How is this going to work?

sounds simple. Download app, reserve and pay.

https://boatyball.com/about.html

It will all end in tears.

Was just about to post about this. Would love to hear how this goes. I can imagine the first time somebody is told to get off the ball at sunset b/c its reserved for a late-comer.

How much of a premium? or is it a cost savings to Moor Secure not having to have a dingy collect fee? Monitoring could easily be by video monitoring.

Agree there may be some confusion by someone picking up "reserved" ball and when the "rightful" boat comes along, how will it be settled? (and crew may be gone from boat).

Will follow closely.

$35. How are you to know if a mooring has been reserved? Is someone going to go out and put a "RESERVED" card on the mooring? I can imagine some fireworks. $35 is the total cost, so an extra $5.

So...these are new balls in addition to the Moor Seacure ones?

From the website that what it sounds like...

In which case no issue.

A while back Moor Secure installed the moorings to belongers who had the seabed rights and they maintained them.
I’m curious if it’s the same today.
Possibly they prefer the new system due to haveing different mooring companies in some anchorage’s and eliminate the possibility of a competitor collecting the fee on one of theirs.

We absolutely hate this idea!

It's just a recipe for agro and fights as people have said, how will you know if a ball is reserved. What if you have no access to the app. Who is going to police it.

I don't understand what was wrong with the existing system! The earlier you get there...the better chance and choice of balls. That's fair. And if you want to sail longer and rock up late then use that heavy pointy thing connected to the chain on the bow of your boat...thats what it's for!

You’re right, its going to be a real fiasco especially since a lot of charterers today have a Jet Ski mentality.

According to Boatyball Facebook, "We are going to have bay managers in each of the bays we are working with to help enforce. The new moorings will be very different then what is currently in the BVI so it will be obvious to boaters." and "We are installing new moorings that will be a different shape, color, and size from the standard white and blue that you find in the BVI. They will also be marked "Reservation Only".

Ok. I have the story right from the Boatyball people. These will be newly-installed moorings, a different shape and color than the standard moorings. They will be numbered. Someone in the host harbor, presumably the collector of standard mooring fees, will settle disputes and misunderstandings. The charter companies are supposed to be educating charter captains. I don't know who will inform private captains. Actually, this may work after a period of adjustment, as long as the original moorings are still available first-come, first-serve. I suspect there may be some nasty encounters at first.

KF Quinn MD

"We are going to have bay managers in each of the bays we are working with to help enforce."

Yeah...that'll work

Ok...this is sounding better! I will tentatively take back some of my initial negativity!

If what is already there, stays there and stays on a first-come-first-serve basis...then this would be an enhancement. If balls are numbered and clearly marked...then should be fine.

Yes there will be some issues. But as it is you always see some clown moor up to the 'PRIVATE DIVE BOAT' balls that are there and then get chased away at sunset!

The one issue that has not been addressed is what happens if a reserved ball has no reservation? Is there going to be some way to release it for general first come, first served use?

KF Quinn MD

I don’t see how many more balls could be added at cooper.

I bet we lose some moorings.

You are correct. I believe they are planning to replace the mooring balls closest to Cooper Island Beach Club with the new reserved moorings, so no net increase.

KF Quinn MD

Is there a timeline?
We are there Dec17.

Cooper would be nice to book if it works as advertised.

Brian

Something like this has been my dream for several years. The concept is great...the execution may be challenging. I will support anything that reduces worry about full mooring fields while trying to enjoy more of the BVI. I look forward to learning more.

I keep looking for an April first dateline!

Let’s hope this is just a couple of web pages posted in jest.

my concern is that you will be able to book the balls weeks in advance.

Not knowing where you will be or what the weather will be will make this very challenging.

People will push to get to an mooring where they have reserved and paid for a ball even if its not prudent or safe to do so.

I like and support the idea of being able to reserve a ball in advance, as long as the anchorages are monitored. This lets us enjoy more of the day sailing the boat vs racing to catch the last mooring by noon. As for paying in advance, that's no different from making a reservation for a mooring or a slip elsewhere. We had to walk away from a "paid for" reservation this summer due to weather. What's key is that the policy is clear and easy to understand. Besides, after paying for the cost of flights and the boat, a $35 mooring fee is not going to make or break the vacation.

