how much do you pay?
 

when you guys are riding as a third, how much do you usually pitch in for gas money? both of the people that i ride with have season passes for the lake we ride on, so i normally pitch in 20 bucks, but there is also 2-3 other people putting in 20. what do you guys normally pitch in when you're going riding with someone?

$10 plus beer or more w/o beer.

$50 to $70. I own the boat though. I don't ask, but take what people can give. I usually just throw it in the glove box and save it for a rainy day..or to use at the marina gas pump. Usually have other people bring food and ice and the like.

10 to 20 depending on how long i ride and how much weight in the boat.

$10 a set.

10-15 per set.

I usually ride with other boat owners, so we usually swap pulls. Other than that usually ranges about $7 bucks a set. My crew usually chips in $15 for a couple of sets, and more like $20 for three sets. Gas prices have come down since a couple of years ago.
Thats if I ride with other riders. If I am taking someone out who is more of a friend that doesn't realy ride $0.

My boat will use 5 gal of gas for an evening for 3-4 people, which is $15-$20. I prefer to give them a 5 gal can to fill so they don't feel like they're just giving me money. $10 per set is reasonable for a friend

Around $10/set for crew type riders. If the riders are high school kids or the casual friend tyring it out, it will be gratis or maybe they will throw in $5 /set.

We all kind of swap boats but I throw $20 every few times I go out on a friends boat. For those in our crew without boats they usually throw in $20 each time they come out.

what kind of boat do you have? is it weighted? if i take out 3 others for morning run i use 10 gallons.:(

I pay $20 for one set and $30 for two. I also bring drinks and snacks for the entire boat whenever I ride whether it be on my boat or someone else's. Being a boat owner I understand the cost of being on the water for a full day.

If someone was to offer me $5 or $7 for a day on the boat, then I would probably tell them in a tactful way to keep it because they obviously need the money more than I do.

My thought is to kick in what you think is fair. I usually always leave a twenty on someone else's boat, but if I took an extra set (more than two), I would probably toss him another ten.

thanks guys, sounds like most of you pitch in 10 bucks for 1-2 sets, when we go out for a full day i always pitch in 20 and then buy snacks and drinks, but i think when we go out and hit one set each at the end of the day im gonna give 10. this is also considering that i helped pay for the season passes on both of the boats haha.

My boat has a 4 cylinder i/o so I only use about 3 gallons/hour. I really don't expect or feel comfortable taking cash for fuel but I appreciate if people cover the $15 fee for the private ramp I like to use. The private ramp is rarely busy and people are courteous, although sometimes I do miss the public ramp entertainment.

Where I live there has been a stir among the fishing community related to sharing expenses. Some folks have made the arguement that accepting cash from guests is the same as opperating a vessel for hire. I think the issue largely sprang up after fuel prices increased in recent years and more people were networking to find fishing partners on forums. Licensed charter captains felt that others where starting to opperate for-hire without the proper licensing and rules (there is probably some truth to it). I've heard rumors of the coast guard and marine police going after people on this but not sure of the validity. Fortunately the watersports community has fewer blow hards and captain and commander types.

$25-30

if i jump on anyone elses boat (which is rare-as everyone is always on mine) i give the owner $40 - standard.

I have a buddy that always shows up with two 5 gallon jugs of gas. I like that the best. Most of the guys I ride with throw in whatever they can. Ussually its a $20.00, but sometimes not. Its all good, because we all end up riding in each others boats down the road anyway.
When Im a guest on another boat, I normally would toss in a 20 for 2-3 sets. If I get only 1 set, I'll just trade it in for a set behind my boat.

Minimum of $20 bucks when I set foot on someone elses boat. I'll try to give more for two sets. Usually $30 minimum if I ride twice.

can you guys come ride in my boat. Im lucky to get 10 out of the 3 or 4 people on my boat. But it really doesnt bother me cause there good friends and i know there always broke.

$20/ea is typically standard. Depends on how many sets though. $20 will easily get you one or two sets.

