# Conch Charters, BVI



## TSOJOURNER

We are interested in chartering for the first time in the BVI. Conch Charters seems interesting. Has anyone dealt with them, heard any reviews on equipment & services? Does anyone have any other suggestions? What about provisioning? Is it best to let the charter company handle it or fend for yourself if you know where to go? Any info is appreciated. Thanks.


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## TSOJOURNER

No direct experience, but friends chartered with the Moorings, out of Tortola, with great results.


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## smedley

Barbara, I chartered with Tortola Marine Management (TMM) last summer and had a great time. They are very curteious and helpful. I don''t know how many people you have going, but if its more than 6 take a look at the Lagoon 41, great boat. We had eight people and had plenty of room. TMM offers provisioning, but we opted to fend for ourselves. There is a market within walking distance of the marinia. While acouple of us went over the boat and the chart briefing the others went shopping. We also bought some as we went to different places. I would be happy to give you anymore info if you need it. Just e-mail me. Good luck, Scott.


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## JohnHenry

Just came back from Tortola BVI, on a 8 day
TMM charter. The 38'' Lagoon catamaran was a sailing/cruising delight. We had 4 on board
and all had plenty of room. 
I would recomend TMM for the quality of service & condition of boats.
NOTE TO SELF FOR NEXT CHARTER: Bring much fewer clothes, bring all non-perishable foods from states and provision perishables from store 150 yards away from TMM.


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## wind4me

*Conch Charters - Heard through the grapevine*

I just returned from a charter in the British Virgin's. We used another company but I heard that Conch Charters used to be the "Little Engine That Could" of the BVI Charterer's. Now, apparently they've grown into quite a nice little operation with newer boats and good service.

I'm planning a return trip right now and will be looking at Conch and TMM. The last trip I chartered with Horizon and did not have a good experience at all but from what I read Horizon generally does a good job.

Sunsail and Moorings are clearly the company's to use of you really want all the pampering and fluff but to me it's not worth the extra dough. Horizon goes out of Nanny Cay which is really convenient to Sopers if you come in from ST Thomas, and if you're heading North your first day, it's very convenient.


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## brigadoonboat

*conch charters bvi*

I have chartered with them several times over the last dozen years. they are a great group, and their boats are in fine shape. 
their little talk at the beginning of the charter is worth every minute, listen carefully. If you have never been in the BVI before, their knowledge will be most valuable.
stick with the mooring balls, its easy , worth the peace of mind and saves the bottom of the ocean. If you are on a budget, buy as much food as you can manage before you are set out on the boat. the taxi will let you off and you can get another from the store. walking is doable but not pleasant on the road to Burt Marina. bring some staples from home, because all you need is a bathing suit, and a maybe an other bathing suit, well, maybe a a shirt and pants for town- be respectful. Point is there is room in the suitcase the stores in tortola are fun, and you will enjoy the island style variety. its expensive, but cheaper then the restaurants on the islands you will visit. there are a couple of stores, and you really will have more fun then having someone else do your shopping.
Conch chaters is great, but the islands are unbelievable for the novice sailor. the water is deep(safe) and navigation is easy. be sure to visit the Baths, avoid the hot party spots, and at least once, swim at night, under the stars!
ps we will be at conch charters mid January 2010.


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## TSOJOURNER

I skippered a boat for this outift some years back. The company is a no-nonsense operation, the boats are solid; no bells and whistles, and the price reflects this. If you charter with them, Andrew Waters is the fleet manager and he is a good guy to know and ask about the BVIs. Good luck and keep it off the rocks!


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## Ladyhawke2

*Conch Charters*

We have chartered with Conch and found them to be great to deal with. While they have older boast, they are well maintained and we didn't have any problems at all.


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## familyofun

*Do not recommend Conch*

We just returned from a trip in which we chartered bareboat through Conch and I have the following to say about our experience with them. The boat was about what we expected however it was not really very inviting. For example, we had pillows that were about 100 years old that stank to high heaven along with tissue paper sheets that also stunk. Housekeeping was generally very poor-dirty cutlery and utensils, etc. Had to give the place a scrub down, but unfortunately had to live with the bedding the whole trip. Two heads would not stop stinking. We could overlook all of this with the right concern from the operators however Customer service was dismal. Phone calls not returned in general. When we did get a voice, there was basically no answer to our query on equipment that would not stop beeping or missing integral equipment.

