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It’s been pretty quiet on here about BB. Coming down in a month and wondering how it’s going? We may not need to use it because of less crowds in June. Except at Cooper. Any feedback?

I personally avoid stupid boatyball.

Once they get critical mass, up go prices.

We have spent several weeks down here since the introduction of bb. Have not used it even once.

It depends on who you ask. The issue with squatters has drastically declined as the word has gotten out about BB and the bay managers have gotten better at enforcement. They’re still $40 for a reservable mooring and reservations begin at 7am on the day of. They still sell out pretty quickly but we’re headed down next week to add some more reservable moorings in different locations to help distribute the demand.

Does "add some more reservable moorings" mean less non-reservable moorings?

In the meantime, yes.

Absolutely

I actually got my first boatyball at Cooper today for my 2nd boat who seems to drag behind us wherever we go...

I am on a regular ball and our other boat is coming in now and have regular ball for them

Still not a fan of interface...

IMHO the difference is that we are coming into off season...still have balls at Cooper at almost 200. had plenty at Anegads and Leverick

So in the mean time it means you’ll be commandeering the non reservable moorings until you wind up with all the non reservable moorings and then you will add new moorings.

Doubtful, I expect no more fcfs balls. Just BB at ever higher prices.

Alec
Here is the reply you sent to me on my private mail:

I know you guys aren’t the most keen on BoatyBall and I can understand why. I just wanted to let you know that we’re not planning on going the route of demand pricing or radically increasing the cost for reservations. We’re also not planning on getting rid of FCFS moorings. I’ve actually enjoyed reading a lot of your posts about BoatyBall and the BVI in general. So thank you for the feedback and info in general. Cheers.

You already have increased the price of the moorings which a few weeks earlier you had said wouldn’t happen.
You just said that your not planning on getting rid of FCFS moorings which contradicts you saying your taking on more moorings and it turns out the ones you’re taking on are FCFS.
And finally you said Thanks for the feed back and info in general Cheers.

Sounds to me like three strikes and your out..

I think Cooper has now converted 15 fcfs balls to BB. That represent a huge reduction in the number of fcfs balls and therefore reduces my choice of balls even if I get there real early.

As I have said many times, if boaty ball added new balls and did not impact the number of fcfs balls, then I would be in favour of it.

I am not in favor of the current implementation.

Boatyball sucks balls.

Now that's funny.

Hey Alec,
Do you have a bvi work permit?
If not, you have no business working in the BVI.
Please don’t mess with more fcfs balls.

Boatyball has the right to ban you from the application. When they get enough balls, this will allow them to effectively ban you from the bvi.

Once again, boatyball is forcing up mooring prices,
How do we keep them away?

Has anyone ever planned on getting to a particular Anchorage only to change your mind after 7am?

Perhaps you want to add another mid day stop and won’t get as far, or maybe you can’t get far enough due to weather or wind?

Does boatyball accommodate a change of plans? Fcfs sure does.

I don’t want to be forced to commit to my evening destination at 7am.i often change my plans as the day evolves.

How about you?

Seems like it would an ok application IF they weren't taking balls off the open market so to speak. Give people the option by choice-not necessity.

I haven't noticed them from shore, but on the website, there appear to be 10 balls in Cane Garden Bay now. Bay manager seems to be Rhymers.

You know I agree with you 100% Warren!

Cooper the other night was dead, but still a bunch on the BB's...so just some wasted $ and an unnecessary 7am log-on for them. FCFS balls available all night.

In North Sound today...chose to anchor off Prickly Pear and avoid the whole mooring/BB nonsense at Leverick. Instead spent the mooring fee on painkillers at the New Oil Nut Bay Marina village...which was a better use of it!

We were in Anegada this morning and looked at the app - no CGB moorings. By the time we pulled into CGB, there were several there. They must have just come online today.

