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Yacht club leaves long-time charter captain high and dry

Brian Brady

A mainstay in the local hospitality industry looks like it will have to chart a new course away from Cornelius. Passengers on the “Yachta Yachta Yachta” charter boat are no longer allowed to embark or disembark from the luxury houseboat’s long-time host, The Peninsula Yacht Club.

The two-deck boat, however, will continue to be berthed there, at least for the time being.

“Our membership got too big and it’s just not a good fit.” -Bruce Furman, PYC general manager

Yachta Yachta Yachta owner Brian Brady could not be reached for comment. He also operates a 146-passenger houseboat out of Midway Marina in Terrell and a 48-foot cruising yacht from the yacht club, which is owned and operated by Morningstar Marina, a large company with marinas on lakes in North Carolina, and, according to its website, on the coasts of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia.

The Yachta Yachta Yachta has been the setting for countless weddings, parties and corporate events over the years.

PYC general manager Bruce Furman said: “Our membership got too big and it’s just not a good fit.”

Indeed, the club will no longer be a launching point for charter boats. For now, Brady is using All Seasons Marina on Langtree Road in Mooresville as the pick-up location for charter customers.

Parking for guests has been an issue at the PYC, according to a source in the Lake Norman charter boat industry. Despite what looks like an endlessly fun line of work, the charter boat business is tough.

The source said there are “so many variables—the boat, the weather, managing people, the personnel, the rules, the Lake Norman Marine Commission people…it’s like juggling eight balls in the air at the same time.”

There was an explosion on a charter boat operated by Capt. Cliff Champion eight years ago on the west side of the lake that resulted in the death of a young employee.

“This business is not for everyone, it’s difficult,” the source said. “The charter boats are not thriving out there.”

He went on to say that Yachta Yachta Yachta was good for the Cornelius economy. “It’s a business we should be proud of,” he said. “This will hurt business. They gave him a one-month notice.”

The news was first reported in The Peninsula’s neighborhood online newsletter April 27. The newsletter said, “Additionally, the PYC has stopped the parking & launching of the Charter boats out of their marina this year.”

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Lake group questions captain’s course

MOORESVILLE – Cliff Champion says he hasn’t been a formal charter boat captain of the 90-foot vessel, “N 2 Deep,” in over a year.

But Ron Shoultz, executive director of the Lake Norman Marine Commission, begs to differ.

Shoultz said he has evidence that Champion has been operating a charter business illegally and intends to take him to court over the issue.

Champion, a Cornelius resident, docks his boat at All Seasons Marina off Langtree Road.

“Right now, we’re just taking friends for a ride, or family and things like that,” he said. “As long as I do it for free, it’s no different than anybody else’s boat on the lake.”

Champion said he ran Championship Yacht Charters from 2000 to 2011 at various locations, including the former Latitude 36 restaurant in Cornelius, but he’d like to be back in business as soon as possible. To that end, he’s working on an application for a permit to operate through the marine commission.

Founded through a North Carolina state law in 1969, the marine commission consists of five members appointed by the counties bordering the lake – Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln and Mecklenburg. The group is responsible for matters concerning public recreation and water safety and also monitors the operation of all charter boats on the lake through a separate charter boat committee.

At an annual meeting each March, the committee certifies that every charter boat has received an annual inspection, is run by a qualified captain with a valid U.S. Coast Guard Master’s license, maintains all the necessary insurance and has a permanent location at a qualified public marina.

According to the commission’s guidelines, a charter boat is “any boat that is hired for, or advertised for hire for, a cruise on Lake Norman and to provide specific services including any of the following: sight seeing, food, beverages, or fishing. However, a fishing, sailboat or other charter boat with eight or less passengers is not either a charter boat or excursion boat.”

Currently, there are five charter boats permitted to sail on Lake Norman including “No Mo Money” and “Yachta Yachta Yachta” based at Peninsula Yacht Club in Cornelius; “The Catawba Queen” and “Lady of the Lake” kept at Mooresville’s Queen’s Landing; and “The Ragin’ Mistress” of Cornelius’ Lake Norman Luxury Yacht Charters.

Shoultz said that Champion didn’t apply for a permit through the marine commission to charter a boat in 2013, but the commission has a signed contract and canceled check for a charter trip he’d intended to perform.

“We feel the public is taking a huge risk getting on his boat,” Shoultz said. “He’s continuing to advertise online without a permit. We don’t know where and when he’s been pumping out (waste), but we’ve heard from area marinas he’s been there.”

On Dec. 9, the marine commission filed a complaint with the Iredell County Magistrate’s Office regarding Championship Yacht Charters operating without a permit. According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sheriff Office website, a criminal summons has been filed but Champion hasn’t been served yet.

Shoultz said a district court date has already been set up for Jan. 7 in Statesville.

“We just want all the players who are performing this type of service on the lake to be on the same playing field,” Shoultz said. “We’re not targeting Cliff. It could be XYZ charter company. I’d like for him to be able to keep his business running.”

According to Rebecca Harper of Iredell County Planning, Development and Transportation Services, the county did issue All Seasons Marina approval Dec. 11 to house cruise boats on site as long as the business meets special regulations such as having “an adequate pump-out facility on site” to eliminate waste from a charter boat between trips.

Cathy Akroyd, public information officer for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, verified that All Seasons Marina received a permit for its pump-out service Sept. 27.

Joanne Moser, owner of All Seasons Marina, told Mooresville Weekly that while Champion docks his boat at her marina like 250 other boat owners, he is not a licensed charter boat operator and doesn’t run charters from the marina.

“We have followed all the rules that there are to become a charter boat marina. We have a pump-out station on site,” she said. “We follow all the rules that we need to successfully operate a family marina business. We’re very excited to start offering charters, and we’ll make sure we do whatever we can to make sure our neighbors are happy. We’ve been here for too many years to be a thorn in anyone’s side.”

Moser added she would never put her business at risk by allowing someone to run charter operations without a permit from the LNMC.

“Cliff’s wife has Avon parties on the boat, but he’s not running it as a charter, which means that he doesn’t make money to take people out,” she said.

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