We still managed to have an absolutely FANTASTIC time and learned to overlook or live with this aspect, but the salt on the wound was when we returned to Conch. First, they quickly closed shop and left us without water for the night. However not before sticking it to us as follows: We had run over the whaler line prior to returning. Line was cleanly severed however they called it prop wrap and quickly put through our $1500 Damage deposit . Just a tad slimy. I know this company started out with a Canadian couple who were know to 'care', however, perhaps they've grown tired of the business or are entrusting the wrong staff. We payed this company an extra $250 to sleep on board before our flights and the first thing we saw upon arriving home was an email complaining that we didn't do the dishes (with no water?).

Anyway, there are lots and lots of options out there (my husband has had plenty of previous good experience with Moorings) and I'd suggest if you are looking for a good deal, but still want to savor your hard earned vacation, find a company with a personal touch. I could add a lot to this review, but I think I've said enough.

Have a great trip!!


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## wind4me

*Chartering wows*

Wow...sounds horrible. That's the one thing that bugs me about chartering. It's not an inexpensive vacation but yet the service is the hotel equivelant of a Red Roof Inn versus the Westin. And one more thing before I get into this,,,,,it's about time the BVI's invested in some damn pumping stations!! I'm tired of the "harbour pumpers" dumping in my swimming pool and having to dinghy my kids ashore at 6 am for their morning potty break !

That said, I think the problem is the business model. On the surface it looks to me like charter companies are begging for owners and promise them the world (including maintenance, dock fee's, positive revenue stream and more) to get the business. I think they work off a 20% commission so if you look at the supply chain and all the services they have to provide for an average gross commission of roughly $35K annually (12 weeks a year are allocated to the owners which means no revenue ), after franchise fee's (?), salaries, dock fee's, maintenance to a charter boat (yikes) and G&A you can easily see how this business is tight and why you're better off going with a larger company who can extract economies of scale and spread the costs over a larger fleet. We rent houses every summer in the Outer Banks and I've been under contract on a couple of homes and talked to various rental companies. Bottom line, if you have a nice house that's well maintained you can do well with Twiddy (Moorings of the Outer Banks). If you don't mind a run down house with old carpet and mattresses full of stains, then you know which companies to go to to rent them. In most cases, you do get what you pay for .


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## TSOJOURNER

Family O Fun - We had similar bad experience with Conch.

The boat instrumentation not working.
The boat was poorly maintained and smelling and there were possibly bugs on board.
Fridge/Freezer not working. 
Poor/no Communication from company during and after trip.
Dinged for our damage deposit for questionable reasons with very poor handling/communication from management.
Do Not Recommend taking a chance with this outfit.
J&J


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## BayWindRider

*Hmm, what boat?*

Could you guys be specific as to what boat you chartered? Was it the old Bene's or the 2002 Bavaria? They do have a bunch of older boats.

Sorry you had such a bad experience...


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## GeorgeDog

We used Conch in 1997, 2002, and 2005. We'd use them again. Experience did teach me to carefully check out the boat systems upon arrival so the mechanics can fix things before you start.

Provisioning: We had the boat thoroughly provisioned for the 2005 trip. This worked out great as every minute spent planning saved several during the trip. I think we used Bobby's Market for food and alcohol. There was a seafood operation that we ordered frozen tuna steaks, seafood salads, and such from. Fabulous quality stuff. I don't recall the name but it was on the main road not far from the airport. Send me a PM if you'd like any more details.

BTW: don't miss Anegada.


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## GeorgeDog

I should have Googled the seafood place before posting the previous message. They're name is Sailor's Ketch. Awesome seafood.

-Chris


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## wind4me

GeorgeDog you're a better man than I. When I go on vacation, I leave my "greasemonkey" suit at home! I expect the boat to well-maintained, lubricated, clean and seaworthy. It's not that difficult...it's called routine maintenance and any charter company that doesn't subscribe to that philosophy won't be around long. There's a finite number of sailors out there and all charter companies are in the same boat (no pun intended). The only way to differentiate yourself is throught service or price and I'd hate to be chartering a boat from the lost cost supplier in the market. It's simply not worth the hassle.