Hopefully the fee will remain $35 per night.

Also to Warren's point, Hope the cancellation policy allows for changes of itinerary (ie weather). Cancellation by night before allows planning while allowing cancellation to be utilized by others.

"The Devil is in the Details"

Guess I’m old school. There’s limited space for mooring balls. Still think first come first serve is best and most fair.

It should be first come first served and last in first out. This is going to be a nightmare. I can assure people that when they arrive at sunset for that premium ball at Cooper island someone will be on it.
G

they must be replacing the moor secure balls in Anegada with the new balls as they is 20 more going in by Belongers in January that will be closer in and towards the front of the present mooring field, these balls have nothing to do with Moor secure

I agree that getting kicked off of a ball at Cooper at sunset would be frustrating. (Are any other anchorages as contested as Cooper?) This is why it's so important to have a monitored anchorage. I would expect management to dinghy out and confirm whether or not a boat was rightfully on a mooring well before sunset, ideally as soon as the tie up is attempted. If I had a reservation that I had to enforce myself by kicking another boat off of a ball after they've been limin' all afternoon, then it's not really a reservation.

if the price is the same I dont see how it will work. If you are really going to pay for a ball in advance that you expect to be available for your use when you arrive at sunset then you should be prepared to pay a premium for it. If each bay will have a bay manager that will police the mooring for the paying customer and all these balls will be new for the purpose then why wouldn't you charge more... my guess is that this will flare out. First come first served is just fine. Anchoring for the latecomers is also just fine... and its free!

Anchoring outside the mooring field at Cooper is deep water and the charter boats don’t give you enough line.

I have boated in waters where mooring balls can be reserved in advance and it works well. You reserve, get your ball number and tie up. This allows you to enjoy your day and sights along the way to your next spot without worry. There were always "check in" and "check out" times no different than a hotel. On occasion you may need to inform someone that you have a certain ball reserved. This was never a problem as the balls were well marked and the boat knew they were in the wrong and just trying to get away with something (same boaters who tie up to private mooring balls or overnight on National Park balls.)

Having some balls available for reservation and some first-come first served caters to all interests and styles of boating.

I doubt there will be "bay monitors". Follow the money [- it doens't add up. If they charge $35 for this service and the first come first served balls are $30 and all the moorings are full there is simply not enough delta to add the cost/time/hassle of a "bay monitor" to collect maybe fifty bucks. So either the cost has to increase significantly or most if not all of the moorings have to use the new system. In any case I'm certain you will be on your own to try to enforce your reservation.

One small twist I would make to this reservation system.
If you're not on the ball by an hour before sunset you forfeit your reservation and your fee.

Indeed - Cooper is also largely pretty inappropriate for Anchoring anyway given the bottom grass. I saw a charter monohull drag halfway across the mouth of the bay a year or 2 back, no-one on board, and had to standby in the dinghy with a tow line waiting for the skipper to return from his snorkel trip!

That one seems pretty simple. If a ball has no reservation, you simply reserve it. The only negative aspect here is the need to have the app and be online - internet would be a requirement if you want to use any of these balls.

I think the next step will be "demand pricing" just like Uber. If you want the last ball in the anchorage, you will pay a premium for it. Five years from now, this is the way the BVI will operate. It will be a better experience for your money.

It is certainly an interesting concept, one that has worked in other places. Dockwa is available in other areas and essentially does the same thing.

One thing that I think could work great if it was part of it would be being able to make a reservation and cancel at anytime. The catch would be that if you cancel and no one else takes over your reservation, you still pay for it. But if you cancel and someone else books an otherwise full mooring field, they'd take the mooring you had reserved and you'd then get a refund. Would be great if there was a waitlist in a full mooring field as well - someone cancels, you get a notification..etc. Lots of potential. Only realy drawback I see is that it requires having an internet connection and not everyone will have it.

All of the TMM boats have an internet connection included at no extra charge.

