RIB Gathering, Marblehead, MA - Saturday 18 August 2007

RIBCRAFT · 07 August 2007, 20:30

RIBCRAFT is hosting a RIB Rendez-Vous for any interested RIB owners next Saturday, August 18th. We'll be meeting Saturday morning in Marblehead Harbor and then heading to George's Island in Boston Harbor for a picnic.

There's no need to own a RIBCRAFT, all you need to do is own a RIB and bring it along. It will just be fun to have a large gathering of RIBs descend on Boston Harbor.

Let us know if you're interested in showing off your RIB, joining in for a great day on the water and having a free lunch. mvelluto@ribcraftusa.com

learning to fly · 07 August 2007, 23:21

I was wondering when someone would put this together, I am very interested and see no reason why I wont be able to make it, by the way, whats for lunch???

RIBCRAFT · 08 August 2007, 14:50

Glad you're interested! Yes, it's taken a little while to find a date, but hopefully the weather in August will cooperate more than the last attempt in June.

dctucker · 08 August 2007, 21:59

Matthew, I noticed this on the blog a week or so ago, but just haven't had the chance to contact you. I'm glad you posted it here too. I've been a bit busy, getting into the home stretch of my wife's Paralympic campaign. One year from today is the Open Ceremonies of the Olympics. Only 56 days until the start of the Trials to see who goes

The real craziness commences on Monday the 20th when it's nearly back to back regattas & practice until the Trials.

Remarkably, it appears I'm free that weekend, and I'll be able to be there with my Searider. Where's the meeting point? Time?

wes · 09 August 2007, 20:12

I'm in too. Will call you early next week. Sounds like fun!

RIBCRAFT · 13 August 2007, 16:18

Dan and all - We'll be meeting at 10:00am at Tucker's Wharf in Marblehead. I'll post some more details later this week. Glad you'll be able to make it.

dctucker · 18 August 2007, 22:18

A good time. That was the hardest, fastest, longest I've run my rib. Got to meet Ribfan and MtStPiper, along with a bunch of Ribcraft folks. 10 boats altogether. Seeing 5 of us lined up side by side as we departed Marblehead made me think of "Apocolypse Now". It was cool

A bit rough and wet on the way down, 20-25 knots and 3-4 foot seas. A bit much for the 2 old boy! I had a great time on the way home after dropping off the wife and kids to take the bus home

Thanks to Ribcraft for organizing and providing the lunch! The 585 with the diesel I/O was pretty damned cool.

Biggles · 18 August 2007, 22:39

Sounds like you had a good day. Can't wait to see the pics

Quote:

Originally Posted by dctucker

The 585 with the diesel I/O was pretty damned cool.

Would love to see some pics of that

learning to fly · 18 August 2007, 22:42

Im sorry I missed the ride, I was a support boat for the boston light 8 mile swim. It was very rough even in between the islands> Spent 5 hours following a great guy from San Fransisco. I learned a very importain lesson, An avon searider is a very wet ride in chop when you are going only 1 mile an hour. Wind was blowing me everywhere and I am now covered in salt. Once I could get some speed though the boat handled great. We passed long Island, Specticle Island and thompsons Island> Did not see many ribs though. I was looking for a flotilla of them from marblehead................

DC tucker, I will work on getting together with you once you are in Newport for a quick ride, Ill contact you soon

MtStPipier · 18 August 2007, 22:45

dc and Ribfan,

Definitely agree! Great to see dc again and also meet Ribfan. Sorry I couldn't stay for the entire trip. That Searider is a missile! Very impressive how it cuts through the chop. I spent half the time in the air in my Rib

I'm hoping someone took photos. I had hoped to, but was hanging on for dear life trying to keep up with the bigger boats. What we really needed was a helicopter shot when we were all blasting down past Tinkers.