Damn I wish everyone who came on my boat could read this thread lol. Granted they are good friends but i'm lucky to get 5 dollars a set, while I'm dropping $60 dollars plus the $20 dollars it takes in gas to tow to my lake. I finally tossed in the towel this season and am starting to use the find a pull section to ride instead, or swap pulls.

^Have you ever taken them to the pump with you? With most people, seeing you put 150.00 in the tank usually gives them a clue how much gas is used.

Jeremy is right. Take them to the pump with you sometime. My dad let me and some buddies borrow his boat for a day. We had ran a lot of gas out of it and I wanted to fill it up before returning it to my dad so I pulled up to the pump. At first my friends weren't paying any attention, they were still flirting with the girls and whatever. Several minutes later I started to notice some of them watching the pump a little more closely. Then, when we topped the $150 mark my friend goes "Holy $hit" and gets his wallet out...

A fully weighted wake boat burns anywhere from 7-12 gallons per hour or more. Assume an average of 9. At $3.10 per gallon, thats about $28 per hour gas cost.
Assume the owner is very happy to take care of maintenance, storage, insurance, etc. A twenty minute set costs about ten bucks in gas. Thirty minutes- about 15 bucks, 40 minutes- 20 bucks etc.

I give 30-40 for two sets every time out standard. Especially cause its 25 bucks to launch the boat, 40 for a channel pass, and probably about 60-100 bucks in gas. That doesn't include the gas to and from the lake. If it's a boat I've never been on, I'll typically toss them like 30 bucks a set based on the type of boat and its fuel consumption. (i.e. weighted x-star 30-40/set and unweighted 210 10-20/set)

I just noticed that the interest on my boat loan is $20, and thats not even using it.

$15-$20 per set is the norm with most of the people I ride with. I do the same... Some times I will tell people who ride very short sets that $20 per set is too generous... If someone rides 45 minutes on my boat...and then sports me $10...they probably wont be on the invite list back....

@A-dub - you must have a hybrid boat right? 5 gallons for an evening???

On other people's boat 20-40 depending on boat and how much I rode, average is 30+

I usually get 20-30 from peeps when I take my own boat out. A 3 person 2 set each pull day usually costs me minimum $60 in gas/launch fees. Longer pulls or 3+ pulls the costs goes up. Even with an older 21' VLX with ~1100 pounds of ballast I burn 5+ gph.

Some of the people I ride with go by the mentality that the boat owner shouldn't buy their own gas which I try to live by when on other people's boats and pitch in for more gas than I typically burn from my own sets.

I figure I'm getting off a lot cheaper when riding other people's boats. I tracked my hours and expenses in a log for ~ 9 months and figured out that I am averaging just under 150 hours a year on my boat and my total cash out of pocket expenses not including repairs or the cost of the boat run north of $45 an hour. While most of the cots are variables like fuel, some are fixed and the average person is running less hours so the cost per hour would be higher. Figure in the cost of the boat and repairs would double the cost per hour for most people. Pitching in $20-40 for a couple of sets on someone's boat is dirt cheap!!!

Twelker nailed it.

I'm not one to ask but I've been stuck dropping $100-$200 on a tank of gas before so anything is appreciated! When you get gas at a marina it can sometimes cost close to $5/gal. No matter if you ride or watch I think 20 bucks is well worth a full day of entertainment and fun.

Twelker hit it on the head. A set for some is much different than what it is for others. My sets aren't very long but i'm the boat owner so it doesn't really matter while others can ride for a substatial amount of time. Another question might be what do you think burns more gas someone riding for 30 mins but is constantly falling or someone who rides for 20 minutes straight without a fall?

I guess what i'm trying to say is it comes down to how much time was actually spent out behind the boat and not necessarily how many sets.

I usually ride two fairly long sets and throw in a $40. Most people feel that's reasonable, but I still feel guilty as I don't contribute a boat into rotation at this time. $20/set is a great deal considering what it costs to own and run a boat, both in money and in the PITA factor.

@ldr: Indeed, constantly falling would consume more gas.

Here's a question for the panel: how much more gas does power turning burn?