In my experience in sailing the BVIs, enforcement of mooring balls would be a joke. I’ve seen countless boat overnighting on park balls, dive balls, and private balls. The BVI government officials are too lazy or incompetent to actually enforce their laws. I also think that having a reservation will lead to charterers coming into mooring field after dark and endangering those already on a ball. Charter companies usually require that charterers be moored by 4 or 5 pm.

25 years ago this would seem unnecessary but this is the world we all live in now. Dockwa is an app that I have used extensively in the Northeast for piece of mind to reserve a mooring ball at lets say Nantucket which has limited anchor room and once you arrive its too late to go anywhere else if the harbor is full. I been beaten out by too many Power Cats that I was a mile ahead of heading into say Diamond Cay that blew my whole vibe. Yes the romantic in me wants to imagine such technological intrusions take away from the spirit of cruising but those days have pasted a long time ago and once the kinks are worked out this new system while not without problems will probably be a net gain to our collective cruising experience.

With the decrease in BVI chartering traffic, I would just stick with the old way of picking whatever open ball you see. It also leaves you free to not moor somewhere you intended on staying when you find the mooring place is not what it once used to be or you just want to go somewhere else which we did several times a couple months ago. However I will be back next week and will let you know if anything changes.

From what I hear they are currently installing new moorings with Moorseacure that are to be used in conjunction with the Boaty Ball app. The other moorings will remain first come first serve. Its up to the mooring ball owner, but the app will allow them to enter their first come first serve moorings, allowing boaters to pay that way if they wish. The whole concept of the app was to make the payment process more secure for the boater, less labor intensive for the bay owner, and safer overall (all moorings entered into the app must be maintained, installed, and insured by Moorseacure).

May have seen Anegada Reef Hotel posted on their FB page support of BoatyBall coming their way.

I saw them inspecting the mooring balls in CGB last week but couldn't tell if they were different now. I don't think they changed them out yet.

I know that James Leonard had 10 mooring balls at Cooper, since his passing in May, 2017, not sure who owns those, or if they are even still there? I'm guessing no one has maintained them since his death?

The Boaty Ball moorings are going to be orange, conical shaped buoys that are marked with the a Boaty Ball logo and website name so they should be pretty easy to identify. I think they are planning on launching the app in mid December so the moorings should be installed by then.

Maybe they will issue a unique code to unlock the painter stored inside the mooring ball.

After your 50th booking you can become a gold member.

Gold members qualify for the upgraded mooring balls will have a remote control arm that lifts the painter up to your deck.

I think they are trying to install all the mooring balls and launch the app early to mid December so it might be up and running by then.

Platinum members have special moorings sporting a Chimp complete with Captains hat who salutes you and jumps aboard and ties you off

Orange mooring balls are going to be a problem on Anegada as the new 20 balls going in will be orange also

This is going to be sheer entertainment. We will be down next July. I am going to sit with a rum drink and some popcorn.
Just watch the show.

Take videos please!
G

Given the influx of power vessels in the BVIs, reserving in advance a good idea if monitored properly. Takes the stress out of rushing to an anchorage by noon to get a ball - coming from a sailing perspective.

Personally I’d rather anchor, not too many places left to anchor.

Looks like they have put more info on their web page.
Can reserve only on the same day (starting at Midnight)..Reserved balls $35.
First come: $33

Boatyball posted a pic of their mooring on facebook. Anyone used them yet?

https://www.facebook.com/1796466317074806/posts/1928549467199823/

No, but right now I'm enjoying looking at the picture, and imagining that I'm the one who just tied up to that ball.

Dan

So the open balls, not the reserved ones, are now $33?

Right now it doesn’t look like they have any first come first serve balls in the app. I think they’re making sure the reservation moorings work first before they start installing the first come first serve moorings.

Let the BoatyBallBattlesBegin

I do agree

I said I before, Let,s set the stage. Boat #1 arrives mid afternoon and picks up a ball.
they are hanging out enjoying the day and having a few drinks ect. Hours later boat #2 shows up and
states, hey that is our mooring, we have reserved it. Let the fun begin. I am sure boat #1 is happy to move.????
We will be down in july and I will have popcorn and a drink ready to enjoy the show.

So what happens when you are enjoying your popcorn and Boat #2 pulls up?!

What a great reason to sail the islands.....

