Desolation Sound Yacht Charters & Services

Four of us chartered the Once A Knight" power boat last August/September. We were out for 13 days. The boat was clean

We just had the best sailing holiday ever with DSYC, visiting from Scotland. First off, the location and cruising is fantastic. We saw a bear, otters, beavers, orcas and so many humpbacks - even breaching. We anchored in fantastic locations, quiet and beautiful. In a week, we had three days of excellent sailing conditions, but generally settled (sunny) weather meant we had to motor some days. But the icing on the cake was the service from DSYC. Our yacht Scot Free had a problem with the windlass on the second day. Maz from DSYC solved it by bringing us Artesea, a brand new Lagoon 42, as a replacement. So we went from basically the cheapest boat in the fleet to the most expensive! And it was done with good humour and grace. I was very impressed indeed. We were happy with Scot Free, but Artesea is an amazing boat for a family holiday. So much space, great facilities (endless refrigeration/freezers) and almost 360 degree views from the saloon. Highly recommended.

We chartered a boat last year for 10 days and our only request was to ensure that the refrigeration was working on the vessel.This request was made well in advance of the charter date.We traveled several thousand miles and upon arrival and orientation we were assured that all systems were operating correctly.we then spent over $100 on provisions only to find out at 4 a.m. that the refrigeration was not working, though we suspected it during orientation.we also were not advised that there was a fairly serious and known oil leak in the engine.when we canceled the charter due to these issues, one owner was reasonable and did not argue with us, however the second owner argued and demanded to board the boat while we were trying to pack up all of the things we had just unpacked and stowed, plus the 60 lb or so of provisions we had just purchased.she didn't seem to think that sending people out for 10 days with no decent refrigeration was an issue that should warrant cancellation of the charter.We disagreed.Fortunatly, after a desperate last-minute search, we found the last charter boat available in the area as it was a very busy holiday weekend, otherwise our trip would have been utterly ruined.These owners are new and we wish them well but jeopardizing a vacation that cost several thousand dollars by not providing a fully functioning charter boat and a full disclosure at orientation will not bode well for their business in the future.charter guests are far more important than deffered maintenance for a charter boat.

A long overdue hello to Merion and Jennifer. My husband and I chartered the Meridian (Skyrider) a couple of summers ago and had the most amazing time! We went up to Desolation Sound where we had a fantastic week.We were very lucky because it was not busy due to COVID so every harbour we pulled into was practically ours to explore and find easy anchorage.We did a two hour lesson with Merion before we headed out so we felt very confident with the boat. The day we returned, weather was a little windy and difficult so we found that meeting Merion at the fuel dock and letting him moor the boat back in its tight quarters a godsend. Merion and Jennifer are very well organized, take great care of their boats and customers! We will be back to charter from them again!! Thanks again you guys!! Hope all is well. This review has been a long time coming :)

An amazing experience from start to end!! Rented the Meridian 341 with some friends, the boat was fantastic and Merion and his team were super helpful and professional. Definitely doing this again soon!

Great experience. Company owners and staff are very knowledgeable and professional. Top shelf service and reasonably priced charter vacation. This was our third time with DSYC and we’ll be back! PS. It’s really convenient location as one can fly in/ out of Comox airport which is a 15 mins taxi ride away.

We chartered 36’ power yacht Skyrider and spent 6 days cruising desolation sound and had a very fun time. The team at DSYC was helpful and gave us all the info we needed to head out safely and securely on our journey. Our one small complaint was the vessel needs some TLC aesthetically. Would absolutely charter again.

We chartered a boat from DSYC for 2 weeks and just returned home. We have chartered boats from many different companies all over the world and own a boat personally. This boat we rented from Desolation Sound Charters was by far the most poorly maintained boat we have ever chartered even though it was one of our most expensive charters.We rented this boat because of it's enclosures around the cockpit and Bimini but when we arrived there were no enclosures and we were told that they would not be included as they did not have time to install them. We asked if we could do it ourselves and spent the next 2 hours doing just that. When the boat was started for us, diesel began pouring out of the overflow valve and 5 litres went into the ocean before they stopped the engines. We noticed the port tank was only 3/4 full so we suspect when they took the boat for a test drive, they did not notice the diesel pouring out and lost 80 litres to sea. They told us the fuel gauge was broken but at our first fill up, the gauge worked and read full after putting 80 litres more in the port tank vs starboard.A couple of days into our trip, our dingy outboard died and a week later Desolation managed to replace it with an even worse motor which died after 2 trips to shore. Ten days into the trip the port engine would not start as the alternator was not charging the engine batteries. We needed to make a trip to Lund to have a mechanic work on the boat. Then there is a long list of small items that all had work arounds but were annoying none the less. Leaking windows with mold, instruments not working, dingy davit system broken, anchor light shorting out, leaky head and more. We asked them to have a debrief after the cruise but they never returned our call.On the bright side, all our dealings with the staff there were great and the cruising area is unbelievable!Every boat we have ever chartered has had some issues, it's the nature of boating and we totally understand things happen but we feel this boat had too many faults for the price we paid.

Had two bad experiences. One boat arrived with less than a tank of fuel and almost no water. The other had numerous electrical problems and a knot in the halyard. Despite numerous calls and emails (and a promise to reimburse us for the fuel), we can’t get anyone to respond.Update: They just contacted us and provided a credit. I wish they had done so before I posted. This could have been so easily avoided with a simple, prompt response.