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## brak

FWIW I just returned from a charter with Footloose and I really miss the Conch now  Compared to my boat from Footloose, the Conch was a fine vessel in a top shape. Of the 6 days of charter we had their techs come out on 5 (and had to stay in place for a lot longer than I cared for). I suppose it is a bit of consolation that Footloose gave us 1.5 days worth of charter cost back but only in a form of their own sailing certificate which is fairly useless since I am definitely not coming back to sail with those guys.

To me the moral of this is that you may get what you pay for or a lot less than you paid for (and that $4K really don't buy much nowadays)


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## shayw

Just came back from a charter with Conch on a Bavaria 32. To sum it up, older boats, not all that clean, everything is functional but the beds and linens were horrible. No tools to change the propane tank. If you are okay with the idea of camping than okay. Not charged extra but had to constantly chase ice down to keep any kind of coldness in fridge. Probably not do it again, but we had a good time despite the boat and nothing broke. PM if you want. Shay


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## DropTop

I chartered the Jenneau 45 (Jeanneau 45 ~ 1999) over new years this year.

Overall a very pleasant experience, would go back again and charter with them.

The intruments at the port side helm station were not working, the main sail was difficult to raise (had to winch it the entire way), and the heads all back filled a little, so you had to be sure to pump lots of raw water through them so when they did back fill, it didn't stink. the GPS was an antique, and I don't think it worked either (not that we needed it, plus we brought a handheld)

As for the interior, the cushions did show their age, and there were a few small tears in the covers, but the sheets were clean and pillows comfortable.

The only mechanical issue we had was the engine raw water pump failed about 4 days into the 10 day trip, while going through the narrow between Beef Island and Little Camanoe island the engine temp alarm went off, we quickly raised the sails and killed the engine and with a few quick tacks, made it through the channel fine, and sent the dinghy ahead to locate a morring ball in trellis bay so we wouldn't have to run the engine for long.

The next morning they sent someone out to replace the water pump, and we were under way by the time we finished breakfast.

Unfortunantly, they guy that came out wasn't a conch employee, he was a local mechanic they hired, and he put in the wrong impeller. We got another over temp alarm on us again the following day, this time as we were coming across virgin gorda sound. We were sailed it almost to the ball, and only ran the engine for a minute or two while picking it up (probably could have done it entirly on sail if we had tried). This time they sent someone from their staff out and he put the right impeller in, and cleaned out the chunks of the old impeller that were clogging the water pump. In all both water pump changes combined cost us about 1 hour of time out of our trip, and added some excitment along the way.

so in summary, Is Conch the best company out there? No, but they try hard to make sure you have a good trip, and yes the boats are not as new or clean as the moorings, but you also don't pay the same rates. Going out on a conch boat is kinda like going out on a friends boat, it's never quite perfect, but it gets you where you need to go, and you're comfortable while getting there. So stop picking apart everything that isn't perfect on the boat, and just enjoy the islands, and all the good food and drinks they have to offer.


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## Vasco

I've chartered with Conch about eight time beginning the second year they were in business. They always tried hard in the service department and I was satisfied enough to give them a lot of repeat business. Having said that it doesn't surprise me to see the complaints surfacing here. I have not chartered with them since about 2003 or so and at that time their service was slipping. I think they were getting too big and Brian and Cindy (the original owners) were taking a more hands-off approach. Too bad to see them go this way.


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## DropTop

Vasco said:


> I think they were getting too big and Brian and Cindy (the original owners) were taking a more hands-off approach. Too bad to see them go this way.


Over the course of our charter I dealt with both Brian and Cindy. Most of the communications I had pre-chartering was with Cindy, so I suspect they have changed things around a bit and are going back to the original hands on approach.

Overall, I felt it was a good value for what we paid. If we go back to the BVI this year, definitly going to call them again.


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## kellysails

Well, I have chartered with Conch five times and I have found them fantastic, not a single problem or issue. Their low cost model does now have them in the drivers seat. I was there just two weeks ago and they were busy busy. They were a bit less attentive than normal but it was clearly due to their high rate of business. I do bring my own roll of duct tape with me, as I can make any small repair when I need to. They are older boats but in great condition. 