Invite them for a drink?? Wait for the mooring ball police ??? Just a opinion . On a serious side we have been coming down as early as the mid 70s. This seems quite problematic

Many charters are so afraid of anchoring they will pick up a water jug tied to a cinderblock before they will anchor. If they see a open mooring near sunset they are going to take it, reservations will not be a consideration. I propose the skippers each get in their dinghy’s with boat hooks. The boat hooks will be used like lances in a joust. First one knocked out of the dinghy has to move to another anchorage for the night!!

I sent a message to the Boatyball owners on FB a couple of days ago, I mentioned this thread in that message. They responded that they were watching, maybe they can jump in here and make us all feel better about using this service? Just an idea.....give us an update on how it their system is working so far?

If your Boatyball mooring is occupied......

1. Grab another mooring or anchor. YES
2. Advice your new friend of the situation. YES
3. Wait for the mooring ball police. YES
4. Request refund from Boatyball. YES * (maybe not)
5. Invite them for a drink. NO **
6. Have a drink yourself. YES

* Within twenty-four (24) hours of the start of the Reservation, all Reservations are non-refundable, regardless of your use or non-use of the reservation and regardless of any circumstance surrounding the use or non-use of a Reservation.

** If in response to #2, your new friend relocates, the response to #5 is YES

Good news for us sailors and Cooper Island's mooring ball situation.

I emailed the good folks down at the Cooper Island Beach Club, via their web site.

Not to worry, it will be normal procedures for us sailing folk as to mooring availability..

We have 40 moorings , first come , first served.

There is a PILOT PROGRAM , for advance pmt, and reservations, but only there are only SIX orange mooring balls at the far south end of the bay in the program. . A wonderful lady at the Cooper Island Beach Club answered me back in less tan one hour. She even sent a photo of what those six new Reserved Pay Ahead mooring balls look like. cannot miss them, they are nothing like 'more seacure' . The Res. balls are ORANGE with a sort of blue wavy band, and they have Reserved printed on the top end.

I hate to confess this, but once we finish up with our boat systems check out at Conch Charters, we are going see if we can work with the wind to sail from Road Harbor to Cooper, but, if not, we will roll in the jib, and use the main as a steadying sail, and crank on the Iron Jenny. We will be able to pick up a mooring, be all squared away, and the good times are on.

Now, , we now are going to spend two days at Cooper , before actually sailing from Cooper, up the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Leverick Bay, north sound, VG.

Thank you all for the heads up, and getting me off my okole. Life is good !

I was down in the BVI this week helping the BoatyBall guys get up and running. They got moorings installed in Leverick, Anegada, and Cooper and have had the app launched for about three days now. So far it seems like the system has been working pretty well. The Moorings and some other charter companies have been talking about the app and the moorings in their briefings. Apparently they’ve had quite a few boaters sign up and for the most part their moorings have been close to full each night. From what I saw at Cooper, they haven’t had any problems with people “stealing” reservations. A couple boaters tied off to the moorings but relocated once they realized they were reservation only. I think the guys know that there are going to be some stubborn captains who disregard the whole reservation thing, and they’ve been working with the mooring owners at each of the bays to combat that, but for the most part they’re relying on the good nature of most sailors to follow the system.

Six at Cooper and ten at Leverick Bay.
and Looks like five at Anegada. (did not see those yesterday)

I think the Boaty Ball guys are planning on installing two more at Cooper as well. It’s important to note that some of the moorings at Cooper (the ten on the far right side towards Salt island) are owned by a family and aren’t in a regular maintenance system with Moore Seacure. The BoatyBall team is partnered with Moore Seacure and all of their Balls are maintained and insured by Moore Seacure.

can someone point me to the location of an iPhone app, if there is one, or is simply done via their web site?

It’s done through their website. You can open the boater “app” through the website and then save it to your home screen and it will function similarly to a downloadable app from the App Store. I belive they did it this way to provide compatibility on various devices.

Looks fairly simple...and a win, win for us all..

For those who want to reserve one of the boatyball moorings, super, it will be waiting for you. The six at Cooper are far off to the south end of the mooring field. Some distance away from the dink dock area..

