April 28, 2004  Re: Paradise Connections and the yacht Flame To Whom It May Concern: How can I say enough about Flame and its owners/crew Wayne and Barbara Elsworth, or about Bob and Sheila Wise of Paradise Connections? Together, they took what could have been a disaster and turned it into absolutely the best, most memorable vacation that my wife Jennifer, 14-year-old daughter Katherine, 11-year-old son Nate, and I have ever taken. Last fall, through Paradise Connections, my family booked a 72’ monohull sailing ship with a two-person crew where the captain was a dive instructor. My intention was for the four of us to take the classroom and pool portions of a SCUBA diving course in our home city of Philadelphia and to complete our open-water dives and certification while on the boat with the captain/dive instructor. Working with Bob and Sheila to book our charter originally was very smooth. My family had never been on a charter before, and Bob and Sheila helpfully answered all of my questions and responded to my concerns. Based upon what they learned from me, they provided detailed information about a variety of possible charters. When I made my decision, the paperwork was handled efficiently. All was fine until ten days before our vacation was to start and I received a telephone message from Bob saying that there was a problem with our charter and that he needed to speak to me immediately. It turned out that the crew of our boat was quitting a week later, so that there would be no crew for our vacation and we were, thus, without a boat. I am not sure who was more heartbroken – my family or Bob and Sheila. It was clear that they were very upset with what had happened and they worked hard to come up with an acceptable alternative. Within a day, they were back to me with two alternative boats – one a similarly-sized sailboat and one a 65’ Feadship powerboat. Both were advertised as about 15% more expensive than our original charter, but Bob and Sheila had arranged it so that we could have either of them for the same price as our original charter. After looking over the materials about each boat, and I had had a telephone conversation directly with Wayne, my family decided to go with Flame. It was one of the best decisions that we have ever made. Bob and Sheila set it up and assured us that we would be happy with Flame. They couldn’t have been more right. (Showing how much they care, we received a telephone call from Sheila while we were still aboard Flame on our last morning checking to see how things had turned out. I trust that she could tell from the exuberance in my voice that we were more than pleased.) We can’t thank Bob and Sheila enough for pointing us to Flame. While originally, I would not have considered a power boat, it ended up being an excellent choice. 
Wayne and Barbara were also very upset that our family had been left in the lurch at the last minute by the other charter boat and it was clear that they wanted to do all that they could to leave us with good feelings about chartering in the B.V.I.’s. They did all that and more. I am convinced that it is the charter crew that makes up 80% of whether your group will have a good time or a bad one, and we were lucky enough to find the perfect crew, which led to the perfect vacation.First, as already mentioned, Wayne and Barbara agreed to let us do our charter for the lower price of the original boat. Further, while Wayne is not a dive instructor, he went above and beyond the call to make sure that we got to do all of the diving that we wanted... We ultimately had an awesome time diving (with Katie from UBS Dive Center on Tortola, who was also great) without having to worry about ANY of the details. This was just one example of the thoughtfulness and friendliness of Wayne and Barbara. Their monetary generosity, however, was only a small part of what they gave to us. Everything about our week was wonderful. Beyond the peacefulness of a gently rocking boat and the joy of seeing both the beauty of the sea and the splendor of a clear night sky, the boat was spacious with a very large, covered aft deck that allowed us to be outside without being in the sun. It also had fully-air conditioned cabins that never felt cramped. Wayne’s knowledge of all things B.V.I. is exceptional – he has been doing this sort of thing for almost 30 years and always has an interesting story or fact to tell. Barbara’s cooking was outstanding and there was always way too much delicious food to eat. A special compliment to Barbara is that our kids, who are normally rather finicky about food, consistently tried (and liked) her dishes. Wayne and Barbara also kept things meticulously clean. For example, we would eat breakfast and return to our cabins only to find that the beds were made and the heads cleaned. From the moment that we boarded until the moment that we left Flame, we always felt pampered and cared for, while still being close friends with both of them. Examples of what they added to our vacation are endless. They knew so much about the area – where to snorkel, what to do, the local folk – and they shared it all with us. When they sensed that my wife or I wanted a few minutes of peace but my son wanted action, they engaged him in a card game or some other activity. Barbara took digital pictures everyday and then presented us with an evening menu in a plastic stand that included a picture of us from that day’s activities. At the end of the week, she presented us with a montage of all of the photos that she had taken during the week. Incredibly, without telling us, Wayne built a nicely varnished wooden box with a glass lid in which he mounted a sea biscuit that we had found and bleached, which he presented to us as a going away present. (It is now on display in our living room.) Both of them spent hours helping each of us to water ski, sharing in our communal determination that my son Nate would get up on skis before the trip was over (he did). Indeed, one of the best parts of the trip was the manner in which each of our kids bonded with both Wayne and Barbara. The bonds, both for our kids and for Jennifer and I, were so tight that leaving at the end of the week was truly traumatic. We spent one night at a St. Thomas resort before flying home, and, despite the fact that the resort was very nice, all of us were totally depressed. The food was good, but it wasn’t “Barbara food.” The facilities were nice, but they weren’t our own private world with guides like Flame had been. As my wife said, it felt like a love affair that was suddenly over.  While we may have enjoyed a trip on our original charter, I am certain that it would not have compared to the six days of absolute pleasure that we were given by Wayne, Barbara, their cat Josh, and Flame. Each of the four of us believes that it was our best vacation ever. The only mistake that we made was to spend our first and last nights at hotels rather than on board Flame. We can’t wait to do it again! Sincerely yours, H.D. Parker |
