Hi to All, I am looking for anyone who may have experience chartering with Nanaimo Yacht Charters in you-know-where, BC. We are planning a trip and considering various outfits up and down the BC/WA coast. Some chartering companies have quite a reputation and not necessarily a good one. We chartered last summer out of Anacortes (charter company name withheld). We were somewhere in the Gulf Islands filling the water tanks and a guy walked up who didn't even know we had a charter boat and offered the following unsolicited advice: "Are you guys chartering? Don't every charter with those @#*&@ guys at (name withheld)." He went on to list his grievances. Since we were using the very same place, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Didn't want to look stupid. In fact, their reputation isn't very good although we had only one problem with them in four years. Unfortunately, that one time was a doozy. We chartered a new-to-us and much larger boat for the first time but didn't check to see if the fuel tanks were full before we left, as they were supposed to be. (Note to self: Always check fuel and water tanks before departure to make sure they are full, that is full of fuel and water respectively.) When we got back after six days, it took over 200 gallons to fill up the tanks at a total cost of $375. With a single diesel running at displacement speeds, we expected to use no more than 100 gallons. We were shocked and immediately protested but there really wasn't anything we could do. They supposedly checked with the previous charterer who, of course, said they filled the tanks before returning but not at the marina where the charter company is located. Yeah, right! The next year we chartered the same boat, this time for nine days. We made sure that the tanks were topped up BEFORE we left. We used 108 gallons during the nine days. A little math on engine hours, assuming generator usage at 1 gallon per hour revealed that the first year we actually should have used about 76 gallons total not the 203 gallons that it took to fill up the tanks upon our return, we watched that fuel pump in stunned amazement and disbelief as it passed $200, $300 and finally came to rest at $375.Can you believe our estimated usage was only one third of what it took to actually fill the tanks? We were overcharged by exactly $256.38 but who's counting? A spreadsheet analysis of the whole thing and a letter of explanation to the charter company requesting a refund of the difference yielded zero, nothing, nada. We never heard another thing in spite of a few follow up phone calls. Conclusions: Let the buyer beware. Be careful out there. And check those fuel tanks before your leave. Rick Austin Austin, TX