Win your own tropical island resort!
This one reads like an email from a Nigerian prince but a quick bit of research shows it's legit. An Australian family have lived and owned the Nautilus Resort on Kosrae, Micronesia, for the last 25 years but the kids have moved back to the mainland and now the grandkids need babysitting. What to do...?
Raffle off the resort, of course.
There's no catch, at least that I can see, just buy a pack of tickets (min. price $49 USD), pray to the right god, then hope like hell your number comes up.
The lucky punter will scoop the whole resort, which is debt-free and apparently in good shape, plus 24 staff plus to run the joint, and the deal is sweetened - as if it needs it - with another $10,000 to do whatever you like with.
If you're wondering where Kosrae is think Western Pacific, with Pohnpei to your west and the Marshall Islands to your west. Plenty enough info, right?
Comments
Pretty meaty looking surf.
Looks amazing and the only real catch I can find is that if they don't sell 50.000 tickets, the winner of the draw receives half the prize pool. Nice way to raise a slab of cash and hold on to the resort if they don't reach their target.
That aside, wouldn't it be awesome? Great way to earn a living.
I think I might grab a couple of tickets.
Not to sure if this one would actually make money? Sounds pretty tough to get there. Fantastic waves though.
terms and conditions:
"50,000 is the minimum number of tickets that is required to be sold for the Resort to be offered as the prize. If less than 50,000 tickets are sold, the advertised prize is not available. In this case, the prize winner is given 50% of the total amount of tickets sold. For example, if 25,000 tickets were bought for $49.00, the total amount equals $1,225,000.00. In result, the winner receives 50% of $1,225,000.00 which equals $612,500.00." - so they get 2.5 mill or half the tickets purchased either way win win. Good little money spinner.
Bit of surf action here. Camera work about as good as their rail work but you get the idea:
$6,000+ flight over 4 legs and a day and a half travel mean you won't be shooting over for the weekend.
Some years ago I heard of a flight route that starts in Asia somewhere and ends I think in Hawaii, small plane, island hopes across the pacific, slow way west to east, always thought that would be an adventure.
Guam to Honolulu, five stops in total. You get to fly low and see some amazing stretches of ocean, thousands of mid-ocean atolls that get swell in the right conditions and have likely never been surfed. However the route is used by Micronesians island hopping and they take all sorts of stuff with them.
It all goes into the hold so at each stop everything gets emptied and repacked, and surfboards take last priority. When I did it we had a few stressful waits on the tarmac hoping our boards made it in after the crew had tossed in cane lounges, rolls of fabric, and whatever else the locals were transporting between islands that day.
Must have been a real adventure Stu, would love to do it some day. I knew a guy that sailed the world but exclusively on cargo ships, same deal, something out of the ordinary. Did you do stop overs for a few days - weeks on some of the islands and if so there must be some good stories to tell.
Not quite as exciting as that. It was the old route to Pohnpei and I was on my way to surf P-Pass. The stop offs were only a few hours at a time and I was more antsy about getting back on the plane and getting in the surf.
Might appreciate it a bit more these days. It's a wonderful part of the world.
So Stu did you get P pass on and how long ago you talking about.?
Yeah, a few days at P-Pass but only one where it was doing its thing. Biggest waves were at a reef pass on the east coast, not Mont Pass but the last one before the reef bends to the SW. It's more exposed to swell than Palikir and we had it one morning before the trades blew and it was real solid.
Probably about 8 years ago.
So where do the flights go through now ? I thought it was still painful as it was ten years ago ?
Not that I'd thought about it much, but I seemd to recall they'd changed it a few years back with a more direct flight from Guam - Pohnpei. However, I just looked and it hasn't changed. Same as ever with the stopovers.
Gee Stu why do you give away all the secret spots ha ha. Imagine if you had a yacht.
Found the feature video here
If I win you're all invited. *
* Invitees may be screened for eligibility based on character evaluation arising through continuous assessment of posts on Swellnet.
Thanks Blowin;)
Holy shit.
The Idea of the resort, (for me anyways) is not that alluring .
ex pat travels have their limitations. The journey rather than the destination
sometimes.
Simplification is needed in places like this. A nice map also comes in handy.
Picked up a camera a few years ago with built in gps map. the feature has come in handy.
Go where other people do not, just bring plenty of wax, well glassed board/ boards, spare fins, ding kits, fin keys, wetsuit tops, board shorts, language translation book. a note pad.
Just remember you will have nothing to complain about. there will be times when you miss convenience and even crowded surf minus the angry locals.
enjoy
Novel idea and alternative to selling your resort. Could not be done in Australia because you would not get a lottery permit. It's hard enough to do for charity - damn impossible for personal gain and let's be clear this is what this is. A way to sell there resort at a guaranteed price. I don't like to idea that if they don't sell many tickets the winner only get 50% of cash and the owners make a nice profit and keep there resort. Also if you are a AU resident and "win" this could be considered $2.5m income so you could be up for $1.25m tax bill. AU lotteries are tax free but overseas ones are not for AU residents.
The other things to keep in mind:
You don't get 24 staff....you get the responsibility to pay 24 staff. You have a liability from day 1.
These resorts never run themselves. They require hands on management by owners to make them work. So you are winning a job. I doubt the value of the assets would be $2.5m.
Thanks Lost. Some useful information. I might not buy a ticket now!
I tried to buy tickets. they've got my card details but I aint got no tickets or receipt :(
Hi yew_shredding
Sorry to hear you didn't receive your confirmation email and tickets. Have you tried contacting us at admin@wintheislandestates.com Just send us a quick email with your details and we can find your tickets and re send them. Look forward to hearing from you :)
How many tickets have sold to date ?
So who's Joshua? Said he was an Aussie. Only bought one ticket and scooped the resort.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/27/australian-man-wins-pacific-island-resort-with-49-raffle-ticket
...and Blowin, Josh's winning ticket was #44,980 so that gives you some idea about how many they sold.
The winner is about to come up on 9s A Current Affair
Oh dear, I don't wanna be too judgemental, but I don't think he'll be cut out for that gig...
Funny as,most unlikely looking guy to win but fuk hes laughing all the way to bank......probably.So they made 3.75 mil........
He's an accountant..and he hates water....he's gonna re raffle it .....and pick up 500k forhimself