For the rest of us, we can get there early and pick up a moor seacure ball upon arrival. No change in our normal procedure. Cash to the collector .

For years, the mooring field at Coooper starts filling up by late afternoon. Plus, our general rule is to get in to an anchorage before 3 pm, I think the bare boat companies reg is around 4 pm . We like a little earlier as the situation demands.

We like better visibility to see any coral heads, and shallows , without the setting sun's reflection bouncing back to reduce visibility for our bow watch.

So, .no we have no need to hassel with any of that app, eelctronic device, pay ahead to reserve a ball. We have moor seacure balls just like we have had for 16 previous BVI bareboat sailing vacations. Good stuff.

Staying with the positive, with the tech advance now, the tech boaters can reserve a boaty ball mooring. That is good for us since it will provide a few more open moor secure balls for us, with other boats choosing the reserved balls.
That is good for everyone.

It is a win - win situation. And , those orange balls have RESERVED painted on them, and it is very evident.

In Cooper's mooring field, the reserved balls are way further to the south from the Beach Club, moor seacure's mooring balls, are as normal, out front, or closer in to the dink docks.

For those who enjoy a confrontation, without exposing themselves to physical harm, looks like you need to pick up a moor seacure ball that is in the south end, next to the orange boatyball moorings. If you want company, we can dink over and
bring the rum and join in some sea chantys. Harggghhhh.

What the heck, you can run up the black flag, roll out the cannon with the bio degradeable nasties, fire off a broadside at the two contesting boats, and prepare to be boarded. After windups on Peter Island, drove off the Willy T, why not
resurect the pirate life . Hargghhh mates, you are beginning a new tradition.

Well, maybe no nasties in the cannon, but a few loud reports from the muzzle should work just fine.

.

At anegada. Moorings 1 and 5 were reserved and occupied. 2 3 and 4 were vacant.

I might have reserved one of those.

2 of the vacant were occupied.

Had I paid for one of them I would have demanded they move.

Boatyball is responsive to emails.

Warren

I think this can be a tremendous positive, especially at Cooper Island which has been off my overnight itinerary for several years simply because I prefer to be sailing at 2 pm and not racing for the last mooring ball. I would return to overnighting at Cooper Island if I knew I had a mooring ball waiting for me with a close-to-sunset arrival.

I'm interested to hear of any experience with boaters encountering a squatter on their reserved mooring ball and how it gets resolved, especially if the squatter is ashore.

This just in...a close-up of their buoys, looks like there can't be much mistaking the reserved markings.....unless english is your second.

And they paid Barry from the lobster trap $30 to use the red boaty ball


So, if I made a stink about it, they would have said that they paid for the ball

I really don't understand all of the negativity towards this new start-up company! Let me stipulate to the fact that I hate moorings - cuz I remember the days when there were none. Well there were a few, here and there. But they were 'maintained' by the same guy who served you your Mount Gay and tonic, and if you had any brains you wouldn't even consider hooking up to them. The only exception was BEYC, who really did maintain their moorings, and as I recall, they were free.

Are you suggesting that the typical sailor is retarded and doesn't comprehend the words 'Reservation Only'? It's the same as a private mooring, right? And there are many of those all over the BVI. Would you even consider using them? When we had our private mooring in Soper's Hole, over the many years, there were only two or three interlopers. And they were mortified when we showed up.

Furthermore, isn't this EXACTLY what you electronic generation wants? It seems that this is precisely what you kids love (and by kids, I mean anyone under the age of 50 who are inexorably tied to your chart plotters, your tablets, your e-charts, and all of the other silliness that you use to 'navigate' around the BVI,) In my day we 'navigated' using a souvenir placemat, but it seems that you kids call for a chaseboat if your chartplotter takes a dive.

I predict that this idea will catch on, and that in a couple of years, MOST moorings will be available in this format. Why not? It's better than two idiots racing towards the last mooring ball in a crowded anchorage.

Three things, I think people are being negative because they see these Moorings taking over from good Moorings that currently don’t require a reservation. As far as private Moorings charter boats take them all the time if there is no other option. The last point that I suspect will become a reality and I once wrote a April fools spoof about it is that boatyball will sell out to one of the larger charter companies and their boats will get first shot at the balls. I give it three years before this happens. Money talks!

