We are currently stranded at a harbor in the Abacos because the 42 Lagoon Sailing Cat that we chartered a week ago is leaking hydraulic fluid, the batteries are going dead and will not hold a charge, half the boat's power is out, including the fans, a/c, microwave, and electric
windlass.
The owner of the company, Jim, has been extremely unresponsive when hailing him on
VHF, and resentful when we resorted to calling him because he failed to answer
VHF, or e-mails for over 12 hours. He had no solutions to offer and gave us a phone number to call for technical help.
We are now on the phone (at $2.00 per minute!!) to the electrical rep for Lagoon in Miami. The call has taken 25 minutes so far to try and trouble shoot the system. The rep has informed us that Abaco was well aware of the problems with this boat, and that they are waiting for parts, but neglected to disclose any of these issues to us in our briefing when we picked up the boat.
I understand all the nuances of taking a boat and having responsibility, but there is no excuse for the complete lack of disclosure on the part of Abaco Bahamas Charters. The net is that the owner and his staff have limited, if any knowledge of boats and their workings, and it is at your peril that you should charter from them.
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