TMM St Vincent

[KilkennyKats]

Anyone what is happening with TMM St Vincent

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, KilkennyKats.

Contact: John West
➥ http://www.sailtmm.com
Email: sailtmm@vincysurf.com
Phone(784) 456 9608 / USA (262) 518 8000
Fax(784) 456 9917

[bison65]

Barney Crook, founder and owner of TMM sent an email to all owners of boats under charter with TMM in St. Vincent. He informed us that John West, TMM's top honcho in St. Vincent had disappeared leaving behind several hundred thousand dollars in unpaid bills and Crook was closing the base immediately.

Fortunately for us, we were in the process of moving our boat to the BVI as we had experienced nothing but problems for four years we had the boat in charter with TMM.

As a footnote, when we finally were able to get some objective information on the condition of our boat, we found that TMM had failed to maintain the vessel as specified in their contract and as a result, it was barely seaworthy.(Ripped main sail, non working engine, gearbox problems, non functioning windlass, navigation lights not working, etc.)

Stay tuned for updates as we figure out what to do.

[KilkennyKats]

We had a similar experience with John West in TMM. Kilkenny Kats, Leopard 47 2004, went into charter with TMM 4 years ago. First 2 years were ok and we got revenue, admittedly had to chase statements and checks. We went down to St Vincent but John West was "not available" to meet with us. Boat was not in too bad condition at that time.
But last 2 years everything went down hill. Revenue was down to 14% and last year zero. he was holding on to money on the excuse that maintenance was needed. At this point, 2 years ago, we started to copy Barney Crook on emails to TMM St Vincent and some improvement was experienced. But last year problems returned and no revenue. We decided to sell Kilkenny Kats and got her inspected. Lots of issues were found and it was apparent none of the maintenance money had been spent on Kilkenny Kats.
Kilkenny Kats has now moved to Grenada.
Are there any other owners out there who have been burned by TMM and their investment not been looked after as per agreement with TMM St Vincent. I would like to hear from you.

[bison65]

Kilkenny Kats

We, too are trying to contact other owners of yachts in charter with TMM in St. Vincent. Did you receive Barney Crook's email where he described in deep detail how John West had disappeared, not telling his wife, (BTW he is not married, having been divorced in 2004), his broken down car was found outside a bar, etc. etc.?

It seems Crook is trying to distance himself from the entire matter, even though he and West each held 22 of 49 shares in TMM. (St. Vincent required seven share holders in companies of this sort. West-22, Crook-22 and five nominal shareholders...this from court documents related to West's divorce)

Personally, we are not done with this matter. It has cost us thousands just to make our boat seaworthy. If any of you are considering similar actions v. TMM, maybe we could join forces

Fair winds.

[KilkennyKats]

Probably best to keep our plans out of the open on cruisers forum.
Its a good place to try and contact other boat owners who were burned by TMM.

[hagerrc]

We moved our boat out in June of last year. A lot of maintenance issues when we got her out from under TMM. New outboard needed, old one was 2 years old. A lot of water in the diesel. I could go on.

[bison65]

For all owners of boats formerly in the TMM St. Vincent fleet, please see our new Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Yacht-Owner...1121024744278/ Fair Winds.

[bison65]

We just discovered that TMM scavanged our dinghy outboard for parts...nice, huh. Barney Crook was in St Vincent and is fully aware the malfeasance occurring in St. Vincent. He continues to disavow any responsibility for losses incurred by yacht owners in the fleet. We are mounting a class action suit v. Crook and TMM. If you have been financially damaged and want to join us, post a message here.

[KilkennyKats]

Good to hear from you. I am aware of others that have been also badly treated by TMM but I do not want to give details here on an open forum.
Can you email kilkennykats47@gmail.com and we can discuss in private.