Used a BB for out first night in Anegada so we could take our time and fish the drop. As soon as we pulled in and took the last mooring, a representative came out and checked our reservation. Kudos to BB for the enforcement. The next night we noticed a crew come in and clean/maintain the BB balls.

Anchored off of Vixen in NS the previous night and it was sublime. Quite a crowd over at Leverick.

So BB has now hijacked 10 fcfs balls at Cane Garden Bay. Meaning that the average price of moorings in the BVI is going up. This is not good for anyone. The BB balls are too high and damage the underside of cats. The BB take away our choices. If the balls are associated with Rymers we should let Rymers know how we feel. Boatyball is a bad idea. Please don’t use them unless it’s necessary.

CGB has plenty of other moorings and lots of room to anchor. I fail to see how having a choice to sail later in the day is a bad thing. The cost argument is silly. $10 out of a multi thousand dollar charter rental.... Just use your anchor.

I agree, Warren. GeorgeC and others sounded the alarm early on, and it looks like they called it right. It seems like this is one of those ideas that sounds good in theory but is not so good in practice. Simply converting existing balls to more expensive advanced reservation balls without any net new capacity just moves the race for the last ball at Cooper from a physical one mid-afternoon to a cyber one at 6:59am. And, other than Cooper and maybe Great Harbour, JVD, the destinations have good anchoring options for late-comers.

I'm having a hard time understanding who benefits. The price of a ball is $10 higher, BB takes their cut, the holders of the sea bed leases still have to send out staff to check reservations and play enforcer, there's no additional capacity, and I doubt the BB guys are seeing much return. And, the table is set for additional price increases to solve the problem that BB created. I can imagine it now:

"Commit to a minimum of five balls a week at $50 each and get advanced reservation access. No refunds for changed plans."

Why should an American control the mooring ball market. That is where it is headed. It has nothing to do with the $10 increase. It's simply wrong.

Of course we can anchor. We do anchor in certain places.

I asked Alec if had a work permit to be in the bvi this week to install balls. He did not answer, so that question remains outstanding. I also asked if he had a license to carry on business in the BVI.

Jason, today it's CGB, where are more BB being installed tomorrow.

Let's see how long it takes for the prices to increase yet again.

What happens when some charter companies are given a 6:45am opportunity to book balls ahead of others?

Control of the mooring fields needs to remain in local hands.

Once again, if BB added balls and did not disturb the number of fcfs balls, I would have no objection. In spite of promises from Alec to increase the number of balls, and not to raise prices, neither promise has been respected.

So I see Diamond Cay has them as does in CGB...we were in Diamond 4 days ago and CGB 2 days ago and no sign of them...

Diamond Cay as well now? Oh FFS! Cretins.

It starts with a high cost taxi or ferry ride and an Ecology tax.

Dining and receiving an inflated check which almost guarantees to double your tip to a inattentive, rude waitstaff.

Finally it comes to the yacht “Check out” and your on way to a beautiful tranquil Caribbean sailing trip with crystal clear turquoise waters and Turtles, Dolphins and Sea birds along with the folklore of Pirates and the Spanish Main.

Then all of a sudden it’s over and you to have to race for a FCFS mooring ball or have to get up before 7am to reserve a ball that you may not want and then the possibility that you might not have space to anchor in a harbor with so many mooring balls that its impossible.

But there’s always tomorrow and 6 more ha ha!

And then the return Ferry, Taxi and the get out of town tax

At some point, the charter companies will check the bottom of the cats for boatyball damage. Who will pay for that? Presumably the holder of the charter contract is responsible. Using Boatyball will be very expense when the charterer had to pay for predictable damage. Arguably it will not be subject to the daily insurance buy down because the damage was foreseeable and therefore negligence on the part of the captain.