When I make my next trip to the BVI's it will certainly be with Conch. 

-craig


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## kellysails

On a sad note, Miles left Conch. He was the best of the best and a huge loss to them I am sure. Just speculating but I kinda had the feeling that there was a tussle between Miles and the new direction of the company, high growth. It was a slight something that I picked up from him on my Oct 09 charter there but pure speculation on my part. Miles was the best customer advocate in the company, IMHO.

-craig


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## lexvold

*Conch*

Personal attack by unscrupulous Hunter Dealer removed per forum rules


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## lexvold

Personal attack by unscrupulous Hunter Dealer removed per forum rules


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## familyofun

It seems you know very little about spelling and grammar.


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## BayWindRider

*Resumes*

I have never chartered a boat before and wondered if those who have keep a resume of their sailing experience. I've heard some companies are very particular about who they charter their boats too while others just want the money. I saw Conches website and they make you type in your experience. I thought it would be easier (once I have more time on the water) to hand them a detailed resume.

Just wondered what people do? I'm going to start keeping a resume based on experience, boat size, ASA classes, and such. It would be interesting to hear some examples...


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## kellysails

For anywhere in the Caribbean a simple sailing resume will do. The big challenges come in when you try to charter in the med. I was fortunate to pick up an EU ICC when I lived in Ireland but not sure what I would do if I did not have that. I would assume some cert level in ASA would be fine but they are really picky in the med.


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## decatur1945

*Interesting Perspective*

I chartered with Conch several times. Albeit, not within the past couple of years. So maybe my exerpience doesn't reflect current situation. I accept that the boats are older, but the ones I had were always clean and everything worked. I indeed did go over all the systems predeparture. I did have a few problems, but was able to manage them myself. I did call the office on all occasions and they offered to send out help but I declined. I never had any problems with getting my deposit back and on one trip when I did get back they didn't charge me for the fuel fill up because I had had a problem.

I chartered with some other people once from Pro Valor, back in about 2001 or 02. It was a small operation owned by a younger American couple and they were the absolute worst people I have ever dealt with. However, they sold the business to another middle age couple who I did charter with a couple of years ago, I went with them because Conch didn't have a big enough boat available. I talked with them ahead of time and the told me they were working to overcome the bad rep that Pro Valor had and boy did they get it right. Terrific people, again older boat but in good shape and good condition. Had no problem with the boat at all.

So, I guess it does go to the quality of the owners, managers, and attitudes they have.

I'm sorry to hear that Conch might have gone downhill, I liked their operation.


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## EricinToronto

*Has anyone tried Mango Charters?*

Curious to see if people recommend them or not. Looking to go next December.


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## fallard

We've chartered from a number of outfits in the Caribbean over the years, including TMM, Moorings, Sunsail, and Island Yachts. All have asked for sailing resumes, even the outfit we've chartered from 7 times--it's apparently a requirement by the insurance companies. I'm not sure how effective the resumes are in screening sailors, because we are continually amazed by some of the folks who are allowed to take an expensive boat off by themselves.

We've chartered boats that were anywhere from 5 months old to 5 years old and have avoided the second tier companies like Conch and Footloose. Maybe we're fussy, but we've had enough equipment problems with boats in the 5 yr old group. Most of the problems are minor, but some are can do serious harm to your vacation frame of mind. One such example was finding out within 24 hours that our refrigeration wasn't working and that we couldn't reach the base via radio because it wasn't working either (cell phone wasn't an option at that time.) We lost a day on that one. What we've learned is that the older a boat is, the more of a crap shoot it is, in terms of reliability, accommodations, and performance (a lot of charter sails are past their prime). It may cost more, but we've determined--having come off a 5-yr old boat recently--that we will pay the difference for the 0-2yr old category in any future charters.