I think George is on the right track. When I started sailing in the BVI 50 years ago, I considered The Bight to be crowded if there were as many as six boats anchored there (usually in the northeast corner) because it was pretty deep to anchor elsewhere. Planning my itinerary more recently has been part trying to avoid peak days for popular anchorages (e.g., Tuesday/Wednesday at Anegada) and part giving up other daytime activities to insure I arrive early enough for a ball. What a blessing to be assured a ball regardless of arrival time. And as an econ major, why shouldn't the cost be tied to supply and demand? Ever tried to book a hotel room on a holiday weekend?

We want to first say that it has been very beneficial for us to see the responses and feedback on this thread. We are happy to answer questions that you have but I thought I would start our first post with going over the goals of this project. Goal number one was to create a solution that would allow boaters to spend more time on the water. Goal number two was to make it easy for boaters to know which moorings are maintained and insured. We were surprised to learn about the number of moorings that are not in a maintenance program and have not been checked since Irma. Our third goal was to simplify the payment process for the mooring ball owners and boaters. There are limited banks in the islands which makes handling cash both difficult and dangerous for mooring ball owners. The mooring ball owners asked for a simple way to collect payments that did not involve cash. These were some of our top objectives when we started this project to improve the overall experience.

We installed our first reservable moorings last Friday at Cooper and as of this morning there has been 56 reservations. We know we are going to have issues but as of this morning all 56 reservations were able to stay on the mooring they reserved. You might never use the service we are providing but we hope you would support what we are trying to do which is allow boaters to spend more time on the water and less time worrying about where they are going to stay the night. We look forward to your questions and feedback.

Thanks, looking forward to using the system in March....

What do you recommend boaters to do if their reserved mooring ball is taken?

This has happened one time that we are aware of and the boat moved once confronted. So the first thing would be to politely ask them to move. The moorings are clearly marked reservation only so anyone moored without a reservation should know that they are in the wrong. However, this is a new program and not every captain will look at the mooring after tying up. If the boat refuses to move or if there is no one on the boat then we recommend notifying the establishment that collects moorings fees. At Cooper Island Beach Club and Anegada Reef Hotel I would call or go to the bar. At Leverick I would call into the dock and notify them that another boat is on your reserved mooring. These moorings are private property and the owners have the right to ask them to leave. We believe these two steps will address most issues.

So basically you’re saying to
Drop
Anchor
Near
Or
In
Mooring field and make a complaint by taking your dinghy to shore and make a complaint.
Great this takes the problem out of your hands.
Another words
Leave it up to charter

What would you suggest?

[/quote]
Drop
Anchor
Near
Or
In
Mooring field and make a complaint by taking your dinghy to shore and make a complaint.
Great this takes the problem out of your hands.
Another words
Leave it up to charter
[/quote]

Maybe RADIO the bar/ dock?
Or drop dingy in water and send 2 crew (Most charter boats have 6-8 people on board).

This is NOT the first reserved balls in BVI. I reserved one at The Last Resort in Trellis bay on Fullmoon Party. Got to ours and it was poorly marked. But dingy came by and pointed out reserve status to several boats who were attempting to pick up vacant/reserved balls.

I say this might be answer in accomplishing the 2 stated goals. Give them a try. Hopefully it will work with minimal issues. Maybe some issues will have to be addressed.

IF there is a base manager, hopefully they will keep an eye on the boats on the reserved balls and ask them to move.

I am looking forward to trying the BoatyBall System on my next trip.

Our next trip is in late February.
Will submit experience report at that time.
Hopefully, will be a positive adventure.
Will still have plan B just in case.

KFQ

The moorings collectors in Trellis Bay actually do their jobs correctly.
Try calling a busy dock or restaurant and you’ll be floating around for an hour.

It’s not my business, I don’t know what resources they have.

Can we ask who actually owns boatyball and will they give assurances that they will never give priority access to a specific charter company?

Leverick says they own those balls.

The bay owners own the sea floor rights and Moore Seacure owns the actual mooring hardware. BoatyBall is a company that offers a booking service to make payment easier for the boater and collection easier for the bay owners and Moore Seacure.

