TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands The Catamaran company ,charter nightmare

I think this certainly makes the case for hiring a boat that is owner operated and crewed. They are many of them here on the board.

It sounds like you hired the captain and chef from the same operation that you chartered the boat from. They have no skin in the game. They get paid to run a boat that doesn't belong to them and cook for a group that they have no relationship with.

Those who run their own crewed charter boats would be out of business if they treated their clients that way.

It is not uncommon for a boat to have minor problems, but I think you could reasonable assume it would be fixed or the hot water issue accomodated using another vessel or at your suggestion the engine heating.
As for the chef, sounds like a pain in the [censored] that doesn't care about your wants or needs.

I'm sorry about your lousy trip. If you make a next one, look for a sponsor that owns the boat and business. There are several really good ones, the bad ones aren't in business anymore.