rogerdog
Well-Known Member
Hello All,
I appreciate I did not contact this person through PBO - but wanted to warn yourselves to prevent a repeat experience for anyone.
In mid May my partner found a posting by <name deleted> for Yacht 'Fairwinds' moored in the Caribbean. She contacted him and met in the UK - he seemed extremely plausible and emphasised his Christian beliefs and values. He also indicated that he would be interested in other crew - but preferred females as they were "better for crew balance". However I contacted him, as I was in need of a break and he again seemed very plausible and friendly, so we both agreed to crew on "the journey of a lifetime” with no ongoing costs as he needed crew.
He was very eager for us to book our tickets and he constantly would ask if they were booked yet - that we took as a sign that he was keen for us to join the adventure. As soon as we confirmed that the flights were booked he than started asking us to obtain various items and we would be paid on arrival in local currency as would help us.
When we arrived in Jamaica (where he did meet us off the flight) the horror began. The yacht's photos we had seen were obviously a number of years out of date and it's condition was far, far worse then the pictures. As the washboards were removed for our first night - the smell from below decks was overwhelming and nauseating and as we descended our concerns grew - he had no water to drink onboard, the bed was covered with stained sheets and only one mouldy pillow, the heads had no working lights so we did not see the overall state until the next day.
The galley was so dirty and all the cutlery / crockery and cooking pots covered with dried on food as were the worktops. The first thing we did was to go ashore to get some food / drink (as nothing onboard) and cleaning materials. After cleaning the yacht top to bottom the smell started to reduce, however our concerns continued to grow with <name deleted> being very unhappy about paying for the items he had asked us to purchase for him and him and tried to reduce the amount he would pay.
The theme of money again raised its head when for the (tatty and difficult to board) ‘dingy’ he had hired ’owner’ demanded that the paid at once ‘or else’ – again I loaned him the money. Then despite his assurances that there would be no contributing needed for moorings, fuel, boat upkeep or even provisioning (the main points that persuaded us to go) he requested a substantial payment from us and said that he would not be able to reimburse us for the items bought for a few weeks! The theme of money ‘extraction’ continued and I then confronted him as we had both on more then one occasion in the UK been assured by <name deleted> that there would be no ongoing costs for us regarding the boat. He then became extremely argumentative and aggressive and after a heated discussion we agreed on a £20 ongoing contribution each for the food (we were eating out extensively as facilities on Fairwinds were very limited) .
In fact the condition of Fairwinds was extremely worrying:
No liferaft
No danbouy / rescue equipment
Some nav lights not working
The only fresh water pump that would stop working
Cracked freshwater tank
A VHF described as ‘intermittent’
An engine that would overheat
Water in the diesel
No SSB
No EPIRB
Section of guardrail missing
No attachment points for safetylines
Heads that did not flush properly / backfilled
Faulty cooker
No fridge / fully working coolbox
(lifejackets /saftylines were our own as he had none on board and had asked us to bring them – I had in addition brought my PLB)
After our sail from Jamaica to Cuba – with only two engine breakdowns, <name deleted> informed us that it would serve them right that he had left as they wanted too much for moorings – hence the early start to the leg owing them money in Jamaica! The ‘fun’ in Cuba got better! When customs cheeked the boat the sniffer dog went mad in our cabin – with a very thorough search ensuing that was both disturbing and intimidating. <name deleted> calmly afterwards said that the likely reason was his previous crew had been convicted of drugs possession and had keept it in the cabin – but forgot to tell us!
The next bombshell he dropped was he couldn’t afford the customs and other official paperwork in Cuba – so we would have to pay some of it as well as all the marina fees ! In addition he than started abusing and threatening the officials as then tried to get him to pay and continued to shout and loose his temper with us as we saw our money going down rapidly as he arranged further ‘provisioning ‘ trips etc for us to go and get items /subsidise his taxis
This ongoing and increasing cost, the condition (and equipment levels) on Fairwinds and <name deleted> attitude was the final straw together with his, at times, inappropriate behaviour to my partner, general abuse and his lack of 'balance' caused us to leave.
I hope that no one has to go through the same ever again. Remember if it sounds too good to be true - it is !
