Hello from Chichester

[Speed Bird]

Hi to all.

I got bitten buy the rib bug on holiday in Cornwall this year. We decided to take a trip on an XS and loved it.

Since then I have spent many weekends looking at Ribs and trying to work out which would be a suitable boat - including the Southampton boat show. Three weekends ago, myself and the boss did PB2 and we have the radio course booked for November.

Although I have only just joined the forum, I feel I know some of you quite well, as it has been reading the posts where I have been distilling the massive quantity of makes down to a handful that i think would fit my need. I think I have now narrowed it down to around 5 manufacturers..... but that may change (I never realised that there were so many makes of Rib!!)

So I would like to say hi to you all, and thanks to a fair number of you - cant remember all the names - who, without knowing it, have already helped me immensely in my pursuit of finding a Rib

Look forward to speaking with you in the future

Steve

[Dry Run]

Hi Steve and welcome to RIBnet!

Hope you find the right boat soon so you can get out and start playing.

Where are you doing your level 2?

Regards

Steve

[Speed Bird]

Hi Steve

I did my level 2 with Chichester Sea School:

Chichester Sea School RYA Powerboat Training Centre

The guy that runs it is Cliff Seer. He was an excellent instructor, and I can recommend his course highly enough. I am doing the radio course with him first weekend in November.

Steve

[Chris Caton]

hi Steve, welcome to Ribnet

do spill the beans n tell us all which 5 manufactures your looking at, we can then tell you why you should be looking at at least another's 5

[Speed Bird]

Hi Chris,

OK - heres the list.

Ribcraft
XS
Osprey
Humber

So actually its four..... I did put an offer in on a Stingher 686GT with Ed at MRL, but then had second thoughts after talking to an far more experienced rib owner. I have got this mainly from reading the posts on this forum - I have probably read thousands - literally!!!

Steve

[thomas]

We keep ours at Chichester, a few pontoons down from Cliff, despite a long drive out to sea it's very popular with RIBs - good time to start as pretty soon all the dinghies will have packed up for the winter and the harbour is nice and quiet.

[Speed Bird]

Hi Thomas

My intent will be to keep the boat at Chichester. Cliff happens to be my neighbour, and there are couple of my friends that have boats in the Marina - not ribs, but motor cruisers.

I would love to get started, but got to find a boat. There was an XS650 for sale at Fynn Marine, but when I enquired about it I was told I could see it, but it would be in a dark shed with a trap over it..... i decided against that. In fairness the guy at Fynn Marine was really good, as it wasn't his fault that he was brokering a boat that someone clearly wasn't keen to sell.

Hopefully I'll catch you at the marina at some time - i hope to be a frequent visitor in due course!!

Steve

[thomas]

Keep an open mind, I have a RIBTEC 655 and is more than capable for what I'm ever going to use it for, there are so many great RIBs out there.

More than likely, I'm down there a lot and keep it in the water on a Versadock, similar to Cliffs.

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Speed Bird

Hi Chris,

OK - heres the list.

Ribcraft
XS
Osprey
Humber

So actually its four..... I did put an offer in on a Stingher 686GT with Ed at MRL, but then had second thoughts after talking to an far more experienced rib owner. I have got this mainly from reading the posts on this forum - I have probably read thousands - literally!!!

Steve

that's a good start, but seems a leap to a Stingher there's on on your list that stands out to me, but I'm very biased when Osprey is mentioned, Mike Whitham is a real star in my book, he's just sorted my SR4 out for me and what a job!!

but there are a few others I would be adding, Ribquest and Aircraft to start with, both can be built to what the customer wants so either new or 2nd hand there are loads of nice individual ribs to be looked at

and, not forgetting Ribeye of course, I know it will open the flood gates on here, but if you want a family orientated rib that will do all the family stuff but not look like a lifeboat, then don't dismiss them

good luck finding what you want

[Speed Bird]

Hi Thomas

Your absolutely right - but with so many makes, and so many opinions, its really difficult to work out what would be best - and if I am going to be spending thousands of pounds on a boat, I do want to make the right decision!!!

I intend to keep mine (when I eventually get one....) on a versadock too. They are great. Its a bit like parking a car!! I spoke with the marina last week, they have three and are going to install some more in a few weeks time. Interestingly, if i understood it correctly, they will not charge more for this.

Thanks for your advice though - for a newbie any information is good.

Steve

[Speed Bird]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the advice. I have not heard of Aircraft, so as I narrow it down, more enter the fray!!

