TACOMA, Wash. - "Mirage Boats" is billed as affordable family fun on the water. It turns out, "mirage" is the perfect name for a boat that's not really there.

With its scenic waterways and its rich maritime tradition, the Northwest is truly a boater's paradise.

But for years now, many a sailor has been drawn to these waters with empty promises.

Kristi Cundy can see her Mirage ski boat - for which she paid $25,000 - but that's about all. The brand-new Mirage has been left for months unfinished at an upholstery shop with a $6,000 bill that the boat-maker hasn't paid.

"Can't touch it, can't get a sunburn on it. Can't ski on it. Nothing," she said. "It's very frustrating to look at it and be so close. And not be able to do anything with it or take it away and use it."

Don Vanderluer towed away a Mirage hull as collateral after paying $50,000 for a ski boat and getting only delays and excuses.

"At least I'd get the hull for $50,000," Vanderleur said. "I'd have something."

Mirage Boats has all the makings of a legitimate boat builder, including sheets of fiberglass, molds for several different types of boat hulls and some ski boats that almost look ready to ride.

But former plant manager Bob Lewis, who claims the company owes him thousands of dollars, says Mirage's Tacoma plant never produced a single finished boat. He blames the man who runs the company.

"I'm telling you, if you send him money you won't be able to get your boat and you won't get your money back," Lewis said.

If there's a pirate in this story of ghost ships, it's Mirage owner Philip Warnock.

The KING 5 Investigators have pieced together Warnock's long and turbulent history. In a 1985 agreement with the state Attorney General, three Warnock companies were ordered to stop taking money for boats they could not deliver.

Eight years later, he was charged in a 134-count indictment when his new company defrauded boat suppliers, customers and even his own employees. He pled guilty and was sent to prison.

Six years ago, the KING 5 Investigators exposed the same pattern with Warnock's Tiger Trax boats.

Since then, we've learned he filed for bankruptcy for at least the fourth time and moved his plant and his equipment several times. 

Bob Lewis teamed with Mirage to run its plant in 2006, and says Warnock was supposed to supply cash and investors.

KING

The Investigators confronted Philip Warnock, accused of taking money for boats he didn't deliver.

But Lewis watched employees go unpaid, heard from suppliers owed thousands, and talked to customers who said Warnock told them their overdue boats were almost finished.

"If his lips are moving - he's lying," Lewis said.

We tracked Phil Warnock down after he backed out of a scheduled interview. While he wouldn't speak with KING 5, he has been sweet-talking several high-level investors.

He convinced the owner of a championship hydroplane to sign a five-year sponsorship agreement - a marketing coup for Mirage - which now races alongside the biggest names in water sports. But Warnock still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars on the contract.

In spite of Warnock's history, he was selling Mirage watercrafts at last year's Seattle Boat Show.

And Kristi Cundy's boat, the one unfinished at the upholstery shop, was a supposed donation to the Ronald McDonald house auction.

She paid Warnock upfront, but says a portion of the money from her bid earmarked for the charity - $3,000 - never made it to the Ronald McDonald house.

"That really crosses the line when you get into taking away from people who are needy," Cundy said.

The KING 5 Investigators wanted explanations from Warnock. And so do the many victims who see their boats drifting away with Phil Warnock at the helm.

"He just takes advantage of everybody that crosses his path," said Vandeleur, who is now convinced Warnock's promises are just as empty as the useless boat hull that sits in his yard.

"When I found out everything that I found out about his past, I realized he's a crooked con artist," Vandeleur said.

It appears that Warnock is in violation of two civil orders not to do this kind of thing. The Attorney General's Office is looking into that. And King County Prosecutors who sent Warnock to prison once are interested in hearing from new victims.

Warnock has been kicked out of the warehouse because he owes $60,000 in back rent. It was the landlord who let KING 5 in.