I appreciate I did not contact this person through PBO - but wanted to warn yourselves to prevent a repeat experience for anyone.
In mid May my partner found a posting by <name deleted> for Yacht 'Fairwinds' moored in the Caribbean. She contacted him and met in the UK - he seemed extremely plausible and emphasised his Christian beliefs and values. He also indicated that he would be interested in other crew - but preferred females as they were "better for crew balance". However I contacted him, as I was in need of a break and he again seemed very plausible and friendly, so we both agreed to crew on "the journey of a lifetime” with no ongoing costs as he needed crew.
He was very eager for us to book our tickets and he constantly would ask if they were booked yet - that we took as a sign that he was keen for us to join the adventure. As soon as we confirmed that the flights were booked he than started asking us to obtain various items and we would be paid on arrival in local currency as would help us.
When we arrived in Jamaica (where he did meet us off the flight) the horror began. The yacht's photos we had seen were obviously a number of years out of date and it's condition was far, far worse then the pictures. As the washboards were removed for our first night - the smell from below decks was overwhelming and nauseating and as we descended our concerns grew - he had no water to drink onboard, the bed was covered with stained sheets and only one mouldy pillow, the heads had no working lights so we did not see the overall state until the next day.
The galley was so dirty and all the cutlery / crockery and cooking pots covered with dried on food as were the worktops. The first thing we did was to go ashore to get some food / drink (as nothing onboard) and cleaning materials. After cleaning the yacht top to bottom the smell started to reduce, however our concerns continued to grow with <name deleted> being very unhappy about paying for the items he had asked us to purchase for him and him and tried to reduce the amount he would pay.
The theme of money again raised its head when for the (tatty and difficult to board) ‘dingy’ he had hired ’owner’ demanded that the paid at once ‘or else’ – again I loaned him the money. Then despite his assurances that there would be no contributing needed for moorings, fuel, boat upkeep or even provisioning (the main points that persuaded us to go) he requested a substantial payment from us and said that he would not be able to reimburse us for the items bought for a few weeks! The theme of money ‘extraction’ continued and I then confronted him as we had both on more then one occasion in the UK been assured by <name deleted> that there would be no ongoing costs for us regarding the boat. He then became extremely argumentative and aggressive and after a heated discussion we agreed on a £20 ongoing contribution each for the food (we were eating out extensively as facilities on Fairwinds were very limited) .
In fact the condition of Fairwinds was extremely worrying:
No liferaft
No danbouy / rescue equipment
Some nav lights not working
The only fresh water pump that would stop working
Cracked freshwater tank
A VHF described as ‘intermittent’
An engine that would overheat
Water in the diesel
No SSB
No EPIRB
Section of guardrail missing
No attachment points for safetylines
Heads that did not flush properly / backfilled
Faulty cooker
No fridge / fully working coolbox
(lifejackets /saftylines were our own as he had none on board and had asked us to bring them – I had in addition brought my PLB)
After our sail from Jamaica to Cuba – with only two engine breakdowns, <name deleted> informed us that it would serve them right that he had left as they wanted too much for moorings – hence the early start to the leg owing them money in Jamaica! The ‘fun’ in Cuba got better! When customs cheeked the boat the sniffer dog went mad in our cabin – with a very thorough search ensuing that was both disturbing and intimidating. <name deleted> calmly afterwards said that the likely reason was his previous crew had been convicted of drugs possession and had keept it in the cabin – but forgot to tell us!
The next bombshell he dropped was he couldn’t afford the customs and other official paperwork in Cuba – so we would have to pay some of it as well as all the marina fees ! In addition he than started abusing and threatening the officials as then tried to get him to pay and continued to shout and loose his temper with us as we saw our money going down rapidly as he arranged further ‘provisioning ‘ trips etc for us to go and get items /subsidise his taxis
This ongoing and increasing cost, the condition (and equipment levels) on Fairwinds and <name deleted> attitude was the final straw together with his, at times, inappropriate behaviour to my partner, general abuse and his lack of 'balance' caused us to leave.
I hope that no one has to go through the same ever again. Remember if it sounds too good to be true - it is !