Hats of to Ribcraft for putting together a great trip.

dctucker · 21 August 2007, 05:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtStPipier

That Searider is a missile! Very impressive how it cuts through the chop. I spent half the time in the air in my Rib

I'm hoping someone took photos. I had hoped to, but was hanging on for dear life trying to keep up with the bigger boats. What we really needed was a helicopter shot when we were all blasting down past Tinkers.

That was one of the coolest parts of the trip, as we all throttled up past the Neck. On the return in that same area, the two Matthews in the 5.85s and I were really tearing it up, as the water smoothed out. I couldn't keep up with the 7.8 all the way back from Boston, but I sure was trying!

Hopefully Matthew V will post some photos on the Ribcraft site, or here. He was taking photos for a while, but not in the rough/wet stuff. Not good conditions for a nice camera without a waterproof housing!

Missile eh? You're kidding, right? You were literally running circles around us! I sort of thought everyone was keeping up with the bigger boats. If I had realized there were a couple of boats taking it easier, I would have throttled back even more for the wife and kid's sake. I never looked back to see who was behind, don't tell my wife! I don't know who was unhappy on the Mitagator to have it going so slow on the way down, that's the weather that boat was built for with those seats! On the way back, I noticed the beamier 5.85s seemed to be a bit more stable with the waves on the beam. I was also jealous of the taller jockey seats on the Ribcrafts. The Searider jockey is rather low to easily use the legs, the ride home was like doing squats for an hour!

The ride home was a lot more fun solo... I was well and truly airborne at least once, the engine pitch change dramatically as the prop cleared the water

I'm told there were 40 knot gusts recorded in Boston Harbor that day. I'm not sure I believe that...

dctucker · 21 August 2007, 06:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by learning to fly

Im sorry I missed the ride, I was a support boat for the boston light 8 mile swim. It was very rough even in between the islands> Spent 5 hours following a great guy from San Fransisco. I learned a very importain lesson, An avon searider is a very wet ride in chop when you are going only 1 mile an hour. Wind was blowing me everywhere and I am now covered in salt. Once I could get some speed though the boat handled great. We passed long Island, Specticle Island and thompsons Island> Did not see many ribs though. I was looking for a flotilla of them from marblehead................

DC tucker, I will work on getting together with you once you are in Newport for a quick ride, Ill contact you soon

There seemed to be more wind in the outer harbor than outside. And yes, Seariders are very wet at low speed. I spend a lot of time plodding along at 5-6 knots following sailboats upwind in all sorts of weather. I get far more wet than my wife does sailing!

I'm off to Newport in the morning. Contact me via email. We're practicing Saturday (US Team). Then the open clinic starts on Sunday. Maybe Friday?? Or an evening... we're usually done by ~4:00 PM.

MtStPipier · 21 August 2007, 10:25

The Searider seemed to sit lower and has a lower profile, so looked more like a missile. Good for stealthy insertions of Navy types? Maybe not as dry as the Ribcraft when you're taking your family out in 30+ knots

Good luck to you and the Admiral down in Newport!

RIBCRAFT · 22 August 2007, 18:09

It was a great day on the water! Good to see dc, mtstpiper and ribfan. Thought you'd all enjoy some pics - there posted on our website at http://www.ribcraftusa.com/blog/2007...gathering.html

RIBCRAFT · 22 August 2007, 18:12

Here are a couple of photos of some of the participants' RIBs.

Biggles · 22 August 2007, 18:16

Well done guys.

Looking at those pics on Freds Blog it looks just like Britain, bad weather and RIBs. Made for each other

dctucker · 01 September 2007, 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Well done guys.

Looking at those pics on Freds Blog it looks just like Britain, bad weather and RIBs. Made for each other

That was the nice/calm part of the trip! Matthew wasn't willing to sacrifice his nice camera to take any pictures when it was really raucous out there! I suppose it did only take 40 minutes to get down there, though my wife insists it was about an hour and a half!

I probably would have slowed down instead of trying to keep up with the 6.8's, if I had realized there was anyone back there taking it easier.