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!
G

Still lots of arguing going on, we are on ball 5 just behind them.

Should be simple to solve. Which boat has a reservation!
G

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.