To begin with, let me highlight Dream Yacht has provided many truly “Dream” experiences worldwide, and we have chartered or crewed bareboat with great success in BVI, St. Lucia / Grenadines, Croatia, and others.

However, the base in Palm Cay, Bahamas needs some serious remediation. I never asked for a refund (including the trip documented below) and this is mostly a letter to Dream Yacht Corporate wishing they would “get a bit more involved” in their Nassau operations.

We love the Exumas and would return if we could find a better experience. This is also a note to the owners of the vessel (omitted here intentionally but we are aware from the registration documents and will reach out separately) of the deteriorating condition of their substantial investment. We considered putting a boat in charter with Dream Yacht and it breaks my heart to see someone else’s dream being treated this way. The owners have my sympathies - I’d cry if this was my boat.

Ready to go!

Our experience starts in the Fall of 2022, as we finalize our pre-payment of $12,701.48, checking in on Dec 31, 2022 in Palm Cay (Nassau) and out on Jan 6th 2023 in Emerald Bay Marina, Georgetown (Grand Exhuma), with a lot of stops at the beautiful islands in between.

We were excited for ~6 days of beautiful sailing in the Exumas, a trip we had been planning for almost a year. For several months, we had been sending out photos to the crew of all the places we were planning to stop and explore there…

Thunderball
Grotto

Where the James Bond “Thunderball” underwater fight scene was filmed! This is right near Staniel Cay.

First impressions

Our first indication that things were not as expected in the Palm Cay location of Dream Yacht was when we were notified the boat we had reserved, a brand new Bali 4.3 catamaran owners version, was "no longer available” and “had come back damaged” (in retrospect we think this was the first lie of many from Palm Cay local team) and we were being “upgraded” to a Lagoon 450 named “Fin and Tonic”. We did not want the larger boat, as we were only a crew 4 people and it was more challenging to manage. We got a bit of “take it or leave it” attitude, and we went with the flow - the first rule of sailing is to not make firm plans.

We arrived on Saturday, Dec 31st at about 3pm with a Uber-load of groceries to provision the boat and looking for a chart briefing to prepare for an early departure Sat morning. The first leg of the trip was the longest, 6 to 8 hours across the Yellow Bank reef to Highborne Cay. We planned to leave very early Saturday morning, to cross the midpoint at high tide and good afternoon sun to spot coral heads.

We were told we were not allowed on the boat at all until 5pm on Friday, when they closed, so were confused how we would be checked out by the staff on Friday.

We eventually boarded the boat about 4pm to at least get the refrigerator goods put away, and upon opening the (broken) sliding door, gagged on the smell of backed up toilets. Several of our crew refused to enter the boat as it smelled so bad, but we managed to get the refrigerated goods away.

While the cleaning crews ate take out chicken and smoked cigarettes on a nearby empty Bali (which we were supposed to have recieved), we spent the next 45 minutes trying to get the attention of any of the DreamYacht staff. After a dozen inquiries and multiple trips walking around the marina in full sun, determined “Tiffany” managed the docks, “Alex” manages the boats and check-outs, and “Ryan” does the briefings.

A very annoyed Alex arrived on our boat after multiple complaints/requests, and promptly stated

1) it was our fault the boat smelled terrible, as his cleaning crew was unable to clean the boat with us sitting on the dock next to it and

2) the boats always smelled really bad when the seacocks were open - we must be idiots for not knowing this.

They poured mint solution into the heads, wiped down the counters and promptly went home for the day, along with Ryan…(No chart briefing on Friday for us - we would later manage to corral a resentful Ryan on Sat morning before we left, who “had to come in on his day off”).

We started to catalogue the broken items we could find on short notice and make a go/no-go decision.

The non-functioning main winch was a non-starter for us, and we started to contemplate walking away from our hard-planned vacation. However, we were able to track down the one helpful resource of the entire trip, Andrew (thank you Andrew for all the effort along the way…he was the only one who answered our calls), who found a post-5pm technician to swap out the dysfunctional switches on the main winch.

