If it were me, I wouldn't invite him at all, if the 2 of you do nothing else but this - its no friendship. So why waste your time, energy and resources to entertain someone who doesn't reciprocate? Seems like a no brainer to me.

The financial situation of the friend needs to be weighed in....IMO
I have some friends that $10 would be real iffy.
I also have friends that routinely drop hundreds for daily entertainment.

A bunch of us in the dorm got together when we moved out into apt's the next semester. One of the guys was able to bring his folks tri-hull down since he had a parking place for it. We'd ski in Mission Bay on the weekends. Everyone was given the rules before hand. Wash the trailer after putting the boat in the water, wash the boat and trailer after taking it out of the water and we all split the gas bill. We had some pretty good times, even in February when it was pretty cold out there. Wet suits were the norm on those days. Some where my wife has a picture of me in a wet suit taken on one of those weekends.

this

Yep, I'm with the rest on these guys. If he were a landlubber he could get a pass a few times. But you say he's had a boat? He knows the etiquette. At the very least he pays half but should buy all the fuel if just you two.

Around here boat owner pays nothing for the trip. Fuel, food, bait, tackle etc. is on the guests. Owner pay boat, dockage, insurance, maintenance.

Thanks guys, I didn’t think I was out of line. And he can well afford it, I think he’s just oblivious to it.

I’m not going to ask him again, we don’t do anything together. We are members of the same country club, but don’t golf in the same group. We have been out to eat a couple of times, and ive flown them down to key west a couple of times. It’s our wife’s who are friends.

I own a sailboat and I once asked a buddy to chip in a couple of bucks for diesel which he gladly did.

On the other hand, I also have a friend who lived on his Searay 42 aft cabin motor yacht. When I took my wife and daughters for an overnighter from Savannah to Hilton Head on his boat, when he reached Hilton Head and gassed up I gladly forked over the $150.00 to top up the tank. This to me was much cheaper then chartering and he greatly appreciated the gesture. Chipping in for gas if the boat is not yours is a NO BRAINER!

I would NOT pay to go offshore fishin'!

But I'll pay to get back :D

$200 is a sweetheart deal.... and he ain't that.

Done deal.

Even if he knew better, it doesn't sound like you'd want to spend time with him, anyway. Life's too short to feel taken advantage of by somebody. It bothers you- that's all that matters. For all you know, he may only be going along because his wife wants him to.

Invite me instead. I'll spring for the $12 guaranteed to hit bait and toss in $5 of spicy beef sticks:D

Last time I checked, it is customary for guest(s) to always offer for fuel or other at the very least for such trips, PLUS, help out with any chores once done for the day.

My best guess, this frenemy of yours is so damn cheap he likely goes to the laundromat to collect dryer lint to make thread from which he can make his undies.

Boating and chipping in for gas
 

I’ll start by saying I’m not a boat owner so I always offer to pay for gas and if it’s refused, there will be cash left in the owners truck or jacket. Lunch or dinner, I don’t take no for an answer. Instead I take the lead on it so there is no quarrel.

Absolutely helping cleaning or putting away the boat is a must. Heck, I was invited out by a vendor and did it just for the fun.

With that said, I wouldn’t demand cash of him upfront only because if **** goes sideways, it could be argued that you were operating as a charter.

Instead, I’d just stop inviting the guy.

I got invited to the Giants game on Father’s Day. It’s a 280 mile round trip. The guy that drove pulled up in his Massarti. $60 bucks to park. I pulled out $20 as there were three of us and he wouldnt take it. So, I bought three beers and three dogs for the group. $74. When we got home I offered to pay the gas but he wouldn’t take my money. At least I offered. Pretty generous guy is all I can say.

It's a matter of manners and respect. You are completely in the right and you owe him exactly zero in the way of an explanation, just cease inviting him. He is not a friend, as you pointed out.

My second-oldest friend, (since 1965), gave me a ride 50 miles away to check out a car. He was low and had to stop for gas, I filled his tank. Not even a second thought...what would an Uber have cost, both ways? :cool:

Sometimes it pays to be an insensitive borderline asberger's dick.
This kind of thing doesn't happen to me.
I say hey, you wanna go boating? All ya gotta do is show up and pay $$$$ for gas and help clean the boat etc.

he says OK, or no. Either way there's no problemo.

Or ...
hey where the heck do you think you're going, we still need to clean the boat and gas it up. Don't think you're getting off that easy ...


Being a nice guy seems like way too much work and $$$$

I wouldn’t care about the gas, but helping cleaning the boat would seem to be the minimum. Next time if there is a next time, just ask him politely once you get back if he would lend a hand cleaning the boat; that would answer the question of if you ever bring him along again.

I would pay for all the gas whether it was my boat or not. That's just me.

The other me says, lift one of your two outboards out of the water and head to the marina (for fuel) with just the one. Surely he would ask why. Then tell him you can only afford to run one, things are tight.

I never ask my guests to pay for fuel when I take them out. Its not that big of a deal to me. On the other hand most of my friends always chip in. Especially if we go on an offshore trip. They know how much it costs. Just hanging local on the bay, I wont even take money for fuel. I'll refuse it. If I go out on a friends boat I immediately toss them $$ for fuel. No questions asked.

.

I am the same way and agree with ya. I don't expect anything out of him if I invited him.

I have only been invited once to go fishing on someone's boat. I am so dumb that I never thought about the cost of fuel but I did offer to buy everyone dinner at a nice place but they all had to haul ass home so no dinner.

Common courtesy and class is not so common...I’d never take him again...Cheapskate!
Tim

He's not your sort of person. Don't invite him.

If he made some sort of effort like a fabulous lunch with drinks. Or Look's idea of dinner would be nice.