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## PEL

We just had two great trip w/Conch charters at a great price for a 46' Cat for 7 days. There were a few issues which Conch quickly resolved. A+


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## Liquorice

I've sailed with Conch in Nov/Dec for the last 4 years and I'll be sailing with them again this year. Pay for 7 days - sail for 10; $1000 cheaper; boats are a little older with a few more scratches; Nice people!
I've had some trips where nothing went wrong, other trips where we had some small equipment failure. Was fixed real quick and didn't mess up our plans too much.
Worst charter I ever had was with Moorings in the Bahamas!
sam


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## thelog32

im thinking about chartering from conk in the BVI next summer. we were going to charter their L47 salivation anybody chartered this leopard before care to share their experience


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## Multihullgirl

I had a good experience with Conch, and I have some friends who would charter with none other. btw I also had a good experience with TMM Tortola.


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## OnVacation

I had a very mixed experience with Conch Charter, more negative than positive. I wouldn't charter from them again. While their boats are older models, and therefore priced competitively for the charter industry, the state of repair of the boats leaves a lot to be desired, and that ended up becoming a HUGE issue with our losing half a day of sailing, and other time performing repairs ourselves on misc little items like replacing circuit breakers, repairing handles on coffee pots, and making due with partially functioning winches and winch handles. The sails were older, and in high winds the jib clue blew out, costing us half a day's sail while they repaired it. To be fair, they hustled to repair the sail (luckily we were close enough to Tortola to motor in, but if we were elsewhere we would have lost even more time), and later they sent me by ferry to Virgin Gorda a new electric winch breaker to replace a nonfunctioning one that continuously tripped creating serious challenges getting the main halyard up - and even the winch handle as a backup did not fit properly as a work around. They get some points for quick repair and response, but on a short week vacation valuable time was lost with ill maintained equipment that should not have needed repair in the first place. When I requested a credit for my half day of lost sailing, a small token request to satisfy a customer who had lost a half day's itinerary, they developed an attitude, the manager suggested that I could have sailed on my main sail if I had wanted to, and refused to even listen to my reason for requesting a small credit. The owner, Peter, staunchly argued why I deserved no credit, blaming me for the clue in the sail blowing out, even though we had one of their captain's aboard who had reefed in the sail and was cautious not to tighten the jib too much on the high wind conditions. While I tried to appeal to them to consider the benefit of a customer walking away partially compensated for lost time on a short vacation due to poorly maintained equipment, they basically said they "agree to disagree" and that their repair service they provided was satisfactory enough for them, and that such down time due to older equipment was my price to be paid for competitively priced charter rates on their "older" boats. They have now lost my repeat business for the next five years, and tossed away $25,000 in revenue by declining a $300 customer service credit, and their attitude in so doing wiped out any earned respect in their 110% effort to repair what was broken. If you value your vacation time, and don't want to deal with repairs or down time, charter elsewhere if you have the funds to pay slightly more for a charter! PS- I learned from others who chartered from Conch Charters that they lost 4 other sails that week due to high winds and the "older" sails not being properly maintained or reinforced. The other family that charted agreed, "You get what you pay for."


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## kellysails

Wow, that is pretty bad. As much as we have enjoyed Conch, this is no way to treat a customer. I wonder if they are on a downhill slide? Or if business has really turned up due to the economy in the States, combined with their unique business model, customer retention is just not that big of a deal? (not a good idea)

Which boat did you have btw?



OnVacation said:


> I had a very mixed experience with Conch Charter, more negative than positive. I wouldn't charter from them again. While their boats are older models, and therefore priced competitively for the charter industry, the state of repair of the boats leaves a lot to be desired, and that ended up becoming a HUGE issue with our losing half a day of sailing, and other time performing repairs ourselves on misc little items like replacing circuit breakers, repairing handles on coffee pots, and making due with partially functioning winches and winch handles. The sails were older, and in high winds the jib clue blew out, costing us half a day's sail while they repaired it. To be fair, they hustled to repair the sail (luckily we were close enough to Tortola to motor in, but if we were elsewhere we would have lost even more time), and later they sent me by ferry to Virgin Gorda a new electric winch breaker to replace a nonfunctioning one that continuously tripped creating serious challenges getting the main halyard up - and even the winch handle as a backup did not fit properly as a work around. They get some points for quick repair and response, but on a short week vacation valuable time was lost with ill maintained equipment that should not have needed repair in the first place. When I requested a credit for my half day of lost sailing, a small token request to satisfy a customer who had lost a half day's itinerary, they developed an attitude, the manager suggested that I could have sailed on my main sail if I had wanted to, and refused to even listen to my reason for requesting a small credit. The owner, Peter, staunchly argued why I deserved no credit, blaming me for the clue in the sail blowing out, even though we had one of their captain's aboard who had reefed in the sail and was cautious not to tighten the jib too much on the high wind conditions. While I tried to appeal to them to consider the benefit of a customer walking away partially compensated for lost time on a short vacation due to poorly maintained equipment, they basically said they "agree to disagree" and that their repair service they provided was satisfactory enough for them, and that such down time due to older equipment was my price to be paid for competitively priced charter rates on their "older" boats. They have now lost my repeat business for the next five years, and tossed away $25,000 in revenue by declining a $300 customer service credit, and their attitude in so doing wiped out any earned respect in their 110% effort to repair what was broken. If you value your vacation time, and don't want to deal with repairs or down time, charter elsewhere if you have the funds to pay slightly more for a charter! PS- I learned from others who chartered from Conch Charters that they lost 4 other sails that week due to high winds and the "older" sails not being properly maintained or reinforced. The other family that charted agreed, "You get what you pay for."


