the divesite and the pool. He is the current resident Mr Cool of Aquatron: the man to see for all your hair gel emergencies, and will no doubt have a spare pair of shades stashed somewhere!
Sue is one of our latest Instructors, and is a member of the Scubapro Everdry posse ;-) Having qualified as a diver in Sharm we have thoroughly corrupted her into the ways of cold water diving. Sue is obsessive about her log book and fills the pages with stories, stickers and drawings. Ask for a look next time you're out - and you might just get a gold star!
Ali spends half his time sailing round the world on oil tankers, and the other half underneath the surface back in sunny Scotland. He is now an Assistant Instructor, often out at the dive site and occasionally hiding out in the workshop as well.
Allan (the one on the right!) has recently qualified as an Assistant Instructor with us. He is regularly found on the dive site on a Sunday, and his quiet manner hides a wicked sense of humour!
Cassie is yet another 100% Aquatronian (we seem to be collecting them!) and is one of the Assistant Instructors. She loves the warmer climates of the Red Sea and Med, but is still often found in the drysuit somewhere in Loch Long.
Sam joined us from warmer climates, which meant that her first drysuit dive in January was a bit of a shock to the system! She is now an Assistant Instructor, and has thankfully adjusted to our more temperate waters. Extremely helpful in the pool and the open water, and often to be found in the shop on a Saturday.
Andy is an extremely experienced divemaster, and an asset at the dive site. He has a wealth of diving knowledge, and now we are trying to find the party animal that is bound to be hiding somewhere behind that quiet nature!
Debbie is a Divemaster with a bit of an advantage over the rest of us: she is a marine biologist so knows more than most about what we see! She also has an irrepressible sense of humour which makes having her around great fun.
James is our best looking and by far the most talented Divemaster we have here at Aquatron. He has gained all of his qualifications with Aquatron in our lovely Scottish climate. His lust for adventure and extreme sports makes him a perfect addition to the team. His kind nature and willingness to help students both at the pool and dive-site complements his professional attitude towards diving. (can you tell James wrote this? Please do not adjust your monitor, his hair really is that colour!)
Contrary to popular opinion, Jono is not actually foreign, but hails from Isle of Lewis. It takes a while to get used to the accent, and you will have to speak slowly, but apart from that he is a great Divemaster and a welcome addition to the team.
Alicia joined us after completing her Advanced course abroad, and has quickly adapted to the colder water! She is now working through her Divemaster Internship with us.
Catherine (or ScubaCat to her friends!) has recently started her Divemaster Trainee Internship, and is a regular on our trips. She strarted her training in Gozo, but we have managed to persuade her that Scotland is the place to dive!
Fraser has started his Divemaster Internship with us, and it seems to have brought out his competitive side! He and fellow DMT Billy (appearing on this site soon!) are keeping track of one another's progress and aiming to beat the other to complete the next stage. Will be interesting to see who is signed off first!
George is a Divemaster Trainee, and also a dab hand at lighting a fire to keep the midgies away! Luckily his day job is with the Fire Brigade, so he is also able to put it out again!
Helen (Dr Helen no less - of astronomy no less, no less!) is a diver of the "mad keen" variety and has dived in many far flung places throughout the world - luckily she travels a lot with her work! Great when she's at the pool or at the dive site with her enthusiasm, humour and friendly approach, a real favourite with the students.
Moray is a kind, loveable and gentle soul, with an utterly wicked sense of humour. Extremely popular with the students and famous for his dancing. Don't ask for a demo as he is liable to injure anyone in a 10 metre radius.