If you don't have an hourmeter on your dash..................and I presume you don't because this question wouldn't have been asked, then you might have one in the engine compartment.
The easiest way to verify it would be to contact your VIP dealer, or the factory itself. Ask if an hourmeter was available on your vintage/model boat, if so, was it standard equipment or optional, and where would it be found on your vessel.
Worst case scenario would be that you don't have one. Then, you can try and guess by the type and frequency of boating that you do. Do you boat every Saturday and/or Sunday? Every weekend all summer long or a couple of times per month? When do get your boat wet in the spring and how late in the fall do you put it up for the off season? How many hours per boating day do you think you are on the water?
With the above as a guideline, you can estimate the hours with simple math based on the numbers you plug in.
One word of advice...................I have had two boats with hourmeters. The first was in the engine compartment, mounted in such a way that it couldn't be read without a mirror. The second boat had it in the dash, as part of the speedometer. That was great because I could keep an eye on it.
I soon learned.....and this is an important factor when doing the above math..............that what we think we are running for time is actually much less. An 8 hour day on the lake will usually net only 3 or 4 hours actual engine time if we stop to anchor or stop to shop. If your boat doesn't have a head or a galley, you will spend some time for potty/food/drink breaks. This might be the case more than once a day. If you trailer your boat, there is get it wet/get it dry time to allow. You might make a fuel stop. At the end of the day, you may think you have pounded down the hours, but the hourmeter will usually surprise you. At least, that has been my experience and I have logged over 1200 engine hours on my two boats, but it took almost 12 years of boating every weekend from ice out to early November to get to that number.
I have heard that the average use of a boat is about 100 hours a season. My experience is pretty close to that. Sorry for the lengthy reply. I just got out of control
