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Re: Boatyball
[Re: Latadjust]
#217495
02/12/2020 07:10 PM
02/12/2020 07:10 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 583 Oak Park, IL
TomGarvey
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 583
Oak Park, IL
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It would also double the number of times per day the reservation holder & a squatter could be arguing over a ball. George C called it right months ago: these guys have been gradually and steadily increasing their money grab. Their business model has given boaters the choice between the 7:00 am stress they created, competing for the fewer FCFS balls when they arrive at their destination, or now paying $400+ a week for an "upgraded" membership fee to avoid the stress & FCFS shortage they also created.
In 18 years and a few hundred nights on board, I rarely was concerned about racing to get a ball, other than at Cooper, and i just planned my Copper stops to get there early. The only way this is going to get solved is for boaters to express their views in person to the ball owners & vote with their shore-side dollars.
Tom Garvey
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: NCSailor]
#217504
02/12/2020 09:20 PM
02/12/2020 09:20 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 49
dcareri
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 49
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And one more point, Jost is my favorite place to check in but it’s a lot tougher with only a handful of fcfs balls now. We usually grab a ball, check in, and move on. Unless you’re willing to squat on a boatyball that’s a bit tougher now.
I’ve make it a point to thank the merchants with fcfs balls and to go have a brief civil chat with the owners of the boatyball balls that I won’t be spending my money at their bar.
Dennis S/V Toes in the Water Lagoon 450
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: FRANKIE2]
#217513
02/12/2020 10:23 PM
02/12/2020 10:23 PM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 67 Knoxville, TN
Laserking
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 67
Knoxville, TN
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We were just down there last week, and it's a mess. We were at Cooper Island at 12:30 on Friday, and there are only about 8 first come first serve balls and they were all taken. They're in the far north and south ends of the anchorage. The rest of the anchorage is covered with Boaty Ball moorings, and there were only a handful of boats on them of course at that time of day. I talked to several people who had half of their crew on their phones at 6:58 in the morning and the balls at Cooper were gone by about 30 seconds after 7. Now that's a hell of a way to spend a relaxing vacation, isn't it? Besides costing Cooper Island a bunch of money in lunch business, the whole concept is offensive to me. They should absolutely not be allowed at all in a bay where the is no anchoring like Manchioneel. I've been going to BV I since 1980. This past week was my 22nd trip. There have been a lot of bad changes there over the last decade, and Boaty Ball is one of them.
Doc
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: sail445]
#217518
02/12/2020 11:12 PM
02/12/2020 11:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 583 Oak Park, IL
TomGarvey
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 583
Oak Park, IL
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I didn’t mean communicate with BB, they don’t own the balls, the local businesses in each anchorage do. And, I doubt the charter companies would have much influence.
Last edited by TomGarvey; 02/12/2020 11:14 PM.
Tom Garvey
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: Laserking]
#217548
02/13/2020 10:26 AM
02/13/2020 10:26 AM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 29
Dakota450
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 29
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We were just down there last week, and it's a mess. We were at Cooper Island at 12:30 on Friday, and there are only about 8 first come first serve balls and they were all taken. They're in the far north and south ends of the anchorage. The rest of the anchorage is covered with Boaty Ball moorings, and there were only a handful of boats on them of course at that time of day. I talked to several people who had half of their crew on their phones at 6:58 in the morning and the balls at Cooper were gone by about 30 seconds after 7. Now that's a hell of a way to spend a relaxing vacation, isn't it? Besides costing Cooper Island a bunch of money in lunch business, the whole concept is offensive to me. They should absolutely not be allowed at all in a bay where the is no anchoring like Manchioneel. I've been going to BV I since 1980. This past week was my 22nd trip. There have been a lot of bad changes there over the last decade, and Boaty Ball is one of them. This was exactly my feelings and I had the same experience. I was leaving cooper when a couple of young men told me I could have a yellow ball. I got lucky
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: FRANKIE2]
#217607
02/13/2020 05:39 PM
02/13/2020 05:39 PM
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 45 Ohio
Sedona
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 45
Ohio
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We’re here now and I don’t understand the point of BB. We got very lucky once to snag a ball at 7 am. But BB is only available in a few locations. It seems better to me to plan the trip carefully and get up early each morning to snag a non-BB. Also, the orange balls at Norman are not BB.
Last edited by Sedona; 02/13/2020 05:40 PM.
