TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Has anyone charted the Moorings Dufour 44.3?

This boat is new to The Moorings this year and I have one reserved for my charter in May. Just wondering if anyone has any feedback on the boat.

The pictures of it on the site seem to show it with a davit and I'm wondering if those are just stock manufacturers' photos or if that is indeed the Moorings configuration.

It also has a water maker and the adviso to not run it in shallow water. What's the definition of shallow water? I'm guessing they mean really shallow water - like keel bumping the bottom shallow so you don't suck in sand or dirt - but I don't know.

Any insight into these or any other thoughts would be welcome.

No WM in Anegada, White bay, after major rain with murky run-off. No clue about davits.

Just use it in relatively clean water. You would not want to run it in the Roadtown harbor or Anegada. Virtually anywhere else is fine.

What's the problem with Anegada? Is that harbor particularly dirty? Should I not swim there (not that I was necessarily planning on it).

Anegada is shallow and often silty, which can more quickly clog the primary filters. I don't believe bacterial contamination is an issue with watermakers.

As said..use a watermaker at Setting Poin t and you are sure to suck in silt and sand as its so shallow..

Setting point is 6 to 8 feet deep. You can’t see the bottom! Not only is there sand and silt but it’s gets a lot of grass fragments in stronger winds. Both filters for our generator water intake were fully clogged after running the generator for 10 hours.

If you call up the pdf from the yacht description View Detailed Specifications pdf it shows The Moorings upgrades in bold.

We're booked on a 46.3 in July and toyed with the idea of asking for a switch but having sailed a 46.3 in 2021 and loved it we decided to stick with the 46.3.

The 46.3 is a great monohull!

I agree. With the extra beam and twin rudders it can be almost rail in the water and still have helm control. On our last charter we came out of an island wind shadow with way too much sail up. The wind hit us and we were flying, probably 8-9 knots SOG. I was on the helm but never felt out of control so we kept the sails up and enjoyed the ride.

The only (mild) complaint I have would probably apply to the new Dufour. The Moorings folks really don't know a whole lot about the monos they still have in their fleet. The staff member on our boat checkout didn't know much about the 46.3 but in his defense he got people out with the answers he didn't know.

I wouldn't go swimming there. I once had an avid fisherman aboard and, in the early evening, he got his heaviest line out and started hauling up shark after shark. Only small ones but where there are small ones there are probably larger ones as well.

A 700lb Tiger Shark was caught in the anchorage about 20 years ago. I never swam there either.

We had the 46.3 on our last trip and enjoyed it. Wanted to try this one this time.

We gave it some serious consideration but decided to go with the boat we knew. I look forward to hearing about your trip.