How do you other boatowners deal with the delicate subject of money and divers?

[jbark]

I have taken dozens of fishing trips on the great lakes with my boat taking friends and on other friends boats. I always offer gas money and sometimes my friends take it sometimes not.

When I am hosting friends on my boat I never ask for any gas money, nor do I expect any. If someone offers to pay then I graciously accept a reasonable amount.

I figured out really quick that some will chip in, others will not and others yet will chip in but have no idea what the real costs are. In all cases I just leave my house planning to pay the costs of the day and if someone hands he some gas money or buys the bait or a few new lures as thank you gifts I view that as a nice gesture and I appreciate it appropriately. I only set up a trip when I am fully prepared to foot the bill. If it turns out differently then great.

If you are organizing a trip and want to split costs with me on your boat I am 100% OK with that. But please tell me you want to split costs and tell me how much you think those costs will be. You wanna hit the gas station on the way home? that's all good. You want me to help clean the boat? no problem just let me know so i can be prepared to do that.

Why in the world anyone would organize a trip and then worry about how to politely tell people how much to chip in is beyond me. I organize most trips for guests with no expectation and therefore no worry, but If i want to run a "split the cost" trip I just call it that when I make the calls looking for friends to go along. I say just be straight up about when you start calling around.

Works for me,
Jerry

 

[mmcdanie]

I don't ask, nor expect money. I wouldn't ask for food money or a portion of my rent if I have someone over for dinner. If someone insists I will add their money to the cost of gas, but I wouldn't charge someone if I was going out anyway.

I do not ask for gas money either. I'm lucky in this. My Mom's trust, that she left us, pays for the gas. I just wish I could have taken my Mom out on the boat, she loved the water.

 

[Stoo]

Let's say you're paying $5 a gallon for gas and have a couple friends going out. They each offer up $20 for gas, covering 8 gallons of fuel between them. What MPG are you getting for your tiny RIB that 8 gallons of gas isn't enough to make a round trip of any length anyone would want to ride in a RIB?

[Edit]Whoops, just saw we're talking about Canada, where gas is more like $5 a liter. Carry on, my overtaxed northern neighbor.[/Edit]

LOL, not that bad. The boat lives on a trailer, so I can fill it at a gas station, and not a marina which helps. Currently, gas is about $1.25 a litre, which is in fact about $5 per US gallon. The boat burns about a litre per mile... So $20 will gets me about 16 miles... which covers most trips... So you're right, I should take it!

So I will carry on, my pay-through-the-nose-for-medical-care friend! (Or is Obama-care going to solve that?) ;-)

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

Ass, grass, or cash -- No one rides for free.

:laughing: Sorry, I couldn't resist.

We have a 47 Wellington ketch, and we don't ask for money, but I won't turn it down if they offer. Some people offer 20 bucks for gas. My husband wanted to ask for grub, but my feeling is you don't ask your guests to bring anything. But men are more simple, they just think of beer and potato chips. My involvement has turned our sailings into gastronomic cruises. And I've upgraded all the china, flatware, glassware. I want to reupholster everything. (Am I strange that I hate nautical design on boat? I mean, I'm on a boat, does my upholstery need to have sailboats on it too to remind me?)
Our boat is in this weird little, tight space in the marina, so it's difficult to get in and out especially if the wind isn't helping. So guests are asked to help man the fenders and take in a line or two. But I don't think anyone minds that, it's part of that boat experience.

 

[Storker]

I've got a modest boat, an 18-footer with a 75HP outboarder. The boat always has a full tank when we start out, I fill up the tank when I return to the marina, and we split the gas costs evenly.

I'd like to have the "owner covers fixed costs, passengers split fuel costs" model, but there's no tradition for that around here, and if I were to insist on that, I'd be seen as a f***ing cheapskate.

 

[Bob DBF]

When I had boats I would invite folks out, the people that understood that it cost money and work and kicked with one or both got invited back. If someone wanted me to take them out, we would discuss costs.

Now that I'm boat-less, I kick in and work as a deck ape ('cause I love it) if no one beats me to the job. Last guy loved it when I spotted a log in the water in time to avoid it, most people haven't had practice bulls****ting and keeping a good lookout.


Bob

 

[oly5050user]

I own a 21' Privateer..set up for diving..has a 200hp Yamaha motor on it. Burns less fuel than my old 175 Johnson did. Still cost is high. My winter storage went up $500. This past winter..that really pis!$ed me off. Summer rate at a slip here is $1,500. For the season. So even before leaving the dock my costs are $3,000 +. When I take out friends I really appreciate any contributions. Divers with T Rex arms (they cannot reach their pockets) can stay home or dive the quarry.

added photos of boat here;

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

The only thing that works on old boat is its owner!

This is myself, my husband and Telesto (one of Titan's daughters).

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Since we're showing off...

 

[TSandM]

We never had any problems with money. People always offered more than their share of the gas would have cost (our runs are short). What nobody ever did was come and help with the three or four hours of boat clean up that was involved that evening or the following day. Frankly, I would happily have paid for ALL the gas if I'd gotten some help with the cleaning. The amount of sheer work involved in using the boat helped get us to the point where we don't take it out any more.