Boat, guests, money, etiquette

[JASinIL2006]

I never ask for money; after all, I invited them! At the time of invitation, I make it clear if they should bring their own lunch/drinks or if I'll be providing stuff (or if they need to bring money for a restaurant).

I'm happy to accept gas money, and my friends who boat regularly with me are quite generous in chipping in, but if I invite someone, I assume I am picking up the boating-related expenses.

 

[jkust]

Of course I wouldn't ask for money nor would I accept it...it would be tacky at best given our circumstances. On the other hand, I see 20 somethings on their 100k wake board boats with their equally young friends wake skating and surfing all day long. How there are so many of these boats with such young operators, I don't understand but they are everywhere. In that case, I can only imagine the amount of gas they are burning and in those shoes I'd have a very different outlook.

 

[H20Rat]

I would never expect nor ask for gas money, but I do make a point to stop at the gas dock with the parents on board, after a long day of pulling other kids on the tube though. If I'm not spending an extended time pulling tubes, I don't even think about it, and I avoid stopping for gas with anyone on board.

That said, I do have a couple people on the 'do-not-invite' list after they emptied my gas tank, beer cooler, snacks, sunscreen, etc... At least bring something people!

 

[milehighjc]

Guess I am similar to most of the posts here. If I invite someone out, then I do not EXPECT anything. I always pack, towels, sunscreen, lunch, snacks, beer, water, etc too. If I invite someone out, then my plan is to show them a good time.

Having said that, before I bought my boat, I always insisted on contributing food, drinks, or gas $$ when someone else invited me out on their boat. I received many repeat invites, and frankly, I tend to repeatedly invite those who have made a contribution.

Net : I don't expect it, nor would I ever ask. But if you do make an effort (doesn't have to be much), and you had a good time, you are likely to be invited again.

Right now, Im more concerned with finding people who enjoy water sports enough to want to go out early enough to find good water than I am with the magnitude of a contribution. Colorado requires an observer in addition to the driver, so I need minimally 3 people to go for a morning run.

 

[Brian 26]

I never ask for or expect money. The few times people have tried to give me gas money have turned it down. We love having people out on the boat.

I will say that non boaters probably do not understand how much it costs run a 23' boat on a big lake. If you want to bring it up in a non confrontational way just go to the gas pump on the lake with them in the boat. Maybe seeing $200 gallons of fuel pumped with change their thinking.

Now to play devils advocate, if your buddies ask you to take them off shore fishing and you spend $2,000 in fuel running 50 miles off shore to catch a $2,000 worth of tuna I think some cost sharing can happen without ruffling any feathers.

 

[littlerayray]

I do have a do not invite list but it is not cuz of lack of people offering it's because they annoy me lol I don't ask and if people offer I tell them thank you

 

[shrew]

I don't ask for cash. I don't accept cash. I would be spending the same amount on fuel whether I had guests or not. We invite our friends. What kind of friends/friendly ask you to take them out on your boat?? What kind of friends/family charge them for taking them??

I tell people what I'm bringing, and they are welcome too it. If they want something else (different brand of beer, or something particular for lunch or to drink) they are encouraged to bring it with them).

The 'charter' argument is ludicrous. If a friend offered to fill up the gas tank on a road trip, it wouldn't make you a limo either.

 

[drrpm]

Just about the only guests I take out are friends of my kids. As long as they don't annoy me they are welcome to come out again and no payment is expected.

 

[BRICH1260]

I never ask for gas, wouldn't hear of it. But I do appreciate the guests to bring their own beverages. I don't like having to buy the beer for someone else too.

 

[Ned L]

"The 'charter' argument is ludicrous. If a friend offered to fill up the gas tank on a road trip, it wouldn't make you a limo either."

Not as ludicrous as you may think. Remember, on the water you are dealing with the U.S.C.G., not the state DMV.

Yes, it may be more of a passe concern today than a fair number of years ago, HOWEVER it did used to be a cut and dry situation. You accept money or gratuity and you are a vessel for hire (and better be licensed), no if's and's or but's.

 

[MTboatguy]

Not ludicrous at all, we had an incident here a few years ago, where a senator was injured by a drunk state rep in a boating crash, before it was all said and done, the guy driving lost his elected position in the state senate, he was fined for operating a boat for hire with out a license, operating under the influence and all kinds of other little offenses, ruined him financially as well as politically. The friend who was our senator in WA, DC had filled the boat up with fuel.

 

[SDSeville]

When tubing and skiing I do not ask or accept anything. It is nice if they bring some food, but we make sure there is enough in case they do not.

I do split costs for fishing. I have never asked, but it always works out that I buy the gas, someone else pays to fill the bait tank and grabs the parking permit while I am prepping for launch, and someone else brings food and beer (it works out to about $30 - $40 each -- small boat). The others always offer before we even leave the driveway.

 

[bobdec]

If your talking a typical daily outing, in all my years of boating, I never asked and never accepted. If your going out anyways, what's the cost of a couple extra people. Additional passengers on my boat are always invited close friends or relatives, otherwise they would not be there.

I'll also say that non boaters have no Idea of actual expenses, nor should they be expected to. Calculate your total cost per trip over a year (payments, fuel, maintenance, insurance, marina fees, etc.) . At $$$$ per outing what difference is someone (generously) dropping you a $20 dollar bill going to make.

 

[sublauxation]

I've taken my wife's cousin's kids tubing and skiing countless times at the cabin and they never kicked in a dime. They all have money, more than me, but it never really bothered me A couple years ago one of the cousins bought a nice shiny new boat and when I asked if they'd bring it. The answer was a rather snooty, "I'm not putting my boat in that lake". Yeah, their kids don't tube or ski behind my boat anymore.

I've never asked for money but it's always my boat and my truck, sometimes my gear. Some kick in money to help and they get invited more frequently than those who don't. I'll often turn down the offer for money unless it's a trip where I would have otherwise brought my kids but didn't have room on account of that guest. My friends with no money don't pay a dime and I make sure they feel no pressure to offer.

 

[rallyart]

I always remember who offers to chip in but I've never accepted any. Guests are guests, for me. If I was younger and taking friends out for water sports I think I would take contributions from those participating. For a boat ride, never.
I've also never accepted anything from anyone I've towed. I just tell them to help someone else when they get a chance.

 

[Durango318]

Heck, I'm just happy if all have a good time. Safety briefing first! That can save you money. Things like where the life jackets are, face the ladders going up or down, hold onto railings, don't get squished between the boat and objects on the dock, if you've been drinking don't go to the upper decks and most importantly, how not to clog the head

 

[Government cheese]

Only once has someone offered to fill the tank, and I did not turn it down. I have no her asked for money, if I invite you to my lake house that we includes boating if I have a boat in the water. (Money has been tight lately, so nothing in the water)

 

[tpenfield]

Hello everybody,

I have a question of how do you handle the issue of friends / guests chipping in for riding on your boat?

Do you ask them to chip in ahead of time?
If so, how does your does your conversation go for this topic?

If you have not previously discussed money, afterwards, if they ask how much they should chip in, what do you say? How much $$?
If they chip in, do you count how much they gave? Or as long as they give some (i.e. you see a couple of 20s and other bills), they're good?


I had some casual friends come out recently, and they didn't chip in. They are a bit younger, and I think just lack of age / experience contributed and I did invite them, so fair enough. But this is the first time this has happened. Over the years, people have always been forthcoming and generous. So , no problems.

I would not want to say something like "hey, would love to have you out on the boat, but please make sure to help out."

What do you think is a proper amount to expect / say if asked?

I have a 23' runabout that I trailer for 45 mins to the ramp to give you a baseline of what's involved.

Not having read the multitude of replies yet, but . . .

If I invite somebody out on my boat, I do not expect them to pay me anything. . . I invited them.

If they offer to pay, I say no. If they want to pay for something trivial regarding the outing, like a few hours of dock space, that's fine.

Also, people that you invite out on the boat may or may not be appropriate to help out in general for launching, docking or retrieving. It depends if they are experienced boaters or not, and even then they may not be familiar with your routines.

If the whole aspect of guests and payment is an issue for you, you may want to consider boating alone. :noidea:

 

[littlerayray]

So the general concensus is when inviting your friends out we don't ask for money and rarely accept any

 

[redneck joe]

Yep if im going anyway id be spending the money. That said i only invite people that know enought to bring own drink food etc. I dont have many friends becuase im a certin sort of guy who doesn't put up with idiots.


Heck even friends that come over for a pool party leave leftover beverages for me.