Running costs /storage costs

gooner-paul · 24 September 2012, 14:34

Appologies to everyone here if they have answered these questions before.

I am interested in getting my self a little rib after having so much fun on a friends one.

He is a RYA Pb instructor and has offered to do the various courses with me to make sure im safe.

So im now looking at costs associated with running one of these things!

I want to keep the RIB near to the water down on the south coast (lymington,Christchurch) new forrest type area, as thats where it will be mainly used, and i live quite a distance from there, but have a holiday home in that area.

I have found a couple of marinas that i have been looking at but costs seem to be fairly high around 3k per year for storage on a pontoon, or in a dry berth.

I understand keeping it in the water all year round does have some disadvantages as well as its advantages

So im now wondering where everyone else stores their ribs and how much it costs for that storage

I just want to make sure im clear in my mind what the annual running costs are likely to be! insurance,servicing,storage (obvisouly fuel depends on the useage)

Any advise would be greatfuly appricated.

Nasher · 24 September 2012, 15:00

Will you be able/planning on towing the RIB anywhere on a trailer?

If so the caravan storage areas work out far cheaper than the marinas, and often have better security.

Nasher.

Dry Run · 24 September 2012, 15:18

Ouch! Doing the sums for safely buying, maintaining, storing and running a RIB are likely to make your eyes water - best not to look!

But if you do the sums make sure you cost in the "hassle factor", especially if you are going to trail, launch and recover it yourself (unless you like that sort of thing).

Remember, the easier it is for you to use you RIB - the more likely to are to use it.

Although you are well out of my area, I would recommend dry stacking if you can afford it - as it takes away all the hassle and should make maintenance much cheaper than a wet berth

Depending on your usage requirements, dry stacking a 5m rib should cost about £1,800 a year (inc vat)!

gooner-paul · 24 September 2012, 15:20

Yes towing could be a good option. I dont have a massive 4x4 car though, just a little vw golf 1.6, not so sure if thats powerfull enough for getting boar in and out of the water..

Caravan storage sites, do they generally allow you to access whenever? Just in the summer months particularly i can see it being in use a lot!

PeterM · 24 September 2012, 15:24

Some rough figures based on my 4m RIB ( how small are you thinking ? )

Storage for 4 months at Davis Boat yard on a trailer was about £500 for 4 months over the summer months . Means having to launch and recover yourself , but I can cope with that.Home

Insurance based in it being worth about £10k ( if only !) - about £160 a year .

Service for my 50 hp Yamaha 4 stroke - about £150 for the guy to come to my house etc , oils + filters , impellor etc .

Petrol - I recently did 80 miles on 40 litres of petrol ...

Dry berth at lymington /Christchurch will always be more expensive due to location etc.

Lack of hassle/towing is invaluable ...best try not to think of the overall cost !!

gooner-paul · 24 September 2012, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dry Run

Ouch! Doing the sums for safely buying, maintaining, storing and running a RIB are likely to make your eyes water - best not to look!

But if you do the sums make sure you cost in the "hassle factor", especially if you are going to trail, launch and recover it yourself (unless you like that sort of thing).

Remember, the easier it is for you to use you RIB - the more likely to are to use it.

Although you are well out of my area, I would recommend dry stacking if you can afford it - as it takes away all the hassle and should make maintenance much cheaper than a wet berth

Depending on your usage requirements, dry stacking a 5m rib should cost about £1,800 a year (inc vat)!

Thanks for your replies so far its helping to give me an idea on whats what.

I have to look at the costs of it wish i didnt! I dont want to end up in a situation where i have this nice RIB to use but cant afford to put fuel in her

There has to be a trade of between hasstle factor and cost factor.. in an ideal world i would have it dry stacked...but when that cost is phrobitive its no longer a trade off..

I found a dry stack place in lymington but they had a minimum length which bumped the cost up by about a grand and a half!

gooner-paul · 24 September 2012, 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterM

Some rough figures based on my 4m RIB ( how small are you thinking ? )

Storage for 4 months at Davis Boat yard on a trailer was about £500 for 4 months over the summer months . Means having to launch and recover yourself , but I can cope with that.Home

Insurance based in it being worth about £10k ( if only !) - about £160 a year .

