Starting with RIBs

[Jerry]

Hi,

I have 20+ experience of inland boating from the continent (mostly sailing, some power). Sea experience mostly from the Med, but that was more than 10 years ago. I managed to get RYA PB2 which was needed to sit in a safety boat during club races.

I thought of getting a RIB as a way of getting the family on the water (wife, 7yo and 4yo) and having some fun myself. I'm hoping they may like it better than some sailing we did earlier in the year (7yo was quite happily steering when motoring but wasn't interested in the sailing part). The immediate plan is to go to Southampton for the weekend, get a RIB for the whole day and do "marina hopping" to keep passages below an hour to prevent kids getting bored. I'll break the time on the water with some shore attractions to keep them engaged. If this doesn't work then I'll struggle to sell the RIB idea to the wife!

Could you help how to start and answer some of the questions that are coming to my mind below:
- best recipe for getting the family "hooked"?
- are there any RIB clubs near by? I live in Cambridge
- is it possible to hire a RIB somewhere closer than Southampton and have something to do (rather than just spending the whole day on it without many breaks)?
- part of RIB thinking is that it's easy to tow. If there's not enough time (or the weather isn't good) then we could go on a river instead of sea side. This means mostly tickover speed, but also means that the little ones can steer most of the time and not get scared by high speed. Sensible?
- any slipways nearby Cambridge? Either river or sea.
- what are my options of opening up the throttle if I live in Cambridge? Lowestoft, Felixstowe, ...?
- assuming everything goes well, my thinking is to buy 5m, maybe 5.5m RIB sometime during the winter (I'm not going to rush this), with the main limit being ease of towing and sensible price.

Sorry guys, but I'm sure I'll generate lots more questions!

[Jojosrib]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Hi,

I have 20+ experience of inland boating from the continent (mostly sailing, some power). Sea experience mostly from the Med, but that was more than 10 years ago. I managed to get RYA PB2 which was needed to sit in a safety boat during club races.

I thought of getting a RIB as a way of getting the family on the water (wife, 7yo and 4yo) and having some fun myself. I'm hoping they may like it better than some sailing we did earlier in the year (7yo was quite happily steering when motoring but wasn't interested in the sailing part). The immediate plan is to go to Southampton for the weekend, get a RIB for the whole day and do "marina hopping" to keep passages below an hour to prevent kids getting bored. I'll break the time on the water with some shore attractions to keep them engaged. If this doesn't work then I'll struggle to sell the RIB idea to the wife!

Could you help how to start and answer some of the questions that are coming to my mind below:
- best recipe for getting the family "hooked"?
- are there any RIB clubs near by? I live in Cambridge
- is it possible to hire a RIB somewhere closer than Southampton and have something to do (rather than just spending the whole day on it without many breaks)?
- part of RIB thinking is that it's easy to tow. If there's not enough time (or the weather isn't good) then we could go on a river instead of sea side. This means mostly tickover speed, but also means that the little ones can steer most of the time and not get scared by high speed. Sensible?
- any slipways nearby Cambridge? Either river or sea.
- what are my options of opening up the throttle if I live in Cambridge? Lowestoft, Felixstowe, ...?
- assuming everything goes well, my thinking is to buy 5m, maybe 5.5m RIB sometime during the winter (I'm not going to rush this), with the main limit being ease of towing and sensible price.

Sorry guys, but I'm sure I'll generate lots more questions!

We have kid in the same age group as yours.....the main thing is keep it short and fun......even 3 hours can seem like an all day drag for this age group......we re fortunate to live in NZ where we have easy access to plenty of great water......for a whole load of different activities....this always achievable with a Rib being so versatile and easy to manage....a great choice of boat.

[boristhebold]

Going from marina to marina may not be that fun, why not simply head down to Poole on a fine day and hire a self drive boat to play in Poole Harbour, plenty of things to do and see, you go round the back channels of brownsea island, head to beach within harbour limits, go down the wareham river etc etc, a hole day on boat or even half day and you could see if family like it, im sure they would if weather was right. It would also save you a lot of money than hiring a rib for the day. If they love the boat experience around poole harbour you could then look at getting a boat.

self drive boats are located at cobbs quay marina poole .

Poole Boat Hire

[Poly]

Boris, I seem to recall that Bembridge o/boards had ribs for hire at prices in that ball park?

[OSPREY RIBS]

- best recipe for getting the family "hooked"? Something Comfortable with a dry Ride and not too fast.

- are there any RIB clubs near by? I live in Cambridge - No RIB clubs as far as I know (other than this one of course) keep an eye out on here there are often cruises planned and often spare seats available if you contribute to fuel.

- is it possible to hire a RIB somewhere closer than Southampton and have something to do (rather than just spending the whole day on it without many breaks)? Yep several in the Southampton area, just google RIB hire.

- part of RIB thinking is that it's easy to tow. If there's not enough time (or the weather isn't good) then we could go on a river instead of sea side. This means mostly tickover speed, but also means that the little ones can steer most of the time and not get scared by high speed. Sensible?RIBs are not great at displacement speeds. They don't track as well as river boats and tend to wander so not too good for the kids.

- any slipways nearby Cambridge? Either river or sea. Check out Boatlaunch
- what are my options of opening up the throttle if I live in Cambridge? Lowestoft, Felixstowe, ...? No Idea
- assuming everything goes well, my thinking is to buy 5m, maybe 5.5m RIB sometime during the winter (I'm not going to rush this), with the main limit being ease of towing and sensible price. if you are looking at second hand keep an eye on New and Used Boats For Sale | