Gas Prices and Boat Etiquette

Not looking forward to gas being more then $5.00 per gallon on the lake. Not to mention that the current state of the Economy is making money a little tight anyway. For the most part everyone that rides with me is very generous. I imagine that the issues around 'contributing' are going to be even more difficult this summer. I find that it always interesting to see the look on everyones face when I fill up the boat at the gas dock prior to heading out and the Pump reads in the neighborhood of $150.00. Usually this 'reminds' everyone that the boat does not run on smiles. Any other suggestions....

and as a side tangent, what is an appropriate amount of $$$ to contribute (understanding that it varies with amount of time on the water and # of people)?..what I want to hear right now is,"5 or less pulls = $20".

Tell everyone to bring a 5 gallon jug of gas or they dont ride. Or find out out how much gas is used during an average pull and gives prices based upon that and make adjustments based upon inflation and rising gas prices.

recently I have been paying $20 for one set, $30 for two sets.

Everyone that went out last Sunday did the same, and the boat owner was happy.

If I am not riding with my normal crew I will gas up on the way to wash the boat after riding and split whatever we use by the number of people that rode.

usually works out to about 20 bucks a person for an afternoon.

Al- thats about where I'm at too.



(Message edited by parkgirl on April 22, 2008)

yo drea! we are houseboating out of paradise point this weekend...you and scott are welcome to come ride. email me and ill give you my cell #.

I would say for one set it goes like
$10 + beer/they are a really good friend or pretty girl

$15 - Acceptable but cutting it close
$20 - Perfect

anything more, I use to feel guilty taking it but not anymore.

$20 for one and $30 for two pulls sounds reasonable.

I will accept a bit more and pay a bit more because owning a boat is more than just filling it up. I don't tow that far to ride but some others do and I take that into consideration when paying. That said, a few of us have boats and share the load so we don't typically pay. We re-pay for the last ride we took on someone else's boat.

Should owners pay each time even if they provide the pull the next week?

Dave...I agree, I usually pay a bit more when I am out on someone else's boat because I do know what it cost. But, at the same time if I invite someone up I don't want to have to high of expectations.

I think owners should just throw in the cash like everyone else. Keeps it cleaner and keeps people from keeping score.

Gas just went up another 10 cents today (So. Indiana). Still not at $4. I think we're floating at $3.59.

^^^$3.59? We're at $3.80 and you have to battle others to pay that. There is a long line at that pump.

I feel your pain. $3.59 is the only price I've seen today. I haven't been out of the office too much. There is a little farm machinery place that normally sells it at 10 cents below the rest.

$20 for one set and $30 for two sounds about right to me. You should also consider bringing along drinks for the boat and snacks as well. I like Pacifico, red vines, Doritos, and frosted animal cookies if you ever ride with me.

shiat id be hella happy at 3.59 our gas in cali is 3.81

3.99 for 91 octane here in sac.

I always throw at least 20 and usually beer

Get some buddies together and buy a winch or build one. It costs us like $5 to run that thing the whole weekend on a 8hp motor. At that point just give me a beer and well pull your ass.

Unless you are training for a marathon or falling every 200 yards, whatever the cost for 5gals will get you 2 sets behind my boat. $20/set sounds high to me, but I'm used to getting about 5gals/hr with 1500lbs + passengers.

Swapping rides is cool between owners. Wish my neighbor didn't sell his boat.

I paid $20 dollars for a short set a couple weeks ago. Like others have said when you add the hours to the boat and cleaning it is a small price to pay. I also had him run halfway down the lake to pick me up at my dock.

Thanks again Jon

I will say one thing. If someone throws 20 down and you let them ride one small 5 min set thats just shady. It's happened to me once ever and I was pretty pissed.

On my cousins boat i usually throw down between $10 to $20 but i fill his boat up periodically.

(Message edited by goride on April 22, 2008)

when i am filling up my boat everyone throws in $20 and whatevers left is used to buy alcohol. i dont think much will be left over once filling up the boat this summer

Last summer I put a 550 gallon fuel tank at my place. I spent $3000 in gas. I saved all the cash that people gave me when we rode. At the end of the year I had $800. Granted I did spend time pulling my kids and they are to young to have any money; but I think things are going to have to change this summer. $2200 is more of a hit than I can take this year. I am going to find out how much gas I burn every time the boat goes in the water. I think it will be about $20.00 for a 30 to 40 minute set. If you want a second set you better have more money. I hate to be hardcore about it, but I think some people have no idea what it cost to own a boat.

If you paid $3K then that means you paid $5.45 a gallon?

Maybe he had the tank refilled.

Unless a person owns a boat or used to own a boat they have no idea how much its costs. My friends bitch all the time about giving me gas money and I remind them they didnt pay for my stereo, the tower, the ballast, engine parts, or getting the boat winterized as well as all the other crap. Its expensive, but its worth it.

