Fuel burn depends a LOT on the size boat you get and which engine it has.... the amount of ballast you run.... which activities you do the most, etc. Also if surfing, the difference between listing the boat and using a suck-gate makes a difference since a suck-gate is creating resistance to crab the boat and on average you will be running the rpm's 400-500 higher using a suckgate vs listing. With newer boats, a Malibu with surfgate and wedge will burn more while surfing than a boat with tabs that deploy downward like Centurion or Supra. Since the overall AVERAGE is probably somewhere between 5-10 gallons per hour, if you used 7.5 GPH to create your budget you would likely be safe.
Another thing to consider is gas prices are low right now.... but could easily double in a year or 2 so that makes calculating a fuel budget harder. Another big cost difference is whether you will buy all your gas on the water at marina's....or if you will trailer and fill it up that way since that alone can be a difference of anywhere between $1.50-$2.50 per gallon. You also gotta figure in maintainance costs (which if using a dealer for everything can get expensive).... trailer or boat lift up-keep, insurance, buying boards, ropes, life jackets, etc.
Its not a cheap hobby anyway you go into it. For me its the best family bonding time ever and its also the way I decompress from work stress so I dont hardly think about the costs. For someone who is good at DIY maintainance, trailers the boat and has a place to store it at home, the cost can be half of someone with the same boat who has the dealer do all the work, gets fuel at marina's, pays for storage, etc
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