Aqua-Direct Boat Club

The following is the experience I had with the below company. I feel I was intimidated alone in the office with Mr. ** with him demanding $2,500 from me immediately. This company is doing a very shady business. Any person giving him money and joining this club is just feeding his Ponzi scheme. Please investigate this company and let me know what my odds are of getting my money back. Aqua-Direct Boat Club LLC, MyClubDirect.com, this company will falsely accuse you of damaging their boats. Part of their Ponzi scheme mentality in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Steer Clear of this Company! The loss of $2,500 cash.

Aqua-Direct Boat Club seemed like the perfect alternative for me after owning boats for over 30 years. I was happy to say good bye to the maintenance that goes with boat ownership. For the first year, I could not have been happier. Each time I reserved a boat, there was one waiting for me at the dock. Off I would go for the afternoon. When I returned I would just turn over the keys and let the Boat Club do the rest. This sense of "Freedom" came to an abrupt end one afternoon. On April 8th 2010, I had arrived at the dock with my son and his friends looking forward to a nice time on the water.

We were greeted by the dockhand who had tied up and placed the boat I reserved at the end of the dock. He said we were all set and off we went. We stayed at the dock for about a half hour before deciding to depart. This was a 36' cruiser type boat with dual inboard engines. I am used to only using the starboard engine on any of the large boats to conserve fuel cost. We never cruise faster than idle speed with a boat over 26'. I fired up the starboard engine and we slowly cruised north up the inter-coastal waterway. When I did decide to run the port engine, the boat did not steer properly so I shut both engines down and decided to anchor where we were and call the dock. When I contacted the dockhand, I explained that we had also at this point entangled to anchor line in the props because of the windlass not working properly. He said he and a mechanic would be out in about a hour to help us out.

The boat was freed and the dockhand raced the boat with us back to the dock full throttle, ignoring the alarms that were going off. The mechanic was riding along in the rescue boat trying to get his attention about the outdrive and the alarms. I also begged him to slow down to no avail. We made it back to the dock and left for home. That evening, I phoned and also wrote an email to Rudy about this experience and other issues I had with the boat that day (these are included below). He responded and was apologetic, offering to refund our fuel cost and that the maintenance issues would be addressed.

Several days later, I unexpectedly received a call from the Club CEO, Rudy Theale asking what happened to the boat, indicating that there was extreme damage to the outdrive I was instantly put in the seat of the accused. I returned to the marina to view the damage in question and was greeted by the mechanic that works for the Club.. The boat at this point had been moved to a different location. He pointed out the damage indicating that it was not there when we left the dock. Had the dockhand done his job when I arrived and looked around the boat in my presence, the damage would have been evident. The damage looked more like it occurred from corrosion or poor maintenance or even from removing it from the storage rack than an on the water incident.

Admittedly, I failed to look at the exterior of the boat in his presence before and after using the boat. However, with the boat already in the water there was limited opportunity to see the outdrives and underside of the boat. This should have been part of the boat clubs policy to have dual observation of the entire boat. He was not interested in discussing this with me and referred me back to accounting for collecting on the damage. I contacted an attorney about this who further contacted the Club without success.

Shortly after, the damage estimate was shown to me. The total was $4,500. I was told that the Club's insurance would not cover this and I would have to immediately submit a $2,500 deductible. In the end, I paid the damage to clear my name and received an notarized receipt. At the same time, I cancelled my membership. Do you think I got a call from Mr. Theale? Of course not. My advice to you if you are considering joining this boat club or any other is to be on guard. Be as thorough as you can when accepting the boat and when it is returned. And also, hope there isn't any damage that you can't see when taking the boat but is later found by the Dockmaster. You could be liable every time, up to $2,500. Good luck with your decision.

"Hello Rudy, Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me tonight about my concerns. As for my experience today with the boat Big Blue, my major concerns were the following: For safety reasons: Windlass motor clutch would not engage and take up slack rode resulting in prop entanglement. Port trim/tilt switch is not operational. I believe a boat this size should have an extra emergency anchor and rode , an anchor ball retriever and a boat hook. (this is my opinion only, with an anchor ball, there is less chance of prop entanglement, less strain on the windless and gypsy and can be used by a single operator on the boat. ) Horn does not work. GPS Nav screen just stays on frozen. Faria gauge depth finder is not operation correctly, it will alarm at a low water level, but for the depth reading, reads: UKWN

Courtesy and comfort concerns: THE HEAD - was full with previous users waste and not working. I had call Jeff twice this week to check on the condition and asked what to expect or what was damaged or not working. He told me that the dinette table had been torn out of the floor, but that was the only concern. When we arrived at the dock today, he said "Has anyone told you what was not working on this boat? " I said " No, geez, Jeff , I called you three times this week to make sure I had no surprises. " Also, I have gone though the same thing with the head on several other boats and several horrible gross full days old livewells. Well Connected, Banana Boat, Mud Minnow. Also, it is hard to believe, even with it's size and dual 5.0's that from Beach Marine to the Wonderwood bridge and back would run $107 of gas. I've trolled 60 miles out near the ledge all day and only ran about $300. Please correct me if I am wrong. "

"Thanks for the email Stephanie, I sincerely take to heart the experience our members have in reference to our club. These things are intolerable and will be repaired post haste. I will refund of your fuel cost as I explained on the phone last night and going forward we will absolutely do our best to strive for excellence. Our mechanic will be back Monday and will jump on these things ASAP! Happier boating in the future! Rudy"