Aussie spearo who loves RIBs

Teaspoon · 24 November 2015, 11:31

Hi all.

I have owned 1 IRB and currently own a 4.2m RIB that I use mainly for spearfishing the East Coast of Australia. Great little platforms for what I do and they punch well above their weight.

I am soon to be buying a 5.8m RIB so my family can enjoy the water as well.

I have rebuilt my current boat and modified it substantially.
From rebonding deck to hull, new transom, foam filling, crack repairs, puncture repairs, custom gun rack, custom eski platform, new fuel system including a custom 46lt fuel tank, water trap and fuel filter and 10mm fuel line, rewired, nav-lights and light bar, seat refoamed and covered, new steering.

I have been itchy for days, annoyed, frustrated and ticked off. But most of the time I have a big old smile knowing I will be back on the water the following weekend.

Char · 24 November 2015, 13:12

Nice !!!

slate1234 · 24 November 2015, 18:42

Nice size flat head there I used to enjoy eating them, nice setup I brought an eski back to the uk and have fixed a seat to the top for fishing

jonp · 25 November 2015, 02:15

What make rib are you getting ?

I've owned heaps of boats over the years, Haines signatures, formula,seafarer etc and have to agree ribs punch well above their weight. I'm based at Narooma where I use mine ( zodiac pro 550) for everything from scuba to game fishing out wide.

Jon

Teaspoon · 25 November 2015, 04:26

Cheers Guys.

Regarding the make it is a rebrand. Claims it is Italian made but I suspect it's Chinese.
The deal breaker will be if it is not Hypalon as advertised. I am going to test the repair kits patch with Acetone. I am skeptical by nature.

I am 1 hour south of Sydney but love to travel and spear. I have not been down to Narooma for many years. I tend to head north these days in search of Macks, Wahoo and other pelagics.

I do get some strange looks with a 4.2m RIB 14km from shore out at the FAD.

jonp · 25 November 2015, 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teaspoon

Cheers Guys.

Regarding the make it is a rebrand. Claims it is Italian made but I suspect it's Chinese.
The deal breaker will be if it is not Hypalon as advertised. I am going to test the repair kits patch with Acetone. I am skeptical by nature.

I am 1 hour south of Sydney but love to travel and spear. I have not been down to Narooma for many years. I tend to head north these days in search of Macks, Wahoo and other pelagics.

I do get some strange looks with a 4.2m RIB 14km from shore out at the FAD.

Was up north with my rib last week, 25'c out wide (40k) and around 22'c water temp at the Solitary islands. We did extremely well on the jews to the point we had to move away from them (beach and boat).

Plenty of big 20kg kings with a few unstoppable 40kg models among them too.

Plenty of life when we freedived, even had big kings swimming around us as well as plenty of sharks. We didn't bother with the spearguns as we had caught so much on rod and line.

Good luck with the next boat, by the way there are plenty of smaller kings (80-90cm) down here around Montague.

Jon

Teaspoon · 25 November 2015, 09:24

Wind is due to pick up but heading up to the National Park and hope to grab a few cray and a King.

For guys with experience with both smaller ribs and larger, does the ride improve and does the wind chop slow you down as much in the larger ones?

Most of my mates either have old Haines or timmies and I am not sure what to expect.

jonp · 25 November 2015, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teaspoon

Wind is due to pick up but heading up to the National Park and hope to grab a few cray and a King.

For guys with experience with both smaller ribs and larger, does the ride improve and does the wind chop slow you down as much in the larger ones?

Most of my mates either have old Haines or timmies and I am not sure what to expect.

As you would of experienced the weather for us on the NSW Coast tends to be pretty windy through most off the summer, to the point I was rarely getting out through our bar crossing in my 540 signature. With my smaller rib at 5.20m I can head out way more often even when the charter operators can't.

I also drive a 7.5m twin engine (150's) but prefer my own small boat for handling and manoeuvrability and dryness. Short sharp chop is going to be hard in most boats head on, at lest with a rib you often only have a hull around 1.5m wide to slice through.

seazar · 25 November 2015, 11:34

If you want a rib that handles any sort of chop really well I'd recommend a HYSUCAT.These are rare in Australia but there's one currently for sale in Melbourne.

Used 2000 HYSUCAT 210 BASIC Boat For Sale - boatsales.com.au

I have one myself albeit a slighty newer model but can attest to their great handling qualities.Also get on the plane really quickly.

Teaspoon · 25 November 2015, 19:16

Great info, thanks guys.

Oh and cracker fish too Jonp. Cannot believe I missed saying that in my reply. Do'H.

jonp · 25 November 2015, 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by seazar

If you want a rib that handles any sort of chop really well I'd recommend a HYSUCAT.These are rare in Australia but there's one currently for sale in Melbourne.

Used 2000 HYSUCAT 210 BASIC Boat For Sale - boatsales.com.au

I have one myself albeit a slighty newer model but can attest to their great handling qualities.Also get on the plane really quickly.

Don't think they are overly popular out here, that boat has been for sale on variouse sites for the last 3 years. It has dropped a fair bit in that time but still no sale unlike some other makes that get snapped up almost instantly.

Jon