Amen, keeping the boat in running order isn't cheap either

a few months ago our impeller went to sh*t between sets and no one wanted to end the day, and it was only like 4:00 so the nautique dealer was still open....any other day I would have just gone to ebay and paid like $6...but no it was $60 just because of the timing.

isn't a ton, but it adds up and randoms don't often think about that stuff.

there are so many people I want to send a link of this thread to.

Al

Rhymes with gripes?

It is amazing how much everyone takes it for granted the cost of boat ownership. Mostly, I keep my stuff because I like having it and I like enjoying the lake with my son an our friends. But, it is nice when people appreciate what it takes(Luke, Michelle and Kami...you guys are great). I keep my houseboat and my SAN at Berryessa year round. Houseboat slip $350.00 per month, Covered slip for Wakeboat $180.00 per month. Gas, oil, boatlift, insurance, etc. all add up. It really all works out pretty well. It is just the occasional person who shows up with a bag of chips, stays the whole weekend, rides a couple sets a day, raids the cooler and the frig and then slips me a twenty...that drives me crazy.

Heres a solution: Add a fare meter and a credit card reader to your boat.

Perfect Gary

Yes I put gas in the tank two times. I payed about $2.80 per gallon. I got it from a local CO-OP.

I like the taxi meter idea!
New t=shirt on Moomba website:
"My boat runs on Gas not thanks!" HA
much like one of the Moomba message board posters (Pike i think) has his signature set at:
Contrary to popular belief, my boat does not run on thank yous."

Just got this forwarded email...

THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.30 PER GALLON.

This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. If you are tired of the gas prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read this please.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!
It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!

I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?

We need to take some intelligent, united action.
The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas .

It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can Reall y work. Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $2.00 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.49 for regular unleaded in my town, Seattle.

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action.

The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit
someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.

But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL.

If they are not selling any gas, t hey will be inclined to reduce their prices. If
they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION
PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am . so trust me on this one.

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you!
Acting together we can make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.


Keep it going

i have a cabin on a lake and that is the only place i wakeboard. i had a friend who came out a few years ago and he would literally come out for the weekend with a mountain dew, a can of chili and a bag of funyuns and ride occasionally and never pitch in for the food he ate or the beer he drank or the gas he used. i told him it was a problem, he didnt change, so he hasnt been out since.

i know it was my choice to buy a boat and i have never regretted it, but do any of you ever feel that you shouldnt even pay for gas? that should be up to the other people in the boat since the owner pays for everything else which is 5x as much in the end. just a thought, but i will always pay for gag because i ride more than everyone else, only becuase they get tired

(Message edited by nwwakerider on April 22, 2008)

Good question Erik, I agree with you mostly, if its the regular crew riding with you. Family or friends from out of town would be exempt. If you guys are riding alot and racking up hours its time for them to step up or out.

I feel you guys. I filled the X Star the other day, to the tune of 186 bucks.

I just can't afford to invite people out much anymore. People not paying will always be a problem and asking is a total pain, so I am just forced to stick with my family for the most part. A day of wakeboarding USED to be cheaper than a day of snowboarding but the situation has reversed.

I live in the southwest part of Virginia on the VA/TN line.I feel the pain as does everyone else that owns a boat. Then when you tack on the 4.09 a gallon (right now for how long it stays there I don't know) for diesel to pull the boat to the lake and then 3.47 for gas at the pump. I never pay for any food or drinks and usually I bring the ones with me that don't ride except for the lil brother that way I cant b**** at anyone for not chipping in for gas cause i'm the only one that that rides. Invite the women and not only are you a stud in the eyes of all ya buddies that don't have a boat load of women but you save a TON of money in fuel cuz all they wanta do is sit and tan.

I laugh every time I read that email.

Erik,

I agree with that and thats how it works on my boat if you dont like how it works GO BUY YOUR OWN $60,000 boat. You feel me

Ya that email sounds interesting, except the alternative gas companies probably wouldn't have enough supply for all the people boycotting. Everyone would end up buying from the big 2 again.

It is very disheartening. Our economy is poor, our dollar is inflated, and gas prices are crazy.
This is why I predict more and more cables will be built throughout the States. As the price of gas rises, cable riding will become much more economical for people....I honestly would not be able to afford to wakeboard as much as I do if I didn't live near a cable park.

A few people I know are also looking into KiteBoarding as an option.. I haven't got there yet, but may consider trying it out in the future.

make sure people know if they are going to ride, they need to pay

divide how much gas you buy by how many people there are,
and walla

it should be that easy

the only problem with the cables is they run off generators which run off of gas, so the price to ride the cable will increase as well.

Actually Jason, I believe you've been misinformed. All cables run from an electric motor which is usually powered by power lines. In rare instances where power lines are not available (like third world countries), cables run off generators. Most cables are powered the same way most houses receive energy- via power lines. Soooo.... ultimately I do not believe rising gas prices will affect cable prices...at least not here in the states.

Louise...the increasing cost of oil has a direct affect on energy costs. Check the last few months of your gas and electric bills for your house. You will probably see electricity is going up...along with your gas prices. Electricity is made many ways (hydro, nuclear, coal, re-newable, natural gas, etc.), but as oil goes up...so does electricity.

