RIB needed for charter - Solent - Early September

[InlandAlex]

Hi all,

Alas it's starting to seem that my searider refurb won't be finished for the one thing I needed it for!

As such, I'm looking for a RIB to charter early September, exact date TBC but likely to be two days between the 5th and the 10th. I will be using it to chase two yachts finishing a circumnavigation.

I'm looking for a 5.5m-7m RIB, commercial style, capable of rough water... not bench seats and teak floors!

Willing to pay a daily charter fee, price to be discussed and proportionate to the boat. This is a privately funded though, so will need to be less than a commercial charter company! I will of course cover fuel used and a launching fee if required.

Ideally insurance will cover 18 year old, but 21 is workable. I have been employed as a coxswain at one of the UK largest sailing clubs for 3.5 years, and have done leisure boating outside of that. Have over 500 logged driving hours in everything from a 4.6m XS to a Pacific 22 Jet.

If you're able to help, please respond to this thread or send me a PM and we can discuss. No doubt the amazing RIBnet community can help me once again.

Many Thanks, Alex

[CJL]

Try Solent Rib Charter.

Chris

[InlandAlex]

Thanks Chris, but SRC want 500 quid a day and have a minimum age 25+, and have boats too big for what I want. As such, unfortunately they are not suitable.

Thanks for your suggestion.

[HDAV]

Join urban truant? Or one of the other daily hire setups?


https://www.utrib.club/

[InlandAlex]

Thanks for your suggestion, but I have a RIB and am not looking to join a commercial business/club/organisation. UT don't allow boat hire unless you are a member.

I am looking for a private RIBnet member who is willing to discuss the possibility of me using their boat. I appreciate this is not something everyone will consider, but I know it has been done before.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by InlandAlex

Hi all,


I'm looking for a 5.5m-7m RIB, commercial style, capable of rough water... not bench seats and teak floors!

Many Thanks, Alex

Hi Alex, I'm afraid mine would not suit you at all, having teak engine lid and a rear bench seat, however it is a Ribtec 7.4 with 300 of Mercruiser's finest HP on a Bravo leg, so its no slouch and can handle a lot more rough water than most people can stand.
In any case I do not lend my boats, which is effectively what you want, to anyone and I suspect that most serious rib owners probably feel the same way about theirs .

Best of luck though...

[GuyC]

I think you'll struggle to find someone who will loan their RIB to a stranger. Is there not someone at the sailing club that will lend you a RIB?

[InlandAlex]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

Hi Alex, I'm afraid mine would not suit you at all, having teak engine lid and a rear bench seat, however it is a Ribtec 7.4 with 300 of Mercruiser's finest HP on a Bravo leg, so its no slouch and can handle a lot more rough water than most people can stand.

In any case I do not lend my boats, which is effectively what you want, to anyone and I suspect that most serious rib owners probably feel the same way about theirs .



Best of luck though...

Hi voodoo,

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you have a nice boat [emoji6]. I imagine it's not too slow either!

I appreciate many won't be willing but it's worth an ask.

Alex

[InlandAlex]

Originally Posted by GuyC

I think you'll struggle to find someone who will loan their RIB to a stranger. Is there not someone at the sailing club that will lend you a RIB?

Hi Guy,

My sailing club does not have any rib owner members... I checked! Alas the club RIBS are not close to the solent and are unable to be towed off site.

Alex

[Fram]

The problem you'll find is that a lot of hire places won't allow you to south side of island. Maybe check out Bluetooth rib charter and also clickandboat?

[Sutty]

Before I ever ask a favour to borrow something (which is very very rare)I always put myself in the opposite position, in this case imagine your RIB was finished and ready to go and you were cleaning it on the drive and someone says nice boat mate can I borrow it for a few days and I will of course pay for the fuel that I will use. I wonder what your reply would be?😵*💫

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Sutty

Before I ever ask a favour to borrow something (which is very very rare)I always put myself in the opposite position, in this case imagine your RIB was finished and ready to go and you were cleaning it on the drive and someone says nice boat mate can I borrow it for a few days and I will of course pay for the fuel that I will use. I wonder what your reply would be?😵*💫

Exactly

[InlandAlex]

Originally Posted by Sutty

Before I ever ask a favour to borrow something (which is very very rare)I always put myself in the opposite position, in this case imagine your RIB was finished and ready to go and you were cleaning it on the drive and someone says nice boat mate can I borrow it for a few days and I will of course pay for the fuel that I will use. I wonder what your reply would be?[emoji43]*[emoji94]

Believe it or not, many times I would probably say yes. Maybe I'm crazy. But if someone gave me a good reason (a specific need... not just a leisure spin), paid me a good rate, was suitably qualified and experienced, and most importantly when I met them they gave me a good feeling, then I would often say yes.