That repaired, we made a decision to put all effort into tracking down Ryan in the AM for a briefing, getting checked out on the boat, and getting off the dock. We would later regret that decision as we learned (underway) about the extensive list of damage to the vessel. We were never able to get checked out on the sails as the “guy who does the sails was unavailable”. You will see later why…I firmly believe the staff in Palm Cay Dream Yacht knew exactly the condition of the sails.

A few photos along the way (unfortunately, we did not take photos of everything):

More on this later

Oil soaked rags under the engine are not a good sign, but was one of our first indications something was amiss (other than also a fire hazard).

Broad damage to fit and finish throughout

From rusted nails sticking out of broken trim to dozens of knobs and hinges missing or broken throughout.

Our Sailing instruments

So not “required” but especially in a catamaran, I’d like to know my wind speed and changing wind angle as I don’t have a heel to absorb energy. Extra attention on easing the mainsheet! Turns out to be a non-issue…did you see our sails?

One of our Halyards

Several of the internal strands were compromised in addition to the (obvious) sheath. This will hurt someone eventually as they hold large loads on a 45ft catamaran.

Do you plan to keep your DInghy?

(Part 1)

Do you plan to keep your dinghy?

(Part 2)

Did we just pay $12K for a “sailboat”?

When we finally unrolled the sails for the first time once we were underway, we realized why Dream Yacht “did not have the guy available to do a sail checkout” on Sat morning. Unsurprising given the condition of the rest of the yacht….

Holed tanks

This is the hole in our fresh water tank…we could only carry a half tank of water as it sloshed out and filled the starboard pontoon when underway….which incidentally had a broken/dysfunctional bilge pump (probably overworked). This is a sinking hazard if someone puts a fresh water hose into the fill and waits for the tank to get 100% full…more on that later.

It’s a puzzle game and a boat!

Hours of entertainment!
Where does the random broken part we find loose on the floor go?

Tape fixes everything

This is the broken choke on our dinghy which was held together with tape (which failed, shocking).

Don’t need winches if you don’t have sails?

This is a secondary winch that fell apart in our hands when we tried to use it.

This list goes on and on, we did not get photos of everything. Most were annoyances, and other than not being able to sail (duh!) there were a few that really affected our (now motor) trip significantly however…

Joke(er) is on us

When we originally decided to take the vessel (with a very limited time to find issues / assess) the heads were clearly an issue. Pouring several gallons of mint cleaner in each one made it a bit better on the dock, but underway we realized the issue, which anyone with experience with marine heads may understand….All of the joker valves had failed (and like everything else in the boat, were likely original / had never been serviced. See note below on batteries).

Joker valves are essentially one way valves such that when you pump (or a macerator) pushes the bad stuff down the pipe into the tank, it doesn’t come back. Marine heads are prone to this as they usually have a “vented loop” , which is an elevated bend in the waste line so that the ocean cannot flow back into the toilet. Basically everything goes uphill first (bend in pipe above the water line) and then downhill into the tank. However, some sits in that “uphill” section of line and the joker valve keeps that from coming back into the toilet bowl.

Unless the joker valve hasn’t been replaced in 4 years.

Then, you have constant human waste flowing back downhill and partially filling the bowl.

Which makes your boat smell like an open sewer.

Note this is often a ~$5 part, and we could not simply flush extra water through the head, as we were tightly constrained on water, as the water tank had a hole in it. This (joker valves) was not a safety issue, but a $12K/6 days yacht rental should remedy this.

Dear Alex: freshwater heads that have been dumped and flushed with open valves should not smell at all.

Fill’er up

With torn sails, we ended up relying on the engines for most of our trip. When we did an abbreviated checkout in Palm Cay by a junior member of the team, it was mentioned the “port throttle had a minor issue”. (they knew!)

Upon several days of use, this really meant that the port transmission would not go into forward 75% of the time.

Remember the photos of the oil soaked rags earlier? This was also the port engine, and as we examined it further, found the transmission was leaking significantly.

We also noticed when we launched that both transmissions (port and starboard) were overfilled with oil (way past the fill line, up to the very top of the casing). I believe by overfilling the cases, when they heat up they blow out the seals, and then leak fluid and fail catastrophically over time. This is clearly a “Danger - Do Not Overfill” in the Yanmar owners manuals.

