I used Boatyball last week for one night at Leverick. While it worked for me it was a bit of a struggle as I lost my internet connection at 7:00 and by the time I got it back two minutes later there was one mooring still available which I snagged. In reality I think this process is a bit of a "lottery" to get a mooring. That being the case I wonder if that shouldn't just be embraced which would make the whole process easier. Here is what I think I would do if I ran the zoo:
* Don't allow user's to pick individual moorings. Only which bay.
* Allow users to submit a reservation request at any time. Even days ahead of time.
* 9pm the night before: If there are fewer signed up for a bay than available moorings just assign them. If there are more signed up than available then randomly select the "winners". Notify all of the outcome.
* If there are more moorings available after the lottery at 9pm the previous evening then of course people can keep signing up during the day until it's full (i.e., how it work now).

Advantages to this are:
* It's already random. Who has the fastest finger and the fastest internet is what we have now. And that's going to depend on where you are located and how fast your finger can twitch. So no real downside in my opinion to embrace the "lottery".
* You would know at 9:00 the previous evening if you have a reservation or not. And you can then make some plans with your crew what you might do the next day instead of the next morning.
* No need to be up and running at 7:00 in the morning