payment question

How much do you charge poeple to come along with you? Do you split the gas money up between everyone or do you have a set price? Do you charge people that just ride in the boat the same amount as people who go out behind the boat? Thanks for the input

People in the boat shouldn't have to pay, they're doing you a service by being ballast.

good point kristian

$10 per person is about right to pitch in for the gas or goodies. I wouldn't call it a "charge" though, my peeps are pretty good at just offering it up as a courtesy 'cause they understand the expenses involved with owning a boat and they know they wouldn't be on the water at all if it wasn't for me taking the brunt of it. As it's been said before "thank you doesn't pay for gas".

who ever pays the most rides the most...

Ummmm...In Cali we are looking at $30 per person. A heavily loaded boat sucks a lot of gas, and being close the refineries our prices are the highest around.

Boat ballast peeps should enjoy themselves, nothing more. How often does that happen where someone comes out and does not ride?

Our wakeboard club charged a membership, plus they timed your rides and charged per minute. It worked out to about 1 dollar per minute, and they hardly made any money (if they did at all).

30 bucks for a 30 minute set with a weighted boat, it was a pretty good deal.

every one we ride with knows 20 $$$$ no matter what even if you dont every one in are group is pretty good at that

Don't forget it cost a few bucks to get the boat to the lake in most cases too. I'd say at least 10 bucks a set.

We are usually around 10 bucks a set, but that changes with the gas prices of course. The only time I charge someone for just hanging out is if they are a pain and simply take up space. If they were a needed third I wouldnt charge. I only bring this up because one of our extra's last year (a fourth) had us drive back to the dock TWICE between riders sets to pick up a friend (which he had not mentioned before that day) and his gear which was supposed to be dropped off (and it didnt). In that case, he paid like he took a set and so did his friend since we killed about an hour sitting at the dock waiting on this guy.

I always offer money rather than ask. I wish I had enough skrilla to comp peoples pulls; but I dont see that happening anytime soon.

"How often does that happen where someone comes out and does not ride?'
Pretty often for us injured folk

I throw in $20, I grew up having a boat (obviously one I can't wakeboard behind) and I know what goes into owning and towing the boat. Plus, gas is up there these days!

Ok- question, I own my boat, my bud owns his but when we go out he always calls me to go ridin' with him on his. Mine is a Bayliner his a Centurion. I obviously am going on his at every given chance and I don't believe he would go out in mine. Should I pay for gas? I've seriously thought about it as for I don't want to be a dick, and I've thought about well what if it was my boat we always took out and I wouldn't care if he didn't pay as long as I was the one calling him to go? By the way he owns his own company(not that that really matters when it comes down to fairs fair between friends). We ride maybe a couple hours every to every other sat or sun??????

In anycase, if you ride you pitch in for gas. Or bring your own cans. Honestly I think you should offer up some gas money.

i think you should pay as much as you can afford. If you spent 100.00 a week giving it out as gas money, it would still be cheaper than owning a wakeboard boat. And also find out what they like to drink and bring it without being asked. just my .02 cents

I pitch in $10-20, depending how much money I have at the time. Sometimes I'll buy the boat owner lunch. Robert - as for your question, the guys I ride with who own boats don't charge each other, but they do more boat sharing than you and your friend seem to. It might be a nice gesture on your part to offer to fill up his boat every once in awhile. I don't think it's required, but you seem a little bothered by it, so maybe it would just be nice to do and then if he says no you'll know it doesn't matter to him that you don't pay!

Yup, I agree with Kylielogan.

Look, everyone knows this is a touchy subject. The fact of the matter is wakeboarding is expensive. The boat is ridiculously overpriced, the gas is a total sham, the equipment is even overpriced. But...we all love to do it. So, how do we get to a point where we don't have to think about the petty little stuff like gas money? Let's really think about this as a group, how can we get people to appreciate the costs associated with this sport? How do we get people to automatically pitch in for gas, to stick around to clean up, to not eat freakin cheese puffs on the boat!!!

We should create some sort of "How To" wakeboard hand-out that we can give to people that explains all this crap in a friendly way.

Thanks guys for the input. Most of the poeple i go with don't understand how much it costs to own and maintain a boat. nautyboy i like your way of a "How To" hand-out

Also we have to tow the boat 50-100 miles one way in order to get to a lake. That sucks up a lot of gas

This seems like it has always been a touchy subject. Gas money from guests is always nice when we go out, but I never expect it or ask for it. Even with the high gas prices, it seems like some don't think about the other costs that come with owning a boat (gas, launch fees, boat maintenance). We have some people that kick down for each pull. We also have quite a few new people ride with us who have never really been around boats. They usually offer up some money after they see someone else kick down. I don't think my wife or I have ever asked for money from anyone and I can't say if we ever would. I always offer to kick down when I go out with someone else. I even offer up a little bit if I'm just hanging out on the boat while recovering from knee surgery.

