I'm considering boat ownership with Moorings, but the financial sense of it is hanging by a thread. Know I won't ever use the full owner-time allotment (most would probably be two peak weeks); so, in reality can the weeks be sold fairly easily? Is Moorings, in the opinion of other owners, good to work with? Any other thoughts re the concept? I've read the materials on this website, but I'm still uncertain.

Rob -- I've owned a B40CC (2-cabin, 2-head) with Sunsail since 2001 and usually sell three weeks a year -- one week high, two weeks low. I've marketed my owner's time exclusively through Sailonline when Michel first started the site and I've ALWAYS sold all the time I was willing to sell without any problems. With Sunsail I'm not restricted to solely selling time on my boat, it can apply to any boat in the fleet that is of equal charter value -- such as the 3-cabin, 2-head layout of a B411 aft cockpit. Check with Moorings to see if they'll allow that with you. I've had repeat clients as well, the most recent has increased their crew for June 05 so I sold them time on a 411.

Rob -- Incidentally, I'm not selling anymore owner's time for 2005 so you won't see an ad for my boat this year.
http://community.webshots.com/user/daix01

Before signing with Moorings, I would urge you to consider doing it yourself. We went through similar thoughts and ended up buying our own FP Belize 43 (cat) that we charter both through TMM and our own web site (www.caribbean-sea-adventures.com). We use the boat as much or as little as we want and financially are doing much better than Moorings owners, plus there are really good tax advantages.
Happy to answer any questions, but check out our web site first!
Mark

You are right that from a the financial point of view buying a boat through the Moorings is a marginal decision. And the Moorings contract forbids you from selling your personal weeks without you being on board yourself (unlike Sunsail it seems). Their management is adequate rather than stellar (like most businesses) and locally, some bases are better operated than others. Be aware that not swaps are not allowed at all bases ... for example I was disappointed to discover that New Zealand was not open to me for a swap. Good luck.

Don wrote:

<< And the Moorings contract forbids you from selling your personal weeks without you being on board yourself (unlike Sunsail it seems).>>

In all due respect, that is not correct. As some of you know, I am not only the owner of Sailonline.com, but also a Moorings boat owner and the Commodore of the Moorings Owners Group (it's been 10 years this year).

Moorings absolutely DOES let you sell up to TWO unused low-season weeks per calendar year, and you do NOT have to be on board the boat.

Don, if you are a Moorings owner (which you seem to be) you may contact me privately at yachtcharters@sailonline.com for more information.

Regards,
Michel Benarrosh

Michael, with apologies, I have been away ever since the end of June so I have only just seen your reply to me ... you are RIGHT about a Moorings owner being able to sell 2 weeks of personal time on one's yacht; I stand corrected. I do, however, stand by my expressed disappointment over what seems to be a conscious decision by the Moorings to NOT expand the sites open to owners for reciprocal use. This is a direct result of their strategic decision to grow their business by partnership agreements and franchises rather than internally. By aligning with already established charter companies, they are becoming more a sales organisation than a management company. That's fine for retail punters who want to do one stop shopping for charters anywhere in the world but it is the opposite for owners whose sailing prospects are circumscribed by such a change in their business plan. In my opinion a key competitive advantage to their yacht sales story is being lost.

I appreciate your status as a Moorings "ombudsman" and you can email me at my address if you wish; I am open to dialog on this and if I am misunderstanding or mis-stating the case, please correct me.