It may be he wants to do it as he enjoys being on the river and meeting people, has it actually been said anywhere he needs to provide an income for himself, if its only a case of helping to cover costs then isnt that what charity is for, how many people donate to other organisations "charities" with operating costs!
I take it none of you heard about the crowdfunding page for those hideous parents raising ferrel children who felt they didnt need to educate them and expected "crowd funding" to cover the cost of them buying/moving to an island and living naturally............thats what I would call misuse.