Only having one reliable engine made maneuvering in narrow channels and shallow water nerve-wracking, as catamarans use “tractor-like” steering with the two engines working together.

Stranded aboard

We went to the Exumas to visit all the interesting sights cited earlier. The sunken plane at Norman Cay. Thunderball Grotto. The Swimming Pigs. The lazy river on Shroud Cay. The numerous sand spits and beaches.

However, the biggest disappointment from Dream Yacht Palm Cay was THE DINGHY.

Our dinghy motor NEVER ran, other than for 2 min in the marina as we were loading up to go. As we debugged it (one of 3 motors we had to service along the way) we found the (4 stroke) choke broken and taped together (first problem).

vacation

This is normal with boats, I get it. But I do expect a bit more from a charter company. Maybe 50% of the stuff should work? This is the tape holding the choke together. One of three engines I serviced in 6 days.

As a result, we never visited any of the sites which were the reasons we went there.

Other charters in other locations, you get a mooring ball and water taxi into town, you med moor up to a dock and walk to a restaurant, etc. In the Exumas you MUST have a dinghy. Without one, you are stranded on your boat.

We saw essentially NOTHING of what we had come to see. We had a mooring in staniel cay right near Thunderball Grotto but could not get to it without a motor as the current there is too strong to paddle against. No diving, snorkeling (other than right next to the boat).

Severe disappointment.

We eventually found a mechanic in Staniel Cay to take a look at it and here is his voicemail back to us:

A partial text transcription: “If you look inside (the tank) I donoo all that black stuff, down in the bottom, hey buddy, that’s the stuff that been inside the carburetor. I had to clean out all of that, adjust the carburetor to get it idling…”

In addition to the taped-together choke, the tank of fuel that Dream Yacht Palm Cay provided us for the dinghy was full of some kind of black gunk in the bottom of the fuel, which had filled the carb and most of the engine. We got it working for a short time but it stopped shortly after, and we never ended up using it at all.

Poison fuel from Dream yacht Palm Cay

Yes, this image looks funny. It is looking down the opening into the fuel tank. The top is air, the line in the middle is the fuel, and the black at the bottom is the “gunk”. There was a lot more in the tank but was hard to get a picture by tilting the tank. Lesson learned to check the tank itself, not just the motor.

Some of the rest of the list

Starboard AirCon did not work and leaked condensation from the ceiling when we tried to use it
Batteries could not hold a charge over 24 hours with only refrigerators running, and we had to run generator (with no AirCon) every night else we lost all power about 3 am. I suspect they are original to the boat and are just shot (like everything else in this boat), as we monitored the voltage and ensured they were topped up (charger working) with the Genset.
Inverter is present but never worked. A/C power only when genset engaged, and even then, only in cabins.
Power outlets in main saloon did not work at all, ever. We had to plug the coffee machine in one of the bedrooms every morning.
Starboard bilge pump did not work (same side as the holed tank that overflows!)
General fit and finish was a mess, numerous knobs, hinges, moulding strips, doors, hatches were non-functional.

But Wait, there’s more!

When we finally limped into Emerald Bay Marina at the end of our trip, we found there was no one from Dream Yacht there! We tied up to a dock and abandoned boat #2 (more on that later).

Eventually, I reached Ryan at Dream Yacht Palm Cay and “checked out over the phone”. I made a point to send him much of the documentation I’ve shared here.

BUt is it getting through?

We wanted to make sure this was not overlooked for the next charter. I suggested the boat be taken out of service until some of the repairs could be completed.

Next victim!

We found our hotel, had a shower, and felt a bit better after a less than great week. We decided to go for a walk and wandered down by the marina, where we found two young men working on the boat. We stopped by to talk to them and discovered they were the delivery captains who would take the boat back up to Palm Cay.

They asked if I had filled the boat fully with fuel (we did) and I asked if they had filled it with water (trick question). They said they did and it took a really long time (uh oh). I then asked if they had spoken to Palm Cay… Yes! Ryan had said the boat had “no problems, good to go”!

