St Vincent - Barefoot Yacht Charters

[rnjpinz]

After further anaysis.
I think you have a right to be pissed.

Bob

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by rnjpinz

After further anaysis.
I think you have a right to be pissed.

Bob

Well, of course he does. A yacht is a very complicated mechanism which requires concentrated maintenance to stay in reliable, and even safe condition.

Especially when it is intensively used in bareboat charter. When a boat is sailing week after week, every time with a new skipper, a new skipper who is not the owner, is not familiar with all of the nuances of the boat, and who is not on board to enjoy himself and not to tinker (the way all of us owners do). Besides that, many of these skippers will not be exceedingly gentle or competent.

It takes really dedicated maintenance and quite a bit of expense to keep a boat in good, reliable, safe condition, under such circumstances. You can't just wait for things to break.

And when you pay thousands of dollar a week to use someone's charter boat, it simply doesn't make any sense, if the charter company has not kept up with the maintenance. You pay a thousand dollars a day or even more, to be on that boat, you've flown from thousands of miles away, and it is just not part of the deal that you should be spending the whole time struggling with breakdowns.

My experience with Barefoot was not my only bad experience bareboat chartering. I chartered a Beneteau from Sunsail in Turkey once which, while not the total disaster Galaxy was -- there were no immobilizing failures - - was nevertheless bad enough to seriously compromise the enjoyment of the trip. The problem with that boat was blown-out sails, a mainsail which was not made for the boat, worn out running rigging, and general worn and unloved condition of the boat, although it was only four or five years old.

We had a couple of good experiences bareboat chartering -- one was an almost new and wonderful sailing Beneteau in the Aegean managed by a small, very conscientious charter operator. Another was a Salona 45 cruiser-racer which we chartered in Croatia which was a good boat with very good performance, in good condition (albeit with a bum anchor which created various problems).


But the two bad experiences were enough to drive me to take the plunge and buy a boat of my own to keep in Europe, despite the horrendous expense compared to chartering.

[DontWasteMyTime]

We recently chartered one of Barefoot’s yachts. On the 1st day, within 3 hours of taking delivery of the boat, a short ocurred in the windlass switch. This caused the motor to spontaneously turn on and discharge all the chain (100+ feet) while we swung wildly in a crowded harbor. We had a deflated dinghy and no appropriate pump adapter so we could not reinflate. We had to correct these issues ourselves or just deal with them. They also charged me $400+ to replace a weathered and cracked spinlock clutch that gave way while we were underway.

[rwviets]

Uh-Oh!!! We are booked to charter Alexian, a Leopard 38 from Barefoot out of St Vincent for a week at the end of February. Does anyone know this boat? We don't mind some wear and tear but expect everything to be in good service condition. Are there any particular items to check on this model of cat? It is 10 years old and we have been told it has new engines.
Is it reasonable to ask to take a charter boat out for a quick shakedown sail to test the rigging, anchoring, motoring etc. We arrive 2 nights before departure and will spend 1 night in their onshore 'hotel' and 1 night sleep on board before heading south through the Grenadines.
My hope is that we can test and inspect the day before we leave and have any critical repairs done.
What grounds would we have to demand an alternate boat if there are serious problems during inspection and inventory?
I do not have much sailing experience however my brother, who has his own 24' Catalina and has chartered 3 times before, will be captain. First mate will be my son who races I-14's. We are all good mechanically if the need arises but we want to enjoy the sailing not endure the fixing.

[Bergovoy]

i would review the contract... I would include that you arent responsible for normal wear and tear, and that any replacement be done on a pro rata basis.. they dont get new, they get replaced and made whole with similar equipment/condition as you acepted it... i.e to avoid the above mentioned 'clutch' issue...

but, I am sure that the charter will not allow you to mark up or change thier document and then tell you they wont lease/rent to you... thier contracts, anyones contract is intended to only protect one party...

This kinda addresses another discussion on this board about chartering before buying... sounds like a good idea, but there is a good chance you maybe liable for repairs and damage to someone else property...

