Bluewater Yachting Center

Stopped at a Bluewater while delivering a 42' Yellowfin from Edgartown, MA to West Palm, Beach FL. This particular Bluewater Yacht Yard, is an absolutely gorgeous facility; with plenty of helpful staff standing by & ready to assist with tying up, topping of our fuel tanks and grabbing a quick bite to eat. The fuel dock is massive with plenty of gas & diesel fuel pumps to accommodate (more then a few of) even the biggest of motor yachts. The slips were all floating docks w/ 2, to 4 fixed (composite) pilings with appropriately sized (working) power & water hookups at each. The entire property was pristine, as were the majority of the boats occupying each of the slips onsite. In short, I would highly recommend Bluewater Yacht Yards to any visiting yachtsmen, or transient boater seeking an upscale marina to call home for a night or two!!

UPDATE: June 2018After a string of positive experiences (including several I have not written about) this visit was a crushing disappointment. Support on the docks and management both fell through. Perhaps they need more adult supervision on the weekend. For context I am a delivery skipper who often sails owner-aboard, training, and insurance check-off trips. I'm on and off a lot of docks. My expectations of dock hands are pretty low. We came in from offshore with a general reservation confirmed and specified a day ahead when we got back in range of cell service. Bluewater decided to put us at the West end of their fuel dock overnight and then move us in the morning when another boat left. Fine.On arrival the dockhands were inept. Not just one of them. Three. They had absolutely no clue whatsoever about springing onto a dock. While being blown off we (owner being trained) got a breast line to the dock hand and asked for a couple of turns around a cleat so we could pull against the line and snug in. The young lady stood on the dock looking at us and said "I've got it." Nope. You don't, not unless you want 1. to let go, 2. rope burns, or 3. to go swimming. It took forever to convince her to put a turn around the cleat. Even then she left a LOT of slack in the line. Note the whole time the owner is juggling his new-to-him boat while being blown off the dock. Finally the line was cleated (which is NOT the same as a turn around the cleat with no slack and stand by). *sigh* We ended up 50 feet from where we wanted to be. Simply not okay. As usual with dockhands the focus on the bow line meant the bow pulled in and a lot of adjustment on our part after struggling to put competent crew on the dock. We ASKED if they wanted us to move the boat back to the far western end of the dock so we wouldn't be in the way overnight. We were told we were fine. Minutes later they told us to move to the face dock inside between D2 and D3 (see http://www.bluewateryachtcenter.com/marina). Once again the issues with poor line handling by dock hands and no--absolutely no--concept of springing. We had perhaps 15 feet of margin, combined, between the front and back of the boat. The owner could not possibly have done it alone. With the inept dock support *I* would have had trouble. We get in and settled and they refuse to move shore power cords from other boats so we can plug in. Only one available 50A extension so we get to choose between A/C and power for batteries, fridge, etc. Lovely. Welcome to Hampton. Then we are told we'll be moving again. In the morning. By which time we expect to be in (four crew) NOVA, FL, and MD. Thanks just tons. Oh - to add insult to injury the slip they want to move us to is the one they were going to move us to from the fuel dock. Just leave us on the fuel dock where the owner can get off and move to the final slip where the owner can get in . This was not a simple mistake. It was a cascade of poor performance and bad management. One (1) star, rounded up to three (3) only because of past experience. Very disappointed. Without some assurance of training for dockhands and better planning for slips Bluewater goes in the category of dropping competent crew on the dock and shooing the dock hands away as hazards to navigation as they are in so many places. Facilities: A+ On-site restaurant: A Overall condition: A Total Experience: D-GM Dave: If you want a positive curriculum for dock hand training let me know. I'll write one up for you. Free. I like you guys and want you to succeed.UPDATE: March 2017On another delivery this time entering the Chesapeake we limped in under tow after a cascade of failures. The team at Bluewater Yachting Center were great. The details are complicated but we were cold--really cold--on a boat with little to no maneuverability of its own. Advance phone calls and coordination when the tow picked us up had Bluewater ready for us and boy were they ready. There were at least four people on the dock waiting for us. Everyone was very solicitous. I usually tie up myself but under the circumstances I was grateful for the help. The warm shower, the nice meal at Surf Rider, and the response to every request with either "yes" or "let's see what we can do" where a great relief. All of my inbound and outbound deliveries will include a stop at Bluewater Yachting Center. We have to press up fuel and water - why not do it somewhere that so greatly values our presence?Tell 'em I sent you.ORIGINAL:We were here in January 2017 waiting for a weather window to head offshore. Service was exemplary. Cheerful staff run hundreds of feet of hose to let us fill water, took care of fuel needs, and were generally helpful in every possible way. The onsite restaurant is very pleasant although the menu is heavily tilted to fried foods. I used to head offshore from Little Creek but with the decline in the Vinings marinas there Bluewater Sailing Center is an easy choice.Recommended.