A cable system is very energy efficient to operate. it takes 10 Kw an hour for a cable to run. A Household dryer takes 5 KW an hour so it is not that bad at all. Build more Nuke plants ban coal fired plants and global warming would go away. Coal fired power plants emit 40% of total U.S. carbon dioxide pollution

Yeah, I'm pretty sure overall, cable systems are not getting hit as hard in regards to gas and oil prices. The Texas Ski Ranch's membership prices have stayed the same over the past two years (since I've been riding there) despite rising oil costs (knock on wood!). However, the point is, with the state of our economy and the inflated dollar, everything is generally getting more expensive.

I wonder, is this why there are tons of cable parks in Europe? Germany has 50 something cable parks! I hear gas is much more expensive over there. Hmmmm....or perhaps there just aren't as many lakes to take the boat into? I really don't know. Interesting though.

europe also has a ton of nuke plants for electricity. costs of enery (and every thing else) will go up as oil goes up. so much stuff is made from oil byproducts. boats (fiberglass and plastic) boards (foam and plastic) clothes(synthetics), food (gas for the tractors)...the list goes on and on.

in a few years our sport..in the USA...will be done more and more on cables...imagine a cable operated by PV...

If I had a local cable park I would sell my boat in a second!

I have a great crew here, they always offer and do fill the boat. I can't charge them per ride, we all just take turns filling up. When guys come out with me and they don't help out, they don't come out again. Beer is always brought out by everyone and left on the boat. I love the summer!

ya i brought my boat out here to arizona and people screwed me on gas a few times to the point where i had put my card down to fill up the boat...then when i asked for money everyone had an excuse so i ended up putting it on my card. Next thing you know my card is maxed for the month so i couldnt eat or anything here at school....so then i decided to turn to only inviting serious wakeboard ppl out who want to ride. Then you run into the problem that you have to drive at least an hour to the lake, fill up gas and weight, and somehow allow everyone to ride in that time. Seems like to fill the boat up you have to have too many riders and only get in one set....

We need to go to war and take over a middle eastern country or the closest thing to wakeboarding will be a riding a skateboard in the rain. Hopefully I can keep the scavanagers away from my cooler because it will have to sit on a curb while I ride.

I feel for the guys who have to pull to a lake. I've got a 5 minute commute from the house to the lake and believe me that Tahoe gets crap for mileage with a 22SSV behind it. Most guys are pretty good about $10-20 but it never covers your cost. I guess I'm somewhat content knowing that they are chipping in.

Owning a boat is probably the worst investment on the market, esp in MN, but I'd never be w/ out one!

my old xstar with mcx, factory ballast of 800 lbs. and power prop used about 2.5 gallons per 20 minute ride. as best i can tell(only have 12 hours on the new boat) my new xstar with L18 and no ballast yet (due to break-in period) uses 3.5 gallons per ride. i shudder to think what it will use when i fill the factory ballast plus the additional 2500 lbs from the fly high. what was i thinking? i must have been stupid to trade knowing gas prices were sky-rocketing. oh well, i am stuck there now. nothing left to do but go riding (when the flood receeds) and enjoy myself. i am sure we will enjoy it but i suspect our fuel bill with the larger engine, four times more ballast and the doubling in price of fuel will be a major hit. we may have to borrow our friends pwc and ride behind it some on short outings.

The guys I ride with are OK. I get some money here and there but most of the time we eat out after we ride so he covers that. Food is usually 8 or so and I figured our rides end up in the 5-7 bux per set and guaranteed we ride 2 sets a night not including the truck gas to pull the 20 miles each way. It is nice to have the help, everyone with a boat here knows it aint cheap. I dont have a job right now and am waiting on a few things. unemployment and my wife are keeping me floating right now so the help is crucial or we wont be going soon. I have a toy car I havent put insurance on yet because I would rather ride than drive my car. Both are expensive but at this time, i need to make a choice.

A boat is not an investment, it's an expense. If you bought a boat planning to come anywhere near breaking even you have some issues.

I always chip in gas or cash to be courteous and because I want to be invited out again.

I don't have a boat, but I can't even afford to go out a few times a week pitching in 20 a pop

I will probably be more likely to ask for some compensation this year. Unless I am taking out family. Our crew is really good about bringing gas cans and now that we have two boats, the other boat owner and I will probably switch out rides. I have also had crew members that have cut grass at the cabin or help out on projects that has served as "gas money" also.

I never asked to break even, I know better than that. Some people are just leaches. With gas prices like they are and are going to be, it is either all help out or nobody goes including myself. I cant afford to cover people all the time while I am waiting to get a job myself.

Steve, than you just don't go out a few times a week or you are literally asking someone to pay for you to go.

Midwest, that's what I meant, that I won't be going out that much

It's at $4.00-$4.05 for premium in Seattle already

4.18 for regular in Maui