Kalina Cats

[Richard Williams]

I have just returned from a delightful fortnight in Tobago, but was irritated by an incident with Kalina Cats. I booked a day trip for my wife and myself last week and this was confirmed. The evening before I was informed by my hotel that Kalina had been in touch and had cancelled the trip as the weather would be too bad.

As a retired Royal Navy Officer and an experienced sailor, I was surprised that this was the the case as the weather was nigh on perfect, both that evening and on the day in question.

It subsequently transpired that Kalina had cancelled due to insufficient numbers. This I do not have a problem with but I wish they had told the truth at the time, rather than some guff about weather. I chose Kalina on the basis of a recommend [Editor: statement deleted for legal reasons]. Unfortunately I was then too late to book an alternative trip with a competitor.

I look forward to Kalina's comments.

[Steve Wooler]

Richard

I was incredibly surprised by your post and so took the liberty of forwarding a copy to the owners of Kalina Cats.

I received the following reply from Anne Carlton, one of the owners of Kalina:

The trip in question was cancelled due to bad swells - not bad weather or insufficient numbers.

We took the decision to cancel the trip the evening before the planned trip because the Catamaran was in 'hurricane hold', along with most of the other boats in the Pigeon Point area. Even Pigeon Point Beach Club was closed to the public because of the damage done by the high swells. Some of the waves were up to 15ft. The sea may have been calm, but as we have to transport our passengers out to the Catamaran in a pirogue, it was a safety issue that forced the decision to cancel the trip in view of the high swells.

We did try to get hold of Mr Williams, but unfortunately he was not in his room, so I left a message with Esther in guest services. We rescheduled the other passengers for the following Friday, but I was advised that Mr Williams was leaving on the Thursday so would not be able to join us. We make these decisions the day before the trip, rather than just cancelling on the day. This gives the client the opportunity to plan and book an alternate way to spend their day.

If Mr Williams had seen the swells down in the Pigeon Point area, I’m confident that as an experienced sailor, like our Captain, he would have made the same decision. I can only apologise if the message he received was different to the one that was left, but would like to assure him that our company takes these matters very seriously and passenger safety is our number one priority. There was certainly no dishonesty involved or intended.

Knowing Anne and Rob at Kalina, both personally and by reputation, I totally accept their story. After all, cancelling trips due to insufficient numbers is a very common occurrence on Tobago, particularly during the low-season summer months, and certainly not a reason to lie about.

I was not in Tobago, so can't comment on the weather/sea conditions. However, on receipt of Anne’s reply I felt it was incumbent on me to check so I wrote to another contact who also operates from Pigeon Point. Without telling them who or what the enquiry was about, I asked about sea conditions at the start of last week. They confirmed high swells and said that they had been forced to cancel operations on four days in the past two weeks.

I can see why you would respond that way, if the story had been true, but it is just a shame that a very reputable company with an excellent reputation now has a public slur against their name because you have jumped to the wrong conclusion or have be fed possibly mischievous information.

[Paul Tallet]

For what it is worth ...

I am not sure which day this matter refers to, but there were a couple of days in the last few weeks where extremely high surf was reported to be breaking along the northern (Caribbean) Coasts of both Trinidad and Tobago.

Roger D mentioned this in the Weather Forum and there were local newspaper reports of the unusual phenomenon which brought some flooding to some beaches ... likely brought about by the persistent and vigorous depression in the Central Caribbean that spawned Hurricane Wilma.

Kalina Cats deserve credit for ensuring the safety of their clients ... I dare say that they lost revenues as a result of their professionalism and wise decision ... and never mind the notice period ... safety comes first.

Regards

[Arvi]

kalina cats ! super! we had a great day. the safety rules were explained first. then. the crew was introduced. then we had fun! it was my second trip with them. and they remembered me. i danced on deck last year. and this year. we were lucky. we had the catamaran for 6 guests. the weather was good, and we had good snorkeling. we also had fantasic winds, so we sailed for a couple of hours.
the tour goes from pigeon point to mt. irvine bay. here we snorkeled. then on boat for lunch. the sailing - up to plymouth, out to sea, and back to buccoo. more snorkeling. the back to pigeon pt.
great!
thanks mel, rob, obe, and of course anne

lg

arvi