Robert - We ride in other people's boats, they ride in ours, we always give/get gas money. Whether you would want/take gas money from your buddy is up to you, and if you offer you buddy money and he doesn't take it, that's up to him. The least you can do is offer. If you're always using his boat... fork over the dough. Gas is expensive these days and no matter if he invited you or not, he can't afford to pay your way all the time. Think of it as dinner at a restaurant, if he invited you to dinner weekly, would you expect him to pay for your meal every time?

Having said that, there are times where we don't accept money from someone for one reason or another... but it was still nice that they offered.

I would like to point out that to rent a boat and driver in So Cal is $125.00 an hour. Of course you get instruction with that but the point remains. Its pretty simple math, most tournament boats have 50 gallon tanks, and gas is $3.59 a gallon ( for super). Then you have the expense of launch and rider fees at the lake. My crew usually kicks up $20 for half day sessions and $30 for all day.

Like Kim said...$20 bucks per day....if I can ever get it out of her.

As Kylie was saying earlier (She's part of our crew) there are a few of us that 'Ride Swap' so no need to fuss with money exchanging hands. Now this doesn't work in every situation including yours. You have a boat that is less desirable for a perfect wake so the two of you go out on his more than yours. And as everyone suggested, pay for gas! In our group we rotate boats. We may ride some boats more than others but it's not worth trying to nickel and dime each other for gas money in this situation. We all own wake boats so we keep it somewhat even.

As for price, definitely $20 for an afternoon/day or evening of riding. If it's a full day and the tank is empty empty empty then I can see maybe $30. But for the most part if you have 4-5 riders then $20 pretty much covers the gas for a few sets each. And on the subject of if passengers pay for gas, my rule is usually no. Only the riders pay for gas. Unless it's a day of partying and cruising then the burden gets spread amongst everyone on the boat. Eye candy that doesn't ride never pays!!

Yeah, Howard and company we all pitch in a $20 everytime regardless of how much you ride or what the conditions are. I really like it because no matter what everyone pulls their financial weight!

Joe

If people come on my boat then we just ride..no body pays for gas, if it's my boat and i want them to come ride then they don't pay!

Howie


hahhahahahha, I dont want to hear it ... When are we riding ??????

Last summer I ahd a crew that ralrey paid me anything for gas. They were in the early twenties. One day I was pumping gas in my boat (Pro V)65 gallon tank when the pump said 120 bucks I looked over at them all and said give me 20 bucks each right now. They all looked at me with blank stares but coffed up what they could. I put my foot down that day.

It depends on what happens during the day. For instance, if someone goes out with me and helps me pull my 5 & 7 yr olds, and they are good company, I wont accept anything. If they are obviously self-centered and want to hog sets, and if they dont offer, they dont get asked back. I'm a little different i guess, I never ask, but if they offer I decide what I'll take or not. What gets people on the "No-Invite" list the quickest is no respect for my boat and gear, and no help cleaning up the boat after the day is done. Some just want to get their sets in, or party on the boat, and leave, and those are the ones that I have the most problem with. I have a good crew now, we try to alternate boats every other time. It's funny the ones with boats are a lot more considerate with the offers and respect than the ones without,and it should be the opposite.....

I just don't worry about it. I spent a lot of money on the boat and spend a fair amount on maintenance so why would I get upset if someone does or doesn't pay me for something that's cheaper than milk? I do accept money if offered but it's not something I get upset about. I'm far more concerned with only having people out on the boat whose company I enjoy. I also make sure to surround myself with folks who are at least willing to learn a few things about boating so I don't have to do everything myself.

"It's funny the ones with boats are a lot more considerate with the offers and respect than the ones without,and it should be the opposite....."

While it would be nice, it really shouldn't be the opposite. Non-boat-owners have no frame of reference to know what is considerate and what is not. Many of them don't even know what kind of time and effort it takes to properly maintain a boat. They think you just cover it and put it in the garage right after use every time.

I don't charge people anything. I don't expect anyone to supplement my chosen form of recreation.

gee . . . on days when i'm feeling broke i wanna ride on matt's boat!! (now if i could only get to orlando!) :-) one other thing that kraig didn't mention is that the crew on his boat (or whatever boat we take out) all help clean the boat afterwards. IMO it's rude to take the pulls and then not help clean/scrub down the boat!

i dont have a boat and whenever my buddy goes out i always pitch in 20 for gas and atleast a case of the chosen beverage. and the thing ive seen most is people that dont pitch in for gas piss him off but what makes him most pissed is when they dont help clean out the boat or just leave as soon as the boat is out of the water

Someone should resurrect the "Don't Be That Guy" brochure from a few years back. Anyone know where that is in the archives? Swass?

I have a friend who taught me a great saying when it comes to boating ...

"Gas, Cash, or Ass ... Nobody rides for free."

my people give me between $10-20 and i'm more than fine with that. i'm not trying to make money on it but with gas being $3 a gallon i can't afford $50-100 everytime i wanna go ride. no on ever complains or questions it. it's just an unwritten rule. there even been times when i think people have given me too much and i try to give them some back but they wouldn't take it