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## CLOSECALL

While I can agree that customer service is not a high priority with Conch, I think you need to reconsider your statement about paying "slightly" more for your charter at another company.

I have chartered with Conch at least five times and this last time, two weeks ago, was the first time without glitches with either the boat or the dinghy. I guess I think they are getting better.

Also, Kelly, believe me, this time of year there is no shortage of business in the BVI. So maybe you are right about their attitude about customer retention.


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## kellysails

CLOSECALL said:


> I have chartered with Conch at least five times and this last time, two weeks ago, was the first time without glitches with either the boat or the dinghy.


I have also chartered with Conch five times and likely will again. But I never charter any of their boats without bringing my own roll duct tape and a handful of oversized zip ties.  One time we had a transmission implode on us right in the middle of negotiating a mooring field. We just hung out an extra day in trellis bay but we still had a good time. Friggin boats, I expect no less. They were johnny on the spot with a new (rebuilt) tranny, and it was actually amazing to witness an install in five hours.

One time we had a main sheet block disintegrate into a puff of smoke. That block was likely a hand me down of some old ancient wreck.


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## kellysails

Oh, how did I forget to mention this one.

We had a Conch boat in which the starter would not kick in if we were on a port tack with any little amount of heel. It took five days to figure out that correlation. Why does the starter kick in sometime and sometimes not? Once we figured out that correlation, I spent some time looking for a loose electrical connection although that took away from beer drinking time so I mostly just ignored it. We just tack away from a port tack if we needed to start the motor

There must be more Conch stories out there, let's hear them!:laugher


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## keepintune

I always get suspicious with a negative review member who just joined and a company/product/service review is their very first post. Not saying they are wrong or it didn't happen as described, just suspicious, that's all.



OnVacation said:


> I had a very mixed experience with Conch Charter, more negative than positive. I wouldn't charter from them again. While their boats are older models, and therefore priced competitively for the charter industry, the state of repair of the boats leaves a lot to be desired, and that ended up becoming a HUGE issue with our losing half a day of sailing, and other time performing repairs ourselves on misc little items like replacing circuit breakers, repairing handles on coffee pots, and making due with partially functioning winches and winch handles. The sails were older, and in high winds the jib clue blew out, costing us half a day's sail while they repaired it. To be fair, they hustled to repair the sail (luckily we were close enough to Tortola to motor in, but if we were elsewhere we would have lost even more time), and later they sent me by ferry to Virgin Gorda a new electric winch breaker to replace a nonfunctioning one that continuously tripped creating serious challenges getting the main halyard up - and even the winch handle as a backup did not fit properly as a work around. They get some points for quick repair and response, but on a short week vacation valuable time was lost with ill maintained equipment that should not have needed repair in the first place. When I requested a credit for my half day of lost sailing, a small token request to satisfy a customer who had lost a half day's itinerary, they developed an attitude, the manager suggested that I could have sailed on my main sail if I had wanted to, and refused to even listen to my reason for requesting a small credit. The owner, Peter, staunchly argued why I deserved no credit, blaming me for the clue in the sail blowing out, even though we had one of their captain's aboard who had reefed in the sail and was cautious not to tighten the jib too much on the high wind conditions. While I tried to appeal to them to consider the benefit of a customer walking away partially compensated for lost time on a short vacation due to poorly maintained equipment, they basically said they "agree to disagree" and that their repair service they provided was satisfactory enough for them, and that such down time due to older equipment was my price to be paid for competitively priced charter rates on their "older" boats. They have now lost my repeat business for the next five years, and tossed away $25,000 in revenue by declining a $300 customer service credit, and their attitude in so doing wiped out any earned respect in their 110% effort to repair what was broken. If you value your vacation time, and don't want to deal with repairs or down time, charter elsewhere if you have the funds to pay slightly more for a charter! PS- I learned from others who chartered from Conch Charters that they lost 4 other sails that week due to high winds and the "older" sails not being properly maintained or reinforced. The other family that charted agreed, "You get what you pay for."