You are right - it is quite a leap from a Stingher.... and that I think is sort of where my dilemma is. I am the sort of person who, as my experience broadens who will want the next challenge. As a consequence I want a boat that will be solid enough that I can grow with it. At my current level, I am sure many boats would be more than capable for me. But I guess I want a boat that will eventually deal with more demanding situations. I have read on here that some boats are constructed with self tappers etc!! So I have concentrated my list to boats that the threads seems to suggest are, lets say, more rugged? I hope to your experienced eye that the list I have, whilst possibly utilitarian, meets that criteria.

To a newbie, its a minefield of choices, and I guess it all boils down to what you want it for and what you feel comfortable in. I am sure everyone on this forum has the boat they have because its right for them. I am just trying to do that for me, but unfortunately with a very limited knowledge!!

But appreciate your advice - always like to hear from people who know more than i do.

Steve

[Chris Caton]

ah well, now, where to start eh, all part of the fun self tappers are fine, not just self tappers of course, needs something else as well, but don't turn your back just cos you spot a few self tappers, there are plenty on my Revenger but backed up with some really good adhesive, nowt wrong with that!

one thing is for sure, surfing the interweb will only introduce you to what's out there, if you are serious about splashing out a few bob on a rib then you need to park your bum on a few seats n see if you like it in the flesh, n don't forget to take your better half, what suits you may not be the right thing for the rest of the family! don't make the mistake of thinking you will find what you want just round the corner, be prepared to travel, especially if you are thinking of buying new

you will be very lucky if your 1st rib is your forever rib, but that's part of the fun eh we started off with a sib which we had to keep re-inflating during the day, moved up to a 5mtr Tempest rib with a single jockey seat and 90hp Evinrude, then moved on to a Revenger 715 with a 150hp Honda which is still going strong, and now in the process of adding a Avon SR4 to the mix, not sure what's next

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Speed Bird

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the advice. I have not heard of Aircraft

Steve

Just to get you acquainted Welcome to RIBnet.


Inflatable Boat and Inflatable Boats

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by kerny

Just to get you acquainted


Inflatable Boat and Inflatable Boats

you took your time Kerny, where you stuck under the drippy Nissan

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Chris Caton

you took your time Kerny, where you stuck under the drippy Nissan

Going to give it a go with that metal stuff first and if it doesn't work, looks like I will have to get a new oil sump from Nissan.

[Speed Bird]

Hi Chris,

Food for thought, certainly. So most weekends for the last month, thats exactly what me and the boss have been doing - going to see boats. We went to the boatshow as well as there was a nice concentration of makes there - all be it new. And you are definitely right about the travel - although living around the Solent as i do, does give me a concentration of boats to some extent!

I have spotted an Osprey, which I would like to go and see - bit of a journey, though not too bad. It sort of works narrowing down on the web, going out to view and then seeing other boats at the brokers and looking over them - coming back, doing more research on them etc etc.

My worry is that I will just keep going, because you can find good and bad arguments to everything - unless someone can tell me the perfect boat for everyone!!

But there is a flip side to all of this - I think that buying a boat is actually part of the process of enjoying the hobby!!

Steve

[kerny]

Whatever you go for make sure its British then you can't go far wrong

[Speed Bird]

Thanks Kerny,

I took a look at the link. I'll do some research on these and see whats around - don't recall seeing any come up in my searching over the last few weeks (months!) which is possibly why I had not heard of them. They seem to have been around for a while though, so I am not sure if people who have them keep them, or whether there are just not many around (it could be that I just missed them of course!!) for sale.

Thanks for the link though - more food for thought!

Steve

[Speed Bird]

Yes - I was drawing that conclusions as well..... hence the move from Stingher to the list i shared - again another tip I got form this forum.....

Steve

[Andre]

Originally Posted by Speed Bird

Hi Chris,

OK - heres the list.

Ribcraft
XS
Osprey
Humber

So actually its four..... I did put an offer in on a Stingher 686GT with Ed at MRL, but then had second thoughts after talking to an far more experienced rib owner. I have got this mainly from reading the posts on this forum - I have probably read thousands - literally!!!

Steve

Hi Steve

welcome to the "crazy world" of RibNet. You are not the first and not the last one to catch the bug
Anyway to complete our list you should also consider a Parker and depending on your budget this particular model may just appeal to you

http://www.rib.net/forum/f16/parker-...oot-58463.html

for full specification and price look here
http://www.rib.net/forum/f21/parker-...lay-58013.html