At its core, BoatyBall is really a booking service for moorings; BoatyBall does not own moorings. It’s no different from an Airbnb or a broker that many boaters use to help reserve a boat. The locals still have 100% control over the seafloor and the moorings. The decision to use the BoatyBall program by the mooring ball owners is a way to simplify the payment process and help them differentiate themselves from their competition. All the moorings in the BoatyBall program have been insured and maintained. After Irma this has become especially important. BoatyBall allows mooring owners who have done the right thing and maintained their moorings to offer a competitive feature. In the end the local businesses still control the seafloor and the moorings. They are in charge of installing more moorings and the overall price. BoatyBall just helps them do it more efficiently.

From a private message from Alec

"should clarify that we are converting FCFS moorings but we’re not planning on getting rid of them altogether"

Enough said. Not trying to convert all of the balls.

I assume that this means they intend to convert most have them and enjoy a monopoly.

We have been following this thread and we appreciate both the positive and negative feedback. We know we will never make everyone happy. Alec is correct that BoatyBall does not own or maintain mooring balls. The mooring balls in the BVI are owned and maintained by locals. I hope that most can agree that having more maintained mooring balls in the BVI is a positive. BoatyBall provides a way for mooring ball owners to promote their maintained and insured moorings. Alec is also correct that maintaining moorings is costly. BoatyBall is simply a booking system that helps local businesses promote there product. It is the local businesses decision to add additional moorings. This is not a BoatyBall decision. However, we hope that by making it easier for mooring ball owners to track occupancy and making payment collection more reliable that the local businesses will invest in additional moorings. Thanks again for your feedback.

So basically you’re doing what it takes to get a business going and hardly investing a nickel.
I’m sure the locals are happy.

I would think a trade license would be required if money is being collected.

Why? Does Expedia need a trade license to sell tickets out of EIS? Does any credit card processor need one to process payments from hotels and restaurants? AirBNB or VRBO to take reservations and payment? The folks who own the moorings should have one and Moorseacure would need one.

We haven't used BB yet. We actually haven't made a trip down in almost 3 years now. But when I first saw it, I didn't think it was a big deal. Here in New England, it seems many marinas use dockwa. Seems to work well. Major difference is you can book further in advance, but it is also a lot more expensive. I wasn't really sure why a whole new method/app needed to be created for this when others existed, but I also didn't see it should be a big deal. I know if we wanted to take a mooring, I'd much rather know we have one waiting then get there to not find one. Especially in a spot like cooper.

If you haven't used it, don't knock it. We used it multiple times and really liked the fact that we could sail all day, without having to do the mooring ball hustle and get somewhere early in the afternoon. It was great to roll in late and get on our ball.

What time of year did you sail? Two friends have tried it for Cooper multiple times and never were able to secure a ball. That forced them to go to Cooper much earlier to get a FCFS ball. Boatyball does nothing to alleviate the Mooring ball shortage and over population of charter boats in the BVI. It simply moves the burden from one charter boat to another. Now if boatyball would have added new balls and commit to never providing better booking windows to some charter companies I would be a enthusiastic supporter. So far they have done neither.
George

We used boatyball at Cooper and like being able to sail with no hurry to get there.
I also witnessed at great harbor on Peter a boat leaving in the morning without paying. The guy collecting fees had to run him down as he was leaving harbor.
I see advantages for the owners of the mooring balls getting paid in advance. I like being able to pay with CC instead of cash.

As for adding more balls, I think many harbors are too full of balls and leaves very little area to anchor anymore.

In all my trips down, I've only had internet on a boat once (which we had to pay a lot for due to a work issue.) Is it pretty standard now that all boats have internet access? We used to check email etc from the wifi at places ashore. Just wondering how everybody is accessing the app at 6:59 in the morning.....

People used to talk about how they went sailing in the BVI's to get away from all that.....

With Sprint i have free international data.
I only used for boatyball 1 day. Used it to check wind guru or radar. No emails or social media for me

We sailed March during high season. We used the WiFi at Nanny Cay the first.night to access Boaty Ball at 7am to reserve a ball at Cooper. Second time we used the WiFi at Cooper to access it to reserve a ball at Leverick. Also agree it's great to be able to pay for it online and not have to worry about having cash for mooring balls.