My boat is a workboat though, not particularly pretty, worth maybe 7k, so that may well be different to many people here who have paid 10s of K for their dream craft. I wasn't looking for someone's pride and joy, I was looking for a well used dive boat, safety boat etc...

Now I appreciate this is somewhat unusual, and I came into this expecting very few people to even entertain the idea. It doesn't work for you guys and that's totally OK, but you often get nowhere in life unless you start asking about.

Many thanks, Alex

[InlandAlex]

To finish this thread, I have sourced a boat. Everyone's help is much appreciated.

[Chieftain Training]

Lending or hiring a RIB to a stranger is considered commercial use, all insurers will insist that a RIB used commercially must also comply with coding.

But you don't want to use a commercial operator......

[InlandAlex]

Originally Posted by Chieftain Training

Lending or hiring a RIB to a stranger is considered commercial use, all insurers will insist that a RIB used commercially must also comply with coding.



But you don't want to use a commercial operator......

Well fortunately I didn't need to go down that rabbit hole since a suitable "charter company" gave me a vast discount.

I wasn't necessarily against a charter organisation... I just had reached out to them all already, and we couldn't afford to pay 500+ quid + fuel a day which is what most of them wanted. Therefore I came here looking for an alternative approach.

I apologise I should have been clearer.

[scrambler]

Originally Posted by Chieftain Training

Lending or hiring a RIB to a stranger is considered commercial use, all insurers will insist that a RIB used commercially must also comply with coding.

But you don't want to use a commercial operator......

I was asked by the owner of a classic yacht who I had previously met whether I would take out a professional photographer for a photo shoot for a Classic boat magazine. He offered payment, but even though I would have been quite happy to do it entirely at my own expense being interested in the project I felt obliged to decline because my rib is not coded and only insured for leisure purposes.
Maybe I was being over cautious but the potential for personal liability made it a risk I wasn't prepared to take.

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by scrambler

I was asked by the owner of a classic yacht who I had previously met whether I would take out a professional photographer for a photo shoot for a Classic boat magazine. He offered payment, but even though I would have been quite happy to do it entirely at my own expense being interested in the project I felt obliged to decline because my rib is not coded and only insured for leisure purposes.
Maybe I was being over cautious but the potential for personal liability made it a risk I wasn't prepared to take.

Yet a leisure boat owner can their amateur photographer friend for a spin on their boat and sell the photos to a magazine

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by HDAV

Yet a leisure boat owner can their amateur photographer friend for a spin on their boat and sell the photos to a magazine

I suppose it’s a grey area. The boat owner isn’t being paid per-se for the use of the boat. It’s no different to me taking my boat out for a jolly, seeing a rare greater crested spangled bloater fish, grabbing a photo on my phone & flogging it to Bloater Fish weekly. The boat isn’t being used directly for commercial purposes.

[scrambler]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I suppose it’s a grey area. The boat owner isn’t being paid per-se for the use of the boat. It’s no different to me taking my boat out for a jolly, seeing a rare greater crested spangled bloater fish, grabbing a photo on my phone & flogging it to Bloater Fish weekly. The boat isn’t being used directly for commercial purposes.

Absolutely. I can post here (and sell if I want to) a photo of the yacht in question that I took on a day when I was out for a leisure trip and just came across it.
However if I'd taken a professional out to photograph it (and the yacht owner himself is a professional restorer) then perhaps it could have been deemed commercial activity which is excluded by my insurance policy. Convincing them that no money had changed hands might have been difficult if anything should have happened, and with my rib not coded and me not qualified in any way I wouldn't have had a leg to stand on.
What with expensive cameras, potential for injury etc. the risk was just not worth it which was a pity because I would have enjoyed doing it.
The yacht incidentally is a Belfast Lough class one-design built in 1897.