Moorings Experience

[MarkED]

I haven't seen any recent discussions about anyone with experience with a Moorings boat in a while. We are still probably five years from having all the kids out of college and Moorings program seems like a tempting half step before we are ready to full time cruise. Anyone with experience with the program recently?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, MarkED.

[sailnow2011]

Originally Posted by MarkED

I haven't seen any recent discussions about anyone with experience with a Moorings boat in a while. We are still probably five years from having all the kids out of college and Moorings program seems like a tempting half step before we are ready to full time cruise. Anyone with experience with the program recently?

Its a rip off program.
If it was a good return on investment, they would buy their own boats, and sell them when done. Honestly, its the most **** program I have ever seen people fall for.

[Pete O Static]

I have never chartered with them or had a boat in their program but I have had dealings with them and yeah, I would never deal with the Moorings ever again.

I purchased a boat from them and the entire process was fraudulent. In all my years of buying houses, cars, boats etc, I have never ever dealt with such a company which apparently has no hesitation in attempting to screw you.

When I purchased the boat and had a pre phase out survey done, there were 66 items found and agreed upon to be fixed. When they advised me that the boat had finished the phase out, I arrived to find it had all been signed off as being completed yet they had done nothing other than fabricate phony documents.

It wasn't until I refused to release funds from escrow and threatened filing a complaint against their brokerage license, that they started to take things seriously. In the end, everything was completed and a follow up survey done to verify but only because I was there every day looking over them.

While I waited, they provided me with a 40 foot Beneteau. Each night in the Moorings base, I awoke to a symphony of low voltage alarms as boats were just left with lights, nav instruments and refrigeration running and the shore power was less than reliable. Each morning, the fleet had dead batteries. The broker commented that they replace batteries every 6 months on average. No wonder. The inmates are running the asylum, so nothing is done about it. There is no oversight on anything. From a week of watching their BVI operation, I quickly deduced that most of the damage done to boats is not done by charter clients.

They have since shown that management team the door and have now been sold, again.

As far as their "owner program" they can make it sound very enticing. You can buy a $400K boat with close to a $100K discount at the front end, put it in their fleet , pay nothing because the revenue pays the note and five years later you get the boat back and it will be worth $150K. Great, a nearly new boat for less than half of retail! And there lies the devil in the detail. They tell you the boat will be worth $150K but do not guarantee it. YOU must guarantee the end value when you are making your financial calculations. You also have absolutely no say in how the boat is maintained while in their possession. So, BIG risk at the end of the contract because at the end of the day, the boat is your problem, not theirs. I bought my boat from just such a client and I didn't pay anywhere close to what they were told their boat would fetch.

As an example, you and your buddy purchase two identical boats in the program. At the end of the program, you have been told that your boats should be worth about $100K. You do the math and conclude it is a good deal. Now, sometime during the contract, your boat runs aground on a reef. It is brought back to the base and surveyed. THEY conclude it can be fixed rather than written off. The entire hull pan and grid is then ground down and reinforced during the repair. It is arguably now stronger than it was when it was new. But guess what? That boat has just been depreciated substantially compared to your buddy's boat! There is now no way, it will be worth what you thought it would be at contract termination time.

You really must do your homework and I would imagine the contracts are designed more to protect them, rather than you.

[LuvtheSea]

I was looking at one of the monohulls listed on the Moorings Brokerage web site. When you read the info under Buying a Boat and go to the FAQ’s, it was time to look somewhere else.
When you go to Moorings.Com click on Yacht Ownership:
“Spend more time on the water. Visit the world's most spectacular cruising grounds. Treat family and friends to a new perspective. Leave the maintenance, insurance, and dockage to us. Here's how it works:
•You own the boat
•We take care of it at no cost to you
•You receive guaranteed monthly revenue
•You sail at 20 worldwide destinations”
On the Brokerage site FAQ’s,
?: “Does it have any damage history?”

Answer: “Your Moorings Broker can check to see if there were any insurance claims on the vessel while it was in the fleet.”

My Thoughts: Maybe they don’t file an insurance claim and just fix it and now the Moorings Brokerage brokers can truthfully tell you there was no claim.

?: “Are the maintenance logs available?:

Answer:” Moorings operates on different business model to other charter companies, and performs scheduled maintenance that isn’t charged back to customer so maintenance logs are not available.”
Begs the question.

My Thoughts: With all the maintenance Moorings does how come there are no records of all this maintenance.