Hi all,
First let me say I have spent so many hours reading through them and I can see that these forums are going to cost me a lot of money!!!
![big grin](https://www.rib.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
I am interested in getting a RIB after having owned several fishing boats over the years, including most recently a 28' aluminum with twin outboards, which I sold to my neighbour and I am now BOATLESS. I actually got the RIB fever after talking with the coart guard up here which has a 24' (or around there) zodiac with twin 140's I believe. I'm a paramedic so I work with them all the time and DROOL whenever they bring a patient in on their little zodiac. Now that I've sold my boat I've got the go ahead to buy a RIB from my wife and I've spent the last few weeks researching and I just have so many questions.
I live on Vancouver Island, BC which seems to be the RIB capital of the world (from the stuff I read). I know there are a lot of manufacturers of RIB's in BC and I also know there are a few RIB manufacturers in the USA too. Unfortunately, one of the problems I've run into is that none of the manufacturers post their prices online or even base prices so I really have no idea as to what they cost. I mean I've got a rough idea, but I would love it if I could get more specific. One of the manufacturers I am really interested in is Polaris Boats (
www.polarisboats.com) in Langley, BC. Does anyone have any information on them such as costs? The reason I am attracted to them is because they make some good aluminum boats and I am a big fan of aluminum boats in general over fiberglass mainly because I dock my boat a lot on little islands (so many little islands throughout Northern Vancouver Island). I would also love more information on any other manufactuers in BC.
As far as what size boat I am looking for..... between 6m and 7.5m, with twin engines. I want to use the boat in the ocean, but mostly protected ocean waters that are all within a few miles of shore. However I may also use it for long open water offshore runs, such as a run from Port Hardy to Prince Rupurt (the ferry route) which is a 274 mile nautical run. So I would love advice on which size would be best for this type of running. I am assuming a 6m would be too small, but is an 8.5m overkill?
As far as engines, well I've considered everything from twin 75hp engines on a 6m rib, to twin 225hp engines on a 7.5m rib. The two boats I am debating about on the Polaris website (not neccesarily will I buy polaris but these are what I am roughly looking for) are the 6m at
http://www.polarisboats.com/p/alumin...une19_spec.htm and the wide body 7.5m at
http://www.polarisboats.com/p/alumin...une24_spec.htm .
One thing I notice between these two boats is the massive weight difference. The 6m is only 1000lbs while the 7.5m is 2600lbs. The 7.5m is also much wider with a 10'4 beam. One of the reasons I am leaning towards the 7.5m is because of the extra weight from it, or is this non sense? I am just not sure how well the RIB's ride... I would assume that the heavier and wider a rib is, the less chance of flipping it has. I've seen the videos of the CZ7 jumping waves and that looks cool and all, but I would rather have a boat that cuts through them instead of jumps 10 feet in the air.
Well I can tell this forum is great already and thank you for listening to my questions/thoughts. It is crazy when you are doing boat research, I am almost sick from doing it now and I just want to go to bed! It's 12:30am here and my wife is snoring away (yes she snors) and I am on my laptop reading about boats. I need to buy one already!!!!! That brings me to another question.... anyone know how long it takes for an ordered RIB to be built?
Cheers,
Adam