HELP!!! Houseboat Planning Excel File

I had seen on here at one point that someone had put together a excel file to assist in buying supplies for a houseboat trip. Does anyone know where I can get this file?

Ryan,

Here is a spreadsheet I made up a couple years ago. There are crazy formulas everywhere in the thing to compute beer comsumption,money owed, etc. Its pretty comical in some spots. I sent one to you via email as well as I have never uploaded anything other than pics. Drop me a note if you have any questions.

Upload houseboat_1.xls (83.5 k)

Houseboat trips are sweet but make sure to bring extra money b/c gas is a doozy. If your going to have waverunners or jetskis bring tons of oil too. I am planning one to dale hollow lake for next summer and am having all people coming pay me in 3 payment so its paid for a few month ahead of time. Last year we had people cack out at the last minute and we ended up paying alot more than expected, but it was sooooo worth it. Bring a lot of beer if that what you drink and stay away from kegs b/c youll end up spending a ton of money on Ice. The hummidity practically melts it before you get back to the boat. If you need some more tips let me know if I can help. What lake are you planning on going to??

Wow….high tech.

We get everyone together and develop a menu. Shop for food, snacks and regular drinks(soda, juice & water)…..then split that cost up with whoever is going.

Alcohol is always on your own as it seems more fair that way. Bring what beer plan on drinking + 25%....always better to go home with some than to run out. We also tend to grab the makings for a cocktail or 2 each….then that is generally shared. Meaning that if I decide I am making bloody mary’s in the morning, I usually just plan on making for everyone(everyone wont have them, but you get the idea).

With my alcohol intake, wish I could split it with everyone…..

Boat cost is not split even either…. Best rooms pay more….people sleeping on pullout couches pay less…..people staying on top pay even less. We always figure in about $30-50 extra a person for houseboat gas cost….. Paying for tow boats is whatever I(we) get…. Usually just leave a jar inside the houseboat and people can donate what they want.

Our process was the boat was paid for early....non-refundable. Our crew understood you're either in or out. That really helped to weed out the flakes and avoid "something coming up at the last minute". If someboday bailed, it was in their best interest to help recruit a replacement. The upfront payments were done in installments and the last payment included money for the group "costco run".

Upfront food (not dinner)/drink costs were split evenly amongst the crew (costco run). Teams were assigned a dinner. That team was responsible for planning (themes were encouraged), buying (paying for) the food for all, cooking, cleaning, and making damn sure the cocktail glasses were full for those being serverd. It was ok to do that for a night becasue you knew there would be a drink biotch serving you on the other nights.

We got our crew to understand the mandatory boarding pass for each individual: $100 cash (small bills), two cases of beer (minimum), and two shots (taken). The only choice given was the flavor of shots and beer. There was a designated boat treasurer that managed the cash. Ice, boat gas, and any other group purchase all came from the cash bucket. The remainder was split evenly on the dock after the return (money, food, and drink).

We had a crew that did an annual shasta trip (14 year run), and these rules worked out great for us.

My advice: Bring lots of Hot Chick's you can improvise for everything else.

Thanks for the file. We are going to Powell in Aug. I have done several houseboat trips but never done one for a whole week. Tried different ways of upfront costs and supply everything, or supply nothing, and combinations of beer etc. It always seemed to work out fine. The only thing that was every difficult was wakeboat gas because not everyone rides and some people ride more than others. I like the Money Jar idea, I may steal that one.

Thanks

I have planned a few houseboat trips and I think that I've developed a pretty good system. My family owns a houseboat on Don Pedro so we don't have to pay for that.

What I do first is find out how many people are going to come. Then I create a menu. I estimate how much money will be spent on ice, food and drinks. For gas, I figure a tank per day for each boat. Then I add 15% to the total cost that I have. I then divide this number by the amount of people coming and have them pay a month ahead of time.

I'm heading up on a 4 day trip this weekend with 13 friends and have budgeted $2000 for the trip. ($600 food and supplies, $400 beer, $150 ice, $850 gas) The way the charging is working for this trip is it costs everyone $50 to go plus $30 per day that you are there. With this charging schedule, I have received $2000.

If we end up using more than a tank per day, then everyone chips in evenly for the gas (this is understood ahead of time so everyone understands it).

This weekend, people who are staying for the whole time have already paid me their $170 and most likely won't have to worry about spending any more money. If there's left over money at the end we will buy something to donate to the houseboat for future trips (Board, Bindings, etc.).

(Message edited by papag on July 19, 2006)

Christ what I would give to have a 4 day trip on a houseboat for $170......including gas, food and drink That is a deal Nick!!!!

EDIT Also agree 100% that people should pay in full a month or 2 early. Then if they drop out, they fill the spot or lose the money. I hate flakes and this has ended the late "Oh, I just don't have the money right now" dropouts. That is not to say that they aren't strapped at that time, but it can put others in a bind when you add that to their cost.

(Message edited by Deuce on July 19, 2006)

EJ, most of us have just graduated college and are getting started on our own so its really nice that my folks are so generous with the use of the houseboat. We all feel really lucky to have the opportunity for such a great time without having to spend the thousands that we don't have!

jan - was i the only one that looked at your spreadsheet?

i am in the same predicament. i have never done the houseboat trip before but we have the boats paid for up front. now we are trying to decide how much per person for a 3 day trip...... food, beer, gas, ice. the kicker though is that we wont really be able to ride. i hear that the lake we are going to is so rough on holiday weekends, that its really just a party in the cove. so, its drive the 2 houseboats and park them. cruise around on the MC just a bit.

think $100/person should do?

Ryan. I put together a house boat trip every year for the past 3 years and we take between 2 and 4 houseboats full of people. We travel to Dale Hollow, TN from Louisville and I think our trips have been well organized and have never had a money issue or anything that has been unaccounted for.

We book our trip each year at the Louisville boat show and our deposit is required at the time of booking. The resort we choose requires a $800 per houseboat deposit and by now my crew knows that their deposit to me is due by the time of that booking or they're not going. I get a total of $300 per person, $150 as an upfront deposit and the rest is due 30 days before our trip. The $150 helps pay the booking deposit and then the rest goes into an envelope. The process is that everyones money is combined to pay for the HB rental, Gas for the HB, Wakeboard boats etc and Ice for each HB's coolers. We generally start a tab at the closest marina to our tie off location and purchase our wakeboard boat gas and ice there.

At the end of the trip once all rentals and tabs are settled we divide the left over money up by the amount of guests we had and return it. We have always had a little extra to give back, but it gives us padding incase we use more gas than estimated.

I've attached the spreadsheet I use so you can see if it helps you.

Nick DeWalt..are you in KY or TN? We love going to Dale Hollow and it's only a couple hour drive for awesome water.

Upload 06Houseboat_Trip.xls (37.4 k)