Busy, busy, busy - ferrying visitors around Kefalonia this week.
My husband's Mum has flown abroad for the first time ever to come and visit us. Due to her ill health it might be the only time she comes over to see us on Kefalonia. She had been looking forward to seeing the island from the vantage point of the sea. We had bought the Powercat due to superior stability and because it was marketed as 'ideal for families'.
Unfortunately we are unable to use the boat as following a serious incident we engaged a marine surveyor of international repute to check the 'craft' over to discover why the incident occurred.
After discovering a frighteningly long list of serious defects, he has condemned the brand new Powercat 525 Evolution for which we paid over £37,000 as dangerous and not fit for purpose.
So Mum in Law's holiday has been a bit disappointing as we haven't been able to give her the full fun packed holiday we had promised her.
We can cope with the disappointment of dealing with the inconvenience and expense of sorting this mess out, but unfortunately when you have older relatives, the chance to make lasting happy memories can be fleeting and rare. It is the loss of opportunity to treat a loved one who has given so much in the past that really rankles, and being forced to break a promise does not sit well with me either. We had planned to take Mum in Law to our friend's taverna for Greek Mothering Sunday this Sunday, by sea in style. Instead it was by car. It was still a nice day, but not the same.
I think this might as well have been the person who built our Powercat 525.
I have contacted the government department which has the most info online about CE marking to see who in the UK regulates CE issues. It was quite difficult to find information as a consumer about this. We contacted the Trading Standards but they didn't seem initially very helpful.
But we have our solicitor looking into things now and given the safety implications not only for us but others who may have bought or are considering buying one of these boats we feel we have a responsibility not to back down in any way from making sure that nothing like this happens to anyone else.
We were lucky to walk away with minor cuts and bruises, but it could have been far worse.
When the relatives have gone home in a couple of days, I will publish the full story with evidential pictures and documents and also keep you up to date on what progress we have made with the various government bodies who are supposed to protect the public from dangerous vehicles, including powerboats.