Service for my 50 hp Yamaha 4 stroke - about £150 for the guy to come to my house etc , oils + filters , impellor etc .

Petrol - I recently did 80 miles on 40 litres of petrol ...

Dry berth at lymington /Christchurch will always be more expensive due to location etc.

Lack of hassle/towing is invaluable ...best try not to think of the overall cost !!

I was thinking of 4/5 meters, dont want anything smaller than that!

Regarding the self launch thing, i havent really done it that much, so not really sure how much hastle that really is..from what i can see it just means getting a little wet

the other costs dont really seem offensive, so its really now just the storage etc.. i need to consider..

Are the slipways down in lymington area nice and easy to use? I can imagine some are more effort than others?

EnglishLes · 24 September 2012, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by gooner-paul

Yes towing could be a good option. I dont have a massive 4x4 car though, just a little vw golf 1.6, not so sure if thats powerfull enough for getting boar in and out of the water..

I have a 3.1m RIB with a 15HP on the back, I only have a Citroen C3 1.4 (so yours is bigger than mine

)and I don't have any trouble getting out of the water (in is easier as its down hill!). So far only used concrete ramps.

Nasher · 24 September 2012, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by gooner-paul

Caravan storage sites, do they generally allow you to access whenever?

The site I use allows full access during daylight hours all year except X-Mas day and New Years day.

Outside daylight hours arrangements are easily made, but it usually involves you leaving it outside the main compound(But still behind a key fob operated barrier) until you can move it again. The inner compound has a second key fob operated barrier that is timed.

My 6.5m RIB costs me £165/qtr there, but I get 15% off my insurance as the site is registered with the caravan club as having CCTV etc.
I have been there a few years now though and probably pay less than a new customer.

You do of course need to maintain the trailer, but you get the flexibility of launching where you want and are not limited to a single cruising ground, which I find really important.

One other main benifit for me is the ability to do all my own maintenance on site there.

Unfortunately the site I use is Portsmouth way, so not where you need it, but there are others around with similar set-ups.

On the other hand, dry stacking or storing on a trailer at a marina is the easy option, and has previously been mentioned you need to factor in what the hassle of towing etc is worth to you.

Starting with Pete’s figures for a 4M boat, running costs go up exponentially with length.
For example all Pete’s numbers can be doubled for my 6.5M RIB, except fuel is roughly x 2.5.

This really is going to depend on your view of “a little RIB”.

Nasher.

Leapy · 24 September 2012, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by gooner-paul

Regarding the self launch thing, i havent really done it that much, so not really sure how much hastle that really is..from what i can see it just means getting a little wet

Don't undercall it ... we go away for three weeks in the summer. Originally, we launched and recovered, launched and recovered ... and it became a right royal PITA. Tides, other people on the slip, trailer parking, driving the boat/trailer back and forth, blah, blah, blah. Now we launch at the start and recover at the end. When we go out, it's just a case of putting ourselves and gear on the boat and off we go. Costs, though. About £3 per metre, per day, high season.

PeterM · 24 September 2012, 20:46

As Nasher said as you get bigger ...

7.5m RIB - servicing was about £500 a year, mid river mooring was £800 ( and that was cheap) , insurance £350 , and I never even worked out petrol - but £7 just to get the mile and a bit from the mooring to the sea ( and £7 back ! ) . LIft and store for winter another £500 ( winterise , de winterise etc etc ) ....

Bucksribster · 24 September 2012, 23:46

The Caravan park from Nasher sounds like good value. Can you share the details, or is it a secret?

I am new to ribbing this year, and have found the launching / recovery easier than I feared. The towing is not too bad either, but I live around 100 miles from the sea, and the car uses a lot of fuel on the way! It normally does 40 mpg , but this is slugged to about 26 when towing my 5.6m rib. So a caravan park not too far from the sea sounds good.....