Okay; Let's start some action here...

[hank]

Hey Gang,
Since we have a new North American edition of RIBNet I figured I'd better check in.
We live and work in British Columbia.
During the early spring we do Heliskiing from the big boat we land the heli on the back deck and take the guests off to top of the mountains.
sea level to 4,000+ feet in a few minutes.
Then during the summer the big boat is used as a salmon fishing camp.
9 guests every 5 days. Big tyee( 30+lbs. Chinook) and coho and halibut.
some of the best fishing on the BC coast.
We have used the big boat for a few different movies extreme heliskiing and last Nov. we had the IMAX 3-D crew on board for a month filming
Underwater 3D very interesting movie when seen on the huge IMAX screen.
A thrill being part of that one.

Our RIB is 28ft. with twin Yamaha 150hp 4cycles does 42knots with just me on board and will carry 8 people and a lot of gear.
It is a real blast running it.
happy trails
hank

[Rogan]

wow, don't you guys live the life. Heli landing on the back of your boat, a 9m Polaris, and Imax filming! How do you get into that line of work?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by hank

Our RIB is 28ft. with twin Yamaha 150hp 4cycles does 42knots with just me on board and will carry 8 people and a lot of gear.

Is that with the IMAX camera, or not. That thing, as I recall, is about hte size of a Volkswagen Beetle...

jky

[hank]

Some time you got to be careful about wishing for things.
Just after I got my limited masters ticket I was talking with a friend saying that now all I need is someone with a yacht that wants me to run it. A couple months later my buddy told a friend of his about my wish then next thing I know I'm running a 110ft steel boat with a ROV-RIB-HELI for toys.
It has been a blast so far.

here are a couple pictures
1st one I'm lowering the IMAX camera into the water for another shoot
2nd me next to the camera filming crabs on a anemone covered rock

best wishes
hank

[Biggles]

Lovely fish. Is that an average one or larger than normal, hank ?

make the most of it the British Press are now telling us that in 40 years we won't have any fish at all. Rumour has it, good old Tony and Gordon are thinking about taxing us when we go fishing now.

[hank]

That Tyee was 52 lbs. the largest I saw was 60lbs.
most average 25lbs. and range from 12lbs. to 99lbs.
great fun hauling one in a few hours of serious work

[Biggles]

Hank,

Do you eat it ?

[Alan]

Well I can't compete with Hank's lifestyle but I guess I should sign in as a North American ex-ribster if not current ribster. I'm Alan, originally from UK, moved to Newfoundland Canada in 04. Back in UK I've had ribs for 7 years or so and was a fairly early member of rib.net having met JK at the London Boatshow back in ohh 99 I think it was. Had lots of fun in a shared ownership BWM DS21 (that's the yellow one) and then my own Scorpion 7.5m. I've also circumnavigated UK with Brian (Ribnet member) on his Scorp 9.5m Cyanide and done a bunch of cruising with BIBOA.

Now sadly ribless in Newfoundland but do get afloat doing a fair amount of sailing over the summer. My missus (the Crazy Canadian) doesn't think we should buy a rib as I screwed my back up some years ago. However whilst driving by our local Mercury dealer this week where they had a big orange RIB for sale she was heard to say "Well, it would be kinda fun to have a RIB here!' So theres hope yet!

Alan

[Stoo]

...can I be your new best friend???

Is that the same boat that MSP filmed their ski movie on a couple of years ago? It looks familiar. I've noticed a couple of boats running ads in Powder mostly... looks like a great way to go!

Have you crossed paths with John deBoeck out there? He owns (what's left of) the M.V. Clavella and is an old buddy of mine. He runs a little diving lodge at Browning Pass near Port Hardy. I was planning on coming out there last month with a friend from Victoria, but we couldn't get our schedules straight.

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Probably just you and the coasties roaming about North Huron these days.

Yup, that's about it, 'cept I ain't seen the Coasties in a couple of weeks! I was in Huntsville yesterday on business and just dodged 12" of snow that arrived last night. Apparently it's still coming down, with roads closed, 100+ car accidents...

It just might be just about time to start wrapping the boat up and waxing the boards...!

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by pathalla

We use her for cruising, swimming, socializing, diving and just generally lazing about.

Hey Pat... my better half and I keep talking about buzzing over to Pelee Island some time. Perhaps we could meet for a glass of wine!

Anytime I have been in Lake Erie, we have been diving off Long Point. There's some terrific wrecks there in the 160'-185' range. Do you venture that far east?

[hank]

Howdy Stoo,
Ya Matchstick did 2 different skiing movies with us -
one Red Bull extreme group.