Im not sure if they offer 'insurance' like rental car companines, where anything that happens goes to insurance... if so, get it... and good luck

b

[DontWasteMyTime]

Since they are giving you the "sleep on board" I would assume that the boat will actually be there the day before you sail. This gives you ample time to really go over it. They probably will allow you to do a sea trial but not until the day of departure. If it reveals any problems they will absolutely want to try to fix them on site as opposed to allowing you to get underway. This means that if anything that is "non-essential" (and you are the judge of that in many cases) is dysfunctional then you have to decide whether it's worth delaying your much anticipated trip. They know this.

Here's the issue: if you have enough of these "non-essential" systems failures they really add up to one big pain in the ass. The other thing is that they may try to hang one of the breakdowns on you financially. Bergovoy already addressed the fact that the contract totally favors them. In addition, the fact that they hold $1000 cash (NO CREDIT CARD) for the damage deposit gives them a lot of leverage to take advantage of you financially. You have more time than we had to go over things but that doesn't mean you have the ability to make them correct problems on a timely basis. It also doesn't mean that you have any stronger negotiating position than we had, in that, it may come down to a decision to take the boat "as is" or delay your trip by days.

With that said, at least you will have the chance to see if all really essential systems are functioning and you are leaving the harbor on a boat that is fundamentally safe and sound.

[knotnow]

Ok reality check.

Every charter co. that I’m familiar with give a charter 2 check lists. One is for yacht inventory and one is for boat inventory and function. The second check list is the one I would consider the most important to the “Captain”. When I started delivering these boats the systems were most important to me. I get on a boat I’ve never seen before and before I’m going to take my responsibility (yacht) and a crew sometime 600+ miles offshore for 1500+ miles I’m going to make damn sure EVERYTHING works that’s needed for safe passage.

I’ve seen some charters so anxious to get of the dock they glance at the check list and OK it. That might work fine in an area like the BVI’s but the SVG’s can get a little more spirited and logistically challenging.

Combine that with the previous charter just getting off collecting their security deposit and jumping a jet home with known deficiency’s or mechanical difficulties left unmentioned and bad situations happen.

I am personally sorry that sometimes a long anticipated vacation has problems, that sucks. But the “Captain” of the vessel needs to take some responsibility to assure that his stead is truly ready to go. Whether we are talking Mooring’s, Sunsail, TMM, Barefoot or whoever the crystal ball sometimes gets foggy. Captains check your boat.

Off soap box now

[Bergovoy]

3644-beware-barefoot-charters

there is another discussion, albeit a bit older on antoehr forum.. i dont want to post the link or name to the other site, but if you seach for barefoot yachts, you should find it..

[ardoin]

I have chartered twice with them and both were great. Yes the boats showed wear and tear but overall functional. In both cases I took the boat out with the staff to check it out before loading the full crew and heading out.
Only one thing broke (that was the painter) that the crew caring for it was off guard when the helmsman put the engine in reverse. The charge for a new poly line was $25. We rigged a nice knot splice to continue the trip.
Don't worry about crime in St. Vincent as you will not be staying there, you will sail from SVG to the smaller islands south and will only return the last day to SVG to drop off the boat.
Overall, my experience was very good when renting from them.

[rwviets]

Thanks to all who added after my first post in this thread. I will take heed of all the advice and make sure we enter the charter with due diligence.
* Caveat emptor.
I find that in reviews and comments about any service, the silent majority has had good service and tend to be not as vocal as the minority who have had a poor experience.
RV

[sailfast14]

Well after all the reports on Galaxy, I guess it's a good thing she's no longer one of the fleet. Time passes, and boats change, they've got a nice fleet of boats right now.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by rwviets

Uh-Oh!!! We are booked to charter Alexian, a Leopard 38 from Barefoot out of St Vincent

Congratulations...You are chartering my boat. Alexian is in GREAT shape. I'm just back from 5 weeks on board. 2 brand new Yanmars etc etc.

