TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands DYC/Scrub Island 10-24 to 10-31 2022

Good Afternoon TTOL BVI Friends:

Hope everyone is well. Just back from a one week 10-24 to 10-31-2022 bareboat in BVI. We chartered L40 with DYC out of Scrub. I have chartered many times, this is about my ninth charter with DYC.

In my mind, there is no such thing as a bad day in the BVIs. We always feel fortunate to be there. This trip, the Belongers made us feel welcome and appreciated everywhere. Happy to report BVI seems very well recovered from IRMA, with ongoing recovery work continuing. We have had many good experiences with DYC.

I want to alert TTOL BVI community to some facts that could affect your trip planning.

1) Arrival at Scrub/DYC base: crew of 5 arrived prior to captain. They arrived about 11:00am after spending night at Lambert Beach (great experience at Lambert Beach they report). The boat was empty, a/c was cranking, and they were allowed to place groceries on the boat. The base manager forbade crew from boarding empty and serviced boat until 5pm because "that's when the charter starts."

2) The restaurant at Scrub refused to honor credit cards from charter guests. There was no reason given. If you are charterer, prepare to pay in cash if you want to patronize the restaurants on Scrub.

3) L40 was handed to me with 85% fuel in port tank. Briefer gave me a convoluted explanation, then said to fuel to the boat at Spanish Town before RTB.. Briefer said they "could" fuel the thank to 100% "but"..... I suspect the prior charterer was dinged with the re-fueling surcharge yet the boat was not fully fueled. The water tank was empty until crew noticed and filled delaying departure. I returned the boat at 100% both tanks. Wasn’t difficult.

4) This was my second charter on this very boat. 2019 L40. I did not notice any down checks during briefing. I charter one or twice a year. Once we were underway, I logged the following issues (aside from fuel):

Chain anchor rode fouled. We tested the mechanism at the dock. It worked for the eight feet of rode we tested at dock. I test deployed the anchor at Prickly Pear and it only spooled out about 50'. Inspection showed a completely disorganized anchor locker, with spare anchor and other gear catawumpus in the locker. There was a terrific snarl in the chain rode that I was able to unentangle about another 30’ of rode, but no more. We had about 70’ out of 150’ feet useable.

Binoculars fouled with one side inoperative- it was more a telescope.

Interior starboard steps down to hull loose. Serious safety hazard.

Starboard aft head fouled first time used, no paper put in head. The head backed up with brown water which I bailed personally. Yes, I accepted the boat. There is no way we fouled the head to that extent with one use by small crew member.

Velcro holding canvas above helm worn. Sun shade could not be deployed above helm.

ATT network i-phones did not function to call base.

Called base five separate times from five different areas on channel 74 as instructed. We never connected by VHF. On RTB hailed on 16 and found them.

Interior wooden cabin sole on bridge deck interior greasy and worn near stairs both port and starboard.

Mattress pads stained.

In moderate rain, port and starboard forward hatches leaked, with signs of previous repair. Leak at mast step into main saloon moderate rain.

Dingy had no oars, no anchor. No handy winch to assist raising dingy.

Cracked plexi over B and G windex; plastic fittings around both windex missing.

I take responsibility for accepting the boat with the above defects. I am writing to alert TTOL friends that my recent boat check out at DYC did not seem to be about the base cordially helping safely prepare for a safe cruise. It seemed to be instead about covering DYC covering their [censored], nothing more, nothing less. The anchor rode, loose stair tread, and dingy issues in particular are life threatening hazards. caveat emptor. The head backing up was just a rank bummer way to start a cruise.

On the plus side- the standing rigging, running rigging, sails, engines, generator, reefer/freezer, water maker, electronics all well maintained and functioned well.

On RTB, I had to skedaddle early (530am) to catch 730am Road Town ferry to STT. The base kept my $770 security deposit for backed up head; and for a scuff from a tire bumper (small black mark) on starboard hull. The three- line invoice from DYC included "charter base fee (????)”. I do not understand why DYC kept my full $770 deposit.

I normally and very easy going and don't get excited about minor boat issues. In this case, I am concerned and confused as to why DYC took advantage of me to send us out in an unsafe, disorganized, sloppy boat. Again, I acknowledge my responsibility. I screwed up. I trusted them.

In conclusion, this event was a disqualifying disappointment in my long-term relationship with DYC. I just cancelled my January 2023 booking with DYC and re-booked with SunSail.

Other than that- it was a great cruise!

Best wishes to all-

JAM
Annapolis, Maryland.

Pretty shocking. I have a very similar boat in the Moorings fleet (2020 L40). I can't believe someone just dumped the spare anchor and rode in the chain locker.

Sorry you had to deal with all that. Not accepting credit cards is very fishy; have always paid by credit card there. Doesn't sound good for Scrub or DYC.

Respectfully, we have a charter booked in January and if you tell me right now that the major systems are going to work properly but I am going to have to deal with the issues you mentioned, I will be thrilled. (not thrilled about the brown water though...ugh.) Those other issues are almost expected these days although I know they are still frustrating. Those charges seem unreasonable and would p*ss me off.

Scrub for us has been hit or miss for us regarding service but might their network or other technology SNAFU been the root cause of them not accepting credit cards? Mine has worked there just fine...too well actually.

Filling up the morning of return always seems like a burden to me since some crew invariably need to get off early and it limits the places you can stay that last night. If they check me out with 85% fuel tank, I would propose bringing it back with that exact same level so that I can top off a day or two before return and have a lazy trip back to the marina that last morning. I do miss topping off at Marina Cay on the way in so I guess that is still not an option.

Lastly, did DYC make any mention of their move to Hodges Creek marina? I had thought that was a done deal and this last offseason would be the time that they make the move.

We were at Scrub a week and a half ago after a charter. They were having major systems issues and asked that everyone use cash. Since we stayed there one night, we were able to charge to our room, but they literally had to write everything down. Everyone was incredibly nice, and hopefully, they will get their IT issues fixed sooner than later.

Hi MD- I am in general agreement that if the boat is there and functional, I can deal. In this case, I am writing to point out that there are serious compromises in critical safety systems. If the motor goes out on the dingy when it is out of sight of yacht, the dingy could get blown right into the channel without oars or anchor. The loose step is a serious hazards. Inability to deploy anchor is a hazard. Those items do bother me.

Did not hear of move to Hodges Creek- but I didn't ask.

Forewarned is forearmed. I know you will have a great time- with this info, you can make sure your anchor rode is unsnarled, your binocs work, and the dingy has necessary safety equipment. Your mind will be a peace as you jump off the back of the T.....

Enjoy!

Best-

JAM
Annapolis

That could very well explain the issues we had with credit card. Thanks for the note!

We ate at the outdoor restaurant at Scrub on Nov 2nd. Used our credit card with no issue.

In my view, a lot depends on how much you pay. We did a couple of charters on the least expensive boats we could find (anyone remember North South?). The boats were in pretty rough shape, but we expected that and had a great time. If I pay top dollar, however, and the boat is only a few years old, I'd find the problems described to be pretty damned annoying. Rainwater leaking through hatches does not make for a great night's sleep.

Dan

Dan,
I remember North/South. Very well........

We referred to North South as rent-a-wreck