Baby Honda

[ian parkes]

Hello Iam new here although I have been reading for quite a while .
I know most of you are proper big rib owners so I may not be at the right place or get some piss taken .

I have recently bought a Honda 3.8 air floor with a 20 hp honda engine . I wanted a small family boat that I could easily land on the cornish beaches and also fit in the van to travel with .

Iam very impressed with it so far and was inspired by watching the local beach lifeguards using similar small boats for surf rescue .

What Iam looking for is anyone with experience of this boat or similar . Just how much will it take in terms of waves or sea . How easy are they to stuff or swamp , and how effective and quick is the drain in the transom.

I had the boat off a headland on saturday in what I considered pretty lumpy sea and was amazed that this little boat just seemed to take all i could throw at it flat out in any direction . But is it likely to suddenly catch me out .

My biggest fear is the very light weight and strong wind , I got airborn a few times and wondered just how easy the wind would flip the boat coming up off a wave . didn't notice any effect saturday and it was fairly windy maybe force 4
Fuel economy is amazing 4 hours fun on about 6 litres of fuel .

[Scotty]

We have the slightly smaller one with a 5hp on it for the kids. The ability to flip it may come down to your weight and where you place it in the boat. Dont depend on the little bailing hole. Get an optimist bailer (kids use them) and keep it in the boat. Nothing works as well as a frightened human trying to bail a boat

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by ian parkes

I know most of you are proper big rib owners so I may not be at the right place or get some piss taken .

You most definitely are in the right place, Ian, and welcome to the finest inflatable boat forum on the net. I'm not a 'proper big rib' owner either, but I only get the p*ss taken out of me occasionally and I sure give enough back in return In fact there are a couple of owners of 7m RIBs (you know who you are) who get more p*ss taken out of them than the rest of us put together!

I don't think there's anyone on here with your exact boat, but many of the 'big RIB' boys also own inflatables, or SIBs (Soft Inflatable Boat) as they're known, and use them for a similar purpose to you. Several of them have been out in horrendous conditions and lived to tell the tale and people like Codprawn and Keith Hart undertake ludicrously long voyages in their's. The new Honda inflatables seem to have been very well accepted and they do appear to be very well built. That Honda 20hp is also a superb engine so no probs there.

The issue of flipping can apply to large RIBs as well as inflatables if you go around like a lunatic, but you seem to have already got a good gauge as to what the Honda is capable of and, as you say, they are a lot more capable than you realise at first. Just keep some weight/crew for'ard in lumpy seas and don't go flat out into every wave you come across. As with RIBs, take care if you're in a following sea with breaking waves, which can cause a boat to broach and turn over, but you've got enough power to keep out of trouble anyway. Take a Level 2 Powerboat Course if you haven't already, which will also help build your confidence and enlighten you even further as to what these boats are capable of. Enjoy!

[ian parkes]

Thanks for the replies .
I do carry a hand pump also , but that takes long enough to empy a canoe .

The 3.8 is a pretty recent adition to the honda range so maybe no surprise no one has one .

I didn't want to say before but am contemplating a trip to the Scilly isles in honda , thought maybe I might get told off . I did it a few years back in a sea kayak , but I have to say I felt safer in that than any other boat I have ever been in .

What sort of speed do the bigger ribs cruise at on a longer trip . Another friend in a boat said my little hoda was cruising along at 22 mph or knots not sure so i guess its good for about 25 - 28 flat out ??

[J S]

Hi Ian

I have a simlar setup with a zodiac 3.5m with a 15hp honda. I have used it for one season now and i have never felt unsafe in large waves. I have driven through rough surf and the boat has had about 30cm of water in it and it drains in less than a minute this is only with a small drain valve in the transom. I have also found that by stowing the anchor and other equipment in the bow bag that this keeps the front end down in windy conditions.

James

[ian parkes]

Thats good to know .
wieght distribution fore and aft makes a big difference . On my first trip saturday my mate sat in the bow and we carried on all day like that . We got a lot of spray over the bow even in a small chop . and it felt a little slow and uncomfortable
Then sunday I took my wife and 6 yr old daughter out , my wife sat opposite me nearer the middle and the little one up front and the boat was flying and really dry , it also used even less fuel .
The bow is really deep my daughter can only just see over when she is stood up holding the bow line so it feels really safe for her .
Iam very impressed

[Brian]

Ian were you the guy we came across on the Scillys run last year/the year before?
You were going TO the islands in a sea kayak and we were coming back. We stopped and chatted for a few moments?

[ian parkes]

not me , no one stopped to talk that day , would have been good . I guess you do it about an hour or so , took me 7 with a good folowing swell , usually more like 9

[ozzydownunder]

hi
Our first boat was a zodiac mk2 3.8m inflatable with a 15hp 2t mercury and it could hold 3 adults and 2 kids and a good size picnic and we could plane it. we wernt sure about speed as we didnt have a gps but with me and my dad I reckon it did a good 20 knots