Oh boy, trouble in paradise. As some of you know, I've been singing the praises of Seasplash on this board for years. My family and I have been staying there since 2000, every trip. And every trip has been fabulous. This is a lovely property and has a wonderful staff. The set up with the pool, restaurant, bar and hot tub all right on the beach together makes it ideal, especially for us with a young child to watch. From our (constant) seats at the bar, we could see it all. I never met the owner, Patrick Lawe, as he is a Kingston businessman and not on property. Over the years there have been some good managers and some not so good ones, but it never affected our trip. The place itself, and the caring attentive staff, were what made it fabulous.

About a year ago I started to get to know Patrick Lawe a bit, as he looked for a buyer for Seasplash. We spent several hours on the phone and on email talking about his property, which we both loved, and considered a real gem on the beach. Patrick conceived and built Seasplash from the ground up - and though his other businesses kept him off-property, it was in his heart, and his hope was that it would continue to thrive under someone else's hand. Enter Jim and Ted. I was concerned to be honest, about their plans. But we kept our plan to stay there this past winter, and as I reported on this Board, we had a blast. I was ready to not like it or them, but in truth, the changes they made were good ones -- they had a vision and they were on their way to creating it. And the people started to show up, and the place was hopping. Most of the changes were to the beach end of the property -- wanting to draw musicians and music=lovers in for concerts -- eventually competing with the most popular Negril music-venues. While we were there this year, Patrick Lawe came over for the day, and we spent a good deal of time together, talking about things that had been done, and musing about what would be next. Pat seemed very pleased with what he saw, and he liked the vibe and he liked the increased traffic he saw. I also spent a lot of time talking with Jim and Ted about what they were planning, and sharing my own ideas for the property with them, as someone who feels a sort of ownership there as well after all these years. We had a lot of fun together.

I don't know and would never venture to suggest what happened between parties in a business matter. And I'm sorry for all involved that it seems not be to working out. However as long as Seasplash is a viable property we will be staying there. One person does not make or break or vacation -- no matter how much fun he can be! For my family it's the best place on the beach and always has been. So we'll keep going no matter.