Each bay has assigned a bay manager who has visibility on the app to who has made reservations. There is contact information for each mooring ball so you could call and ask for the person who manages the moorings balls if you have an issue. You could also radio in like Deepcut suggested. We have discussed back up plans with bay managers for boaters that might be impacted by difficult boaters. The contingency plans are different in each bay.

There are potential consequences for boaters that moor illegally. Some of the bays can call the police. These are private moorings and owners have the right to ask them to move. We have also spoken with the major charter companies who want their boats to have access to the app. If a charter boat is the issue then the charter company will be contacted to take care of the issue or else their boats will be banned from the app. This is something that would impact future charters and we believe is a big enough motivator for them to correct the issue. This is less of a motivator for captains that own their own boat but we do believe it will be a bigger deterrent if this app becomes more popular.

Finally, this is a pilot program and we launched it to get feedback. So we appreciate all the feedback both positive and negative. We know this will not be a solution for everyone. We originally set up the app to just be an easier way to pay for first come first serve moorings. However, the resort owners and boaters we spoke with encouraged us to see if we could implement a reservations program first because it would have the biggest impact on the region. If we are successful then boaters will be able to spend more time on the water, decrease the stress on the national parks, and remove the anxiety around finding a mooring.

BoatyBall was founded by two neighbors and friends whose families have been vacationing together for quite some time in the BVI. We found that we were spending less and less time on the water in order to find a mooring in some of our favorite bays. We partnered with Moor Seacure and a few resorts early on to give us feedback on the app. We also solicited input from several of the large charter companies. We made the app free and web based so everybody would have access to the app.

BoatyBall.com "Reservable" mooring balls have been added to the Anchorages page on the BVI Mariner site to help promote their use.

Seems to me they are doing all the right things for all the right reasons. Thanks - Mark

I was an early skeptic of the first post. Even accused it as an April fool joke.

But with these excellent explanations it does appear to make sense. More time on the water sailing, less worrying about finding a spot for the night - sounds like a good options.

And I love capitalism.

Are these new moorings or are they taking existing moorings and replacing the ball?

As of now they’re just replacing the mooring ball not installing new moorings.

If they prove popular I suspect you will start seeing ball conversions. I rarely know where I am going for the night until noon so I will hate to see balls switched over. As I mentioned before I also suspect at some point you will see a preferential booking system for one or more charter companies.
G

I hear the 'benefits' and reasoning behind this new venture. And clearly the intentions of the people behind this are good. But personally we still don't see any benefits to us as frequent charterers, only negatives.

As GeorgeC1 says...sometimes you don't know where you're headed for the night until later in the day. Yes, there is always a mad rush for balls at a certain time in the afternoon, but doesnt this app just kick the can further down the road? You will have people sitting on the app and booking balls the second that reservations for that day are available. So then instead of relaxing and enjoying being on Island Time you're sitting making sure you're on the app at the right time to book the next day's mooring...a bit like online check-in for a flight that doesnt have seat-allocations! 'Click, refresh...click, refresh...click, refresh...click, refresh...frantic typing'!

Balls have always been first-come-first-serve. This is no different...it just takes the battle for balls into 'app-world' and 24hrs earlier.

Also, we enjoy arriving in a mooring field and then selecting which ball we want, based on the prevailing conditions in that moment...sometimes you want more breeze, sometimes you're trying to tuck in out of the wind or swell. Sometimes there is a powercat filled with young hooligans partying and enjoying themselves...which is absolutely fine, of course, the islands are for everyone to enjoy...but we might choose to moor further away from them, if we're looking for a more peaceful spot for the afternoon/night.

With respect to Anegada, the depth is tight getting into the mooring field on a 48ft mono. We approach very carefully and then select whichever empty ball we can actually get to without grounding! If we have reserved and paid for a boatyball...and then find that it happens to be too shallow for us then we're stuffed. A map/picture on an app is not going to be enough for me to make that assessment.

I'm sure this will work for some people. Just saying, for us...it doesnt.

Just witnessed a drama with ball 6 at Cooper Island.