We opened the starboard bilge and found ~18 inches of water in the ~40 foot long pontoon. They had run the hose into the (no problem!) tank with the hole in it “until it filled up”.

We then showed them the non-functioning port throttle (they were in disbelief…”really?”), the sails (wtf?), the dead outboard engine, and the rest of the list. We left them hand pumping the starboard bilge and wished them well.

However, this reinforced my suspicion Palm Cay may be intentionally obfuscating the condition of their yachts, misrepresenting “everything is great” and not clearly communicating the need for parts, skilled labor and the steps necessary to deliver the expected experience. I fear this will eventually cause real harm beyond a poor vacation and disappointed customers.

I also wanted to thank Andrew in Palm Cay, who kept in constant contact via WhatApp over the week and was very responsive (limited what he could do as the Exumas are very remote). I think he has an uphill battle with the resource that are currently in Palm Cay.

The Other boat

Separately, there is actually more to the story….

At some point I’ll a full version of “the other boat” but in summary:

We left Palm Key with another boat, that a friend Gabe and his family rented. We planned to travel together throughout the week. On the first day halfway to Highborne Cay one of his engines overheated and shut down. He limped in one one engine Sat evening and managed to anchor next to us in the dark. Sunday morning, instead of spending a day exploring the beaches and travelling further south, he called Ryan repeatedly to no avail (eventually we reached Andrew via WhatApp, thank you) while I spent the day trying to service the engine.

The incorrect serpentine belt had been put on the engine and as it was the wrong belt, had been overtightened to keep it on. This caused the bearings on the water pump to also fail (being overtightened). The original belt eventually shredded (what caused the engine to overheat midway across) and the spare we had on the boat was the same (incorrect) belt.

We sat with broken boats all day Sunday and did nothing, and eventually Monday Andrew and a crew showed up with the correct belt. Upon installing it and getting the engine running again, the water pump failed in front of everyone while we were watching it run, which they did not have a replacement for.

Day Two of our vacation

This is “me” and Yes, I know stuff goes wrong on boats (I own one if you have seen any of the rest of this website). This was preventable and comes from too much cutting corners. Don’t rent boats in this condition.

We ended up abandoning ship on anchor in Highborne Cay and consolidated all the families and supplies on our Lagoon (the boat detailed above with all the issues). I assume Palm Cay sent someone with parts out at some point to retrieve the dead Bali. As of Feb 2023, we are still seeking a refund for the dead Bali that only functioned for about 5 hours.

Again, I think many of the problems with motors (both the engine on the Bali, the outboard on our dinghy and the transmission on our Lagoon) are self-induced by the Palm Cay staff.

Get clean fuel, the right parts, and service the engines/transmissions correctly. And don’t send boats out with known problems (ripped sails? engines that don’t go into gear?).

This is going to end up with someone injured, Dream Yacht. And we very much WANT to have more wonderful experiences with your boats. We know your other locations can be great.

Please help Palm Cay.

Addendum

After three months, we finally heard back from Dream Yacht. Boat #2, which was totally disabled in the first few hours received a ~90% credit. Our boat, the one discussed in this post, received a credit of $2,656.00 on a pre-payment of $12,701.48., or about a 20% credit. Thus we paid $10,045.48 in just the yacht charter fees for one boat for the experience described above.

Note this is not a refund, but a “credit” on another future ($12K+) charter with Dream Yacht.

We noticed that Dream Yacht has their global headquarters in Hamble, Kent, United Kingdom and is owned by NextStage Capital in Paris, France. However, their charter contract states:

Governing Laws: Any legal action arising under or in connection with this contract will be adjudicated in Port Louis, Mauritius.

For reference, that is a 18 square mile city on a tiny island in the middle of the indian ocean.

Digest this for a moment. This is DESIGNED to make any legal recourse with Dream Yacht nearly impossible. I’ve been advised this is common in the maritime industry, as Mauritius is the “Delaware” of incorporating a maritime company. Still feels shady.

Other sailors, take note of who you are dealing with. Don’t get hurt on a Dream Yacht.

Exumas

Ready to go!

Shroud

Cay

Thunderball