As for eating the fish yes just as much as I can

The fish that the guest catch we clean and then flash freeze them
there is a cannery that will take the fish and process it- smoked or canned
or made into Indian Candy(fish jerky)
or they can take it home and flash up the BBQ and have a party.

[DeCourcy]

Mike here, bought my 2002 18' Nautica in July of this year. It was the tender to a 130' megayacht. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but will get it in the water in the spring.

I live in Menlo Park, CA, about a 1/2 hour south of San Francisco, next to Stanford. However, I bought the RIB for a house I own in the Southern Gulf Islands across from Vancouver, Canada. We're adjacent to Pirates Cove on DeCourcy Island, (popular anchorage for Vancouver, and Victoria crowds). If you ever cruise the area, we'll see you between DeCourcy, Nanaimo, Chemainus, Ladysmith, Gabriola, and Vancouver in the Summers mostly.

Link to DeCourcy:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1...2,0.003675&t=k
my dock is across from the seaplane. We're 18 miles south west of Vancouver.

I found the boat on the internet, used, in Long Beach, CA. I flew down to check it out, and liked it enough to buy it. I found a great shop to survey it, and repair things that needed attention (Tradewind Marine, which also sells new RIBS - www.twimarine.com). After some minor repairs (tube patches, cosmetic repair of nicks in glass, electrical), I found a transporter to haul it to Seattle, and then I flew up to Seattle to rent a truck and get it across the border.

My wife and myself would have loved to use it in SF Bay for a year before moving it north, but when it came down to paying additional CA tax, and cost for a temp towing vehicle, we decided to just get it to Canada and use it there.

We'll be using the boat mostly for supply runs (groceries, etc...), and some runs to pubs/restaurants, and cruising.

I learned a lot importing the thing to Canada from the states, so if anyone needs to go through that process - give me a buzz.

-M

[pathalla]

Originally Posted by Stoo

Hey Pat... my better half and I keep talking about buzzing over to Pelee Island some time. Perhaps we could meet for a glass of wine!

Anytime I have been in Lake Erie, we have been diving off Long Point. There's some terrific wrecks there in the 160'-185' range. Do you venture that far east?

Let me know if and when you head to Pelee, A friend of mine owns a place called the Anchor and wheel inn over there, decent place to eat or have a drink. I could meet you at Pelee at the north dock (Scudder) or even meet in Leamington if you didn't want to venture so far. I haven't really dove or travelled much on the Canadian side lately due to life's duties, hopefully that will change...

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by DeCourcy

I live in Menlo Park, CA, about a 1/2 hour south of San Francisco, next to Stanford.

Hey! A local guy!

I'm over in Oakland, but do most of my boating in Monterey (better diving; or rather, there *is* diving there.)

Nice to meet you, and congrats on the boat.

john (jky)

[smokie]

If and when I get a rib, perhaps I can talk you into making a trip from Vancouver to Prince Rupert or Ketchikan. Have spent months planning (and dreaming). I'll even invite our freinds across the pond.

[columbiachop]

hello. i haven't posted here in a long time and thought i'd say hi. i'm from portland OR, but keep my boats up at my families house on the columbia river near astoria.

i bought a project rib that turned out to be waaay more of a project than i thought. i had no idea retubing would cost me over 5k! so, my 7yr old son and i have been using my C5 commando to explore the beaches and coves with. i like it but man it's bumpy!

we often play on and around the mouth of the columbia river. it's notoriously dangerous so i really prefer using ribs/sibs.

here's a picture of my first mate taking us out and a couple of our cruising grounds

andy

[Across the Pond]

Just getting my 15' AB RIB ready. Here's a shot from the dealer's shop.

Plan to use the boat from cruising, fishing, and pulling a wake board from time to time. Located in SW Florida not 20 minutes to great access to Tampa Bay and the Gulf. Like the concept of a lightweight (aluminum hull) boat for trailering and launching. Any ideas on the best prop? Have a 11 x 14 now that pushes about 32 mph with slippage.
-Paul

[sunrider]

Hi Smokie,
sounds like a great trip you're planning. You're probably already aware of it, but just in case you're not.....Kevin Goulding made the passage from Vancouver to Glacier Bay Alaska in a RIB and I'm sure would be willing to share all the details of his voyage. You can find the story at his HotRIBS web site - here's the link: http://www.hotribs.com/02articles/00...lacierbay1.asp. best of luck.....
bryan

[prairie tuber]

Columbiachop,

That sure is a nice part of the continent. I drove from Vancouver to Phoenix primarily along US 101 a couple of years ago, and loved the Oregon portion. Stopped at Seaside overnight and had probably the best seafood meal I've ever had. I like the setup of that C5, no doubt it's easier to beach and relaunch from than a RIB.