A Dream Yacht crewed charter Ava Isabella is refusing to vacate ball 6 despite someone else claiming that they have reserved the ball. Hotel is refusing to assist and have told the person who booked to contact Moor Secure

That did not take long!
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Still lots of arguing going on, we are on ball 5 just behind them.

Should be simple to solve. Which boat has a reservation!
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They have finally got the message and have vacated the ball

What a nice way to end the day..... Now there’s going to be be two grumpy groups ashore for drinks and dinner.

A CREWED charter would be last that I would expect to be a violator. Will be interested to see if Dream Yacht Charters has been briefing their crews/charters on this new development.

Hopefully, the Boatyball people will contact Dream Yacht Charters to encourage them to educate captains of all their boats.
These encounters are potentially hazardous. Someone could get hurt. There needs to be a better method of solving disputes.

KFQ

In my experience crewed boats are sometimes the worst violators of sailing etiquette. I suspect they feel under pressure to deliver the perfect guest experience and as a result push things to much.

George, that has definitely been my observation, too. Overnighting on day boat moorings, anchoring just feet from the reef so guests can snorkel off the back, helping guests hike on private islands where they know darn well they are not allowed. They want to deliver the “perfect” experience in the name of a big tip.

Well we all know BELONGERS have more say and if the crewed charter Capt is a belonger he might feel Entitled..... No more needed to be said

Bernard, thanks for the update. We were in contact with both Cooper and Dream Yacht Charters. We have had over 40 reservations in the last two nights and reports of two boats that did not want to vacate once confronted. Ultimately, both boats vacated. The moorings are clearly marked “Reservations Only” so people know they are in the wrong if they are moored without a reservation. We are working with the charter companies so they can educate their boaters before they go out. The more awareness the better. Every charter company we have spoken to supports what we are trying to do. They want their boaters moored to maintained moorings and they like the idea of boaters being able the plan their day. What they do fear is having their boats banned from the app. We definitely anticipated issues with trying to change behavior but for the most part we have been very pleased with the initial response.

Just as an aside, the yacht that was on the mooring ball, should not have been on any mooring as it is 62’ long. Have a look at https://www.dreamyachtcharter.com/crewed-charter/ava-isabella/

I agree. I have seen crewed charter captain do many irresponsible things, like anchoring ina mooring field on coral no less. I’ve seen DYC crew overnight on National Park mooring balls many times. Seems like the rules don’t apply to them.

Have been following this thread for days now. It seems to me that Boatyball is an answer to years of posters asking why there was no way to reserve a mooring. I have seen arguments over balls “reserved” with PFDs or dinghies, this way at least there is a clear message on the ball.

Question.... how is payment made? Is a credit card used? If so this would eliminate the need to carry all that cash.

Trueblue, that was one of their motivations: eliminate the cash on both ends of the transaction.

I see a lot of positives. Moorseacure knows what their tackle is designed to handle. If the captain has to say what kind of boat is reserving, then the app can decline a reservation from a boat which doesn’t conform, thus protecting Moorseacure’s property.

If heavier moorings, separated further apart are needed, then Boaty Ball can charge accordingly. Why should a 38’ mono pay the same as a 65’ cat, when far more of the former can be accommodated?

There can also be high and low season rates, or different rates for different days of the week.

If the boatyball moorings are all going to be new moorings and they don’t give preferential bookings to some charter companies I agree the concept is a good thing. I hope I am wrong but I strongly suspect in the future certain charter companies will be granted earlier booking windows than other companies. BoatyBall does not promise this won’t happen. Money talks, if the Moorings/Sunsail or Dream Yachts offers a monthly fee to get their boats priority it’s probably going to happen. The smaller companies won’t be able to afford it.

I agree the concept is good. I think it does open the door to a lot of potential issues - only time will tell if any of them come true. But charging extra during busy times or holidays..etc would be annoying. It's always been the same price regardless of time of year. They could also charge more as the number of balls available decrease..etc.. stuff like that would be a major turnoff from using it.

So does that mean you don't use Uber? I think it is just a matter of time before this moves to "demand pricing". If my crew really wants to spend extra time at the Dogs, they would probably agree to pay more for a ball at Leverick.