Yachting and Boating World forums: Moonfleet Sailing

They say first impressions count and for sure they do. We arrived at the “office” which is a portakabin in a the marina car park.

On the joining instructions it mentioned to meet at 8pm for an evening meal in the yacht club. Unfortunately the sailing school had failed to warn us that there would be no catering facilities available. Luckily we were able to visit a local fish & chip shop prior the others arriving who were not so fortunate.

The skipper arrived late. He duly issued the wet weather gear that had seen a lot better days. Once onboard – we were issued with life jackets – many of which had mould stains on and were frayed around the edges. ( He did mention that they had been tested within the last 12 months but did not produce evidence of this).

We were given a boat brief and told not to break the head door lock as it cost £60 for a replacement (we heard this on numerous occasions throughout the week) and how not to slam the overhead storage doors.

First morning breakfast – toast and cereal – nowhere in sight was there any traditional English breakfast. We should have known from this that it was going to be a week of very poor quality food. There was no fresh fruit or vegetable on offer. All the food was frozen or tinned. At least Tesco’s home label did well that week as we certainly did not. There wasn’t even any water on offer except water out of the tank. Even the lonely bag of bite sized chocolate was hidden away. The food was rationed, we were served out of date food and even mouldy bread!.

My partner was due to undergo his RYA Competent Crew course. After three days of being on board, I asked the skipper/instructor when the course was going to start. Every bit of information was extracted rather than being taught. It was probably the worse instruction I have ever seen.

As you can imagine, the atmosphere was quite difficult on board. We felt as though we were an uninvited guest rather than a paying customer. The skipper told us he was on holiday – yet we paid good money for our holiday which he seemed to forget. The comfort and safety of the guests were not his priority.

The return journey across the channel was interesting. The other yachts left early in order to complete the crossing as the weather was due to worsen. Our skipper didn’t change any plans to suit the weather conditions. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to miss out on his usual duty free wine. Hence, the last four hours of our crossing were in rough conditions.

I would recommend to stay clear of Moonfleet as the whole experience was one of a shoddy business that is done on the cheap without any customer focus.