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## kiprichard

Chartered with them 8 times in the past 9 years. Once we left it too late and couldn't get a boat so we went with Sunsail. Conch is just as good, or maybe better, and a lot cheaper. Will never go anywhere else. We provision on line through Riteway Food Mkt. They deliver for free right to the boat.


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## CLOSECALL

O.K. I'll go.

Two years ago we had chartered a 32 footer and had some regrets because by the time they put in a big head there was little leg room in the v berth. After two days the refrigeration quit working and the batteries quit charging. We were able to sail from Jost to Soper's Hole and the conch staff met us and installed a new alternator. Started up the engine and the boat filled with smoke. 

The next day we sailed it to Roadtown and they met us at their dock. Much of the staff was on hand to move our belongings onto a 39 footer. We didn't lift a finger.

So we were pretty happy. We did plenty of sailing while the engine was down and we ended up with more than enough boat for the two of us.

Then there was the time we had a blow out on the dinghy, but that's another story.


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## ccriders

We chartered their oldest monohull and were probably the last party to charter it. There were "issues" most of them easily solved, sort of like on your own boat. The dinghy, however suffered most of the problems. The engine cowling wouldn't stay on, one tube leaked air and the foot pump flapper valve was missing. When we were checking in and we noted these deficiencies their rep asked why we didn't call them. Well, we were having too much fun sailing and didn't want to waste time on trivia.
You pay your money and you make your choices. I'd choose Conch again, given the opportunity.
Happy sails,
John


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## Gary M

We chartered with Conch three weeks ago. Had a Beneteau 43 and it was in great shape, customer service was also great. No issues what so ever, would definitely charter with them again.

Gary


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## kellysails

Gary M said:


> We chartered with Conch three weeks ago. Had a Beneteau 43 and it was in great shape, customer service was also great. No issues what so ever, would definitely charter with them again.
> 
> Gary


The Beneteau Cyclades 43? This is, by far, our favorite Conch boat. Fast both sailing and motoring. Cyclades were specifically built by Beneteau for charter fleet. It sailed much better than the typical Beneteau Oceanis line boat, closer to a First. I was hesitant at first about renting it but it was really a great boat.

Their Beneteau M393's are also very nice boats. Although I am NOT a fan of the pullman berths. Not the fastest boat but it can take strong wind, very predictable.


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## Gary M

Yes the Cyclades, we had booked the three cabin three head version but got the four cabin two head version. Worked great, the fourth cabin had two bunk beds and was great for storing duffels, beverages etc. And who needs three heads? 

Liked the boat, our first time but hope to do it again. 

I must admit that the can opener did not work, rusted shut.


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## kellysails

Gary M said:


> Yes the Cyclades, we had booked the three cabin three head version but got the four cabin two head version. Worked great, the fourth cabin had two bunk beds and was great for storing duffels, beverages etc. And who needs three heads?
> 
> Liked the boat, our first time but hope to do it again.
> 
> I must admit that the can opener did not work, rusted shut.


Yes, great boat. There are some dogs in the fleet that must be avoided. The 42 Hunter Passage and the Beneteau 40 center cockpit are two that would be miserable IMHO. While at their docks I always scoped out their fleet for the dogs of the pack. There was a Bene 32 that I would not sail in a lake, I hope it is gone now. We had a great sail in a Jeanneau 42 on one trip.


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