I still don't understand the lack of hot water. Unless it is as George said and the valves were turned off or something - running the engine should give plenty of hot water. And a boat that size should have two water heaters - I'd think at least one would have been working.

I'm also surprised friendships would be damaged over this - Kind of makes me wonder how good the friendship really was? Even no A/C shouldn't ruin any friendships and for anyone that prefers it, a night without A/C is a lot longer then a quick shower.

And I guess I also don't understand the whole meat issue. Since any food on the boat had to be purchased, why not just have purchased the meat for everyone to use AND pay for? Seems that would have made life easier for the chef and maybe avoided problems there.

End of the day, having done well over a dozen charters with a variety of groups, there's one very simple thing I've learned. You simply don't charter with people who aren't flexible. When on a boat, you need to go with the flow and know things aren't always going to be perfect.

And if you do want to do a charter with chef and captain, a crewed boat is probably a better choice then a bareboat with hired captain and cook.