I thought long and hard before I posted this and I will try and be as fair and objective as possible. I just returned from an 8 day cruise along with my husband and 4 friends on a 43 ft Cat with the Moorings. My husband and I have been chartering with the Moorings for over 20 years and this was our 30+ (have lost track) charter. We have been loyal and devoted Moorings customers, having never used another charter in the BVI over all these years. We have experienced many permutations of Moorings ownership since the Careys owned them years ago, but never the disappointment that we had this trip. All the personnel that we had grown to know and love over the years was gone and although we were greeted politely when we arrived, there was no warmth in the staff, no acknowledgement that we were such loyal customers. Now to the boat, the boat was clean, our starter kit was there, however the proper compliment of linens were not. When one of our guests went to customer service to procure the proper linens, he was treated very rudely, as though his request was an intrusion. Of course, over the years we have had occasional boat problems, but never like this. Both engine alternators failed, one voltage regulator failed and there was so much debris left by careless mechanics in the bilge that it caused the float to be permanently up and the bilge to constantly run. My husband was able to do a temporary fix, but could not get far enough into the engine hold to fix it permanently (now I know why the mechanics are all skinny!!). Also the dingy painters are too short, not giving enough slack when under sail. All in all, we had 4 service calls--totally unheard of in all our years. To the Moorings defense, however, all of the service calls were prompt, the mechanics arriving exactly when they were expected, polite and efficient. We also had a minor problem with the oven (we do all our own provisioning and cooking) in that it would only heat when on maximum power, using more propane than should be necessary. Also, just as we were about to cast off on day one, someone ran up and said, "oh did you have your boat briefing"? It was about 1 PM! Good thing we were not newbies!

When we returned and reviewed all of this with the staff and management, we were treated well and were told that someone from Clearwater would get back to us. We are still waiting.

Of course, the sail was beautiful, the weather great, the anchorages gorgeous (for the first time, did the bubbling pools at Diamond Cay--worth the scramble over the rocks!) and had the privilege of meeting Rick and his parrot from Sophisticated Lady--thanks Rick for letting my friend hold your bird!!

This all said, we will continue to charter from the Moorings and hope that our report will be taken in the spirit that it has been given as constructive criticism and these growing pains from the merger will be ironed out over time. We have an affection for the Moorings and it would take alot to deter us! As a matter of fact, my daughter and her family are doing a first cruise with Footloose in March!