My girlfriend and I had an amazing experience when sailing with VPM through the Caribbean. A bucket list trip made possible by experienced crew and great people! Incredible scenery, beautifully planned itinerary, plenty of equipment for snorkelling, kayaking and paddle boarding… and fanatic food. 10/10!

VPM Bestsail on Martinique, this is the worst you can get - as a catamaran. Sure, they will say, this is caribeen style, but it is not. Their ships are maintained badly, including various security relevant issues. The ship was is such a bad shape, that I spent days with repairs, which were never finished professionally, by the way. It even was difficult to reach them! So, better be prepared that you spend quite some time in harbours waiting on staff to repair the catamaran. In the meantime they have replaced local management, BUT it must be clear to you, that it will be NOT EASY and will cost lots of money to do all the repairs they need to do. Avoid them, until they have made their homework.

Excelente week with Lagoon 400 S2 from VPM. Team was very helpful during initial briefing and all week contacts. Boat in great shape.

This review concerns the VPM charter base in Martinique, which does not have a location on Google maps. Lower is a list of the issues encountered during the 10 days of charter. The real problem however were not necessarily the technical issues themselves, which were plenty enough, more than I have encountered on any charter before, but the lack of maintenance and care shown by the base manager and office, and the an unapologetic attitude of “this is not our fault, these things happen”. A list of the issues which, according to the base manager, were nobody’s fault: At the check in: -the engine wouldn’t start -the drain pump in one of the showers was unfunctional -the bilges were full of diesel and the boat smelled of it -the dinghy was missing the evacuation cap, which led to the dinghy being constantly flooded during the week -the dinghy was missing the oar caps, which lead to the oars being un functional as oars, but could only be used as paddles. The first 3 of the issues mentioned above were momentarily fixed at the base on the second day of our charter, on our own time. Two of them re occurred during the charter. - The engine battery was so weak that on the first morning after staying at anchor the engine simply wouldn’t start and the windlass wouldn’t work, so I had to replace the engine battery with one of the domestic batteries. (This came after I informed the base manager of the issue the night before and he promised to call at 8am, he contacted me after noon) - I avoided using the engine as much as possible because it was unclear wether the fuel sensor was working or not, because only one of the fuel tanks was functional, the other was leaking and sealed, and because I had a bad feeling about it not starting at the check in. As a result the batteries lost power and the base manager said I am irresponsible for only running the engine 1-2 hours a day. After this conversation I used the engine for 5 hours in one day, which surfaced a poorly serviced fuel filter, AND THE ENGINE DIED. I was left sailing upwind against very strong swell without an engine. I notified the base manager about the progress constantly, which he ignored for an entire day. His excuse was “I have a life as well” which is understandable. What is not understandable is not having someone on a shift to answer clients’ technical assistance requests on a boat serviced so poorly. -The dinghy engine could not accelerate more than idle speed, and when moved to idle in neutral it immediately died. I find it irresponsible to give such a poorly serviced dinghy engine in an area with strong winds and large bays. (The base manager ignored all my messages regarding this issue). At the check in I asked if this engine was air of water cooled, response was air, truth was water, which goes to show how badly connected and informed the staff is with the equipment they are renting out. -At the check in they also provided me with a leaking jerry can of spare fuel, which resulted in a deck locker full of diesel. They provided a fuel tank key which did not match the fuel tank cap, so I had to pry it open with a chisel and hammer. The base manager again responded that this is something normal. -Leaking sprayhood and bimini top. On the last two days when the engine issues occured most of my crew disembarked, for fear of sailing in this weather without a functional engine. When told this fact, the base manager’s response was “if your crew is scared of sailing with you (without a functional engine) maybe you are not good enough as a skipper” and “even though I didn’t reply you can always give a pan pan on 16 and someone will help you”, AGAIN REJECTING ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR RENTING OUT A BOAT ON THE BRINK OF A PAN PAN. My friend requested receiving any kind of refund for all these issues, which is absolutely valid, but in my opinion the real issue here is the lack of maintenance, trust, and piece of mind. We chartered a sail boat for a relaxing holiday, what we were given instead was a tough challenge.

Welcome at the base, very friendly, good yacht and service provided. We very much enjoyed our sailing holiday.