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: FRANKIE2]
#217684
02/14/2020 03:18 PM
02/14/2020 03:18 PM
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3
Phil Harvey
Member
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Member
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3
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Scenario: You are on a BoatyBall mooring overnight and the wind the next day is more than 30 kts. According to many charter agreements, you are not supposed to leave the mooring with wind > 30 kts, but you are unable to book a BootyBall at 7am when you try...
We were in Jost Great Harbour 3 weeks ago, and although the wind wasn't predicted to go above 30 kts, it was close, so we decided to stay but we were unable to reserve a BoatyBall at 7am. However, we were very lucky to snag a FCFS ball at about 9am -- only 3 FCFS balls freed up that day, and the other 2 were taken by dingies before the boat left the mooring.
At Cooper, all the FCFS balls were gone before we got there (very early in the day), and all of the BoatBalls were reserved, so we were forced to anchor in less than ideal conditions.
I don't like the BoatyBall system.
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: Phil Harvey]
#217700
02/14/2020 05:06 PM
02/14/2020 05:06 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040
Charlotte, NC
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Scenario: You are on a BoatyBall mooring overnight and the wind the next day is more than 30 kts. According to many charter agreements, you are not supposed to leave the mooring with wind > 30 kts, but you are unable to book a BootyBall at 7am when you try...
We were in Jost Great Harbour 3 weeks ago, and although the wind wasn't predicted to go above 30 kts, it was close, so we decided to stay but we were unable to reserve a BoatyBall at 7am. However, we were very lucky to snag a FCFS ball at about 9am -- only 3 FCFS balls freed up that day, and the other 2 were taken by dingies before the boat left the mooring.
At Cooper, all the FCFS balls were gone before we got there (very early in the day), and all of the BoatBalls were reserved, so we were forced to anchor in less than ideal conditions.
I don't like the BoatyBall system. I don't like BB either but I am not familiar with the 30 kt provision you mention. What companies have this in their contract? The Moorings does not.
Last edited by NCSailor; 02/14/2020 05:06 PM.
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: bailau]
#217717
02/14/2020 08:09 PM
02/14/2020 08:09 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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BB is getting torn up on Facebook now...at some point the BVI business's that own/lease the specific moorings will recognize they are negatively impacted financially and reputationally through reviews and this silliness will end. BB is destroying the Tourism product, it’s a nuisance and it goes against all the ads promoting BVI tourism Personally I don’t give a dam because it doesn’t affect me and in a way it makes laugh the way the BVI government can’t see through this facade
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: sail445]
#217720
02/14/2020 08:15 PM
02/14/2020 08:15 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 559 Apex, NC
agrimsrud
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 559
Apex, NC
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BB is destroying the Tourism product, it’s a nuisance and it goes against all the ads promoting BVI tourism Personally I don’t give a dam because it doesn’t affect me and in a way it makes laugh the way the BVI government can’t see through this facade
I'm not following... the BVI govt has nothing to do with boatyball as far as I know. Are you suggesting otherwise?
Life's short - sail more!
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: FRANKIE2]
#217747
02/15/2020 09:13 AM
02/15/2020 09:13 AM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,054 GA/NC
GeorgeC1
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,054
GA/NC
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At some point the government has to realize that boatyball is taking BVI tourist money straight out of the BVI to the US. Perhaps a simple change to seabed licenses. “All income collected via a seabed license must be retained in the BVI.”
Last edited by GeorgeC1; 02/15/2020 09:15 AM.
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: NCSailor]
#217771
02/15/2020 12:47 PM
02/15/2020 12:47 PM
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3
Phil Harvey
Member
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Member
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3
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I don't like BB either but I am not familiar with the 30 kt provision you mention. What companies have this in their contract? The Moorings does not.
My charter was through Navigare, and they have a 30 kt limit in the charter agreement. I do realize that the balls usually have a 40 kt limit, so I guess the idea would be that we would return to Road Town if the forecast was more than 40 kts.
Last edited by Phil Harvey; 02/15/2020 12:50 PM.
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Re: Boatyball
[Re: sleepychef]
#217792
02/15/2020 04:34 PM
02/15/2020 04:34 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040
Charlotte, NC
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Except now with the "special pricing" ball owners still get $30 while BB get $71 Please keep up the fight. We will visit you every trip because you recognize that there is a right way to do business.
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