PM me for deatils re Barefoot as well as Alexian.

albertaw at telus dot net

Dave

[BlueSkiesSailin]

Originally Posted by rwviets

Uh-Oh!!! We are booked to charter Alexian, a Leopard 38 from Barefoot out of St Vincent for a week at the end of February. Does anyone know this boat? We don't mind some wear and tear but expect everything to be in good service condition. Are there any particular items to check on this model of cat? It is 10 years old and we have been told it has new engines.
Is it reasonable to ask to take a charter boat out for a quick shakedown sail to test the rigging, anchoring, motoring etc. We arrive 2 nights before departure and will spend 1 night in their onshore 'hotel' and 1 night sleep on board before heading south through the Grenadines.
My hope is that we can test and inspect the day before we leave and have any critical repairs done.
What grounds would we have to demand an alternate boat if there are serious problems during inspection and inventory?
I do not have much sailing experience however my brother, who has his own 24' Catalina and has chartered 3 times before, will be captain. First mate will be my son who races I-14's. We are all good mechanically if the need arises but we want to enjoy the sailing not endure the fixing.

MUST READ BEFORE CHARTERING WITH BAREFOOT

I wish I read these threads sooner. Good Luck with your charter though. We chartered Alexian last month in January. The Catamaran was alright. I wasn't too impressed with the catamaran. The islands were nice but we also had a very bad experience with Barefoot charters and with the Barefoot school. The Barefoot Charters, Instructors and its manager Seth was very poor. I would strongly agree with these past comments and I would highly recommend to avoid Barefoot Charters. If I had read these comments earlier, I would have picked a different chartering company and pick a better ASA school with actually experience instructors. Besides, Our provisioning was incomplete and disarray and we did not even get even half of what we ordered. Forget trying to get reimbursed. I never had a worst experience with this chartering company and school. During our class, we also had more than the maximum student to instructor ratio that as clearly stated on Barefoot's website. The school had squeeze more than expected and made no effort to let us know the ratio before our trip. The management failed to address the situation and avoided all efforts to. The Instructor, Chris, also brought his girlfriend aboard the trip which was also a distraction. The instructor also claim to be well qualified but lack experience, inability to instruct or show any kind of leadership. For others who have not chartered from Barefoot, message me. I will direct you to other charters that I would highly recommend. I am more helpful than Barefoot. Barefoot will avoid addressing any specific issues at all cost like a U.S. politician.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by BlueSkiesSailin

MUST READ BEFORE CHARTERING WITH BAREFOOT

I wish I read these threads sooner. Good Luck with your charter though. We chartered Alexian last month in January. The Catamaran was alright. I wasn't too impressed with the catamaran. The islands were nice but we also had a very bad experience with Barefoot charters and with the Barefoot school. The Barefoot Charters, Instructors and its manager Seth was very poor. I would strongly agree with these past comments and I would highly recommend to avoid Barefoot Charters. If I had read these comments earlier, I would have picked a different chartering company and pick a better ASA school with actually experience instructors. Besides, Our provisioning was incomplete and disarray and we did not even get even half of what we ordered. Forget trying to get reimbursed. I never had a worst experience with this chartering company and school. During our class, we also had more than the maximum student to instructor ratio that as clearly stated on Barefoot's website. The school had squeeze more than expected and made no effort to let us know the ratio before our trip. The management failed to address the situation and avoided all efforts to. The Instructor, Chris, also brought his girlfriend aboard the trip which was also a distraction. The instructor also claim to be well qualified but lack experience, inability to instruct or show any kind of leadership. For others who have not chartered from Barefoot, message me. I will direct you to other charters that I would highly recommend. I am more helpful than Barefoot. Barefoot will avoid addressing any specific issues at all cost like a U.S. politician.

Always wonder about the agenda when these 1st post rants 'sans intro' pop up...
2nd Barefoot Bashing... wonder if the last folks are still with us..

[knotnow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Always wonder about the agenda when these 1st post rants 'sans intro' pop up...
2nd Barefoot Bashing... wonder if the last folks are still with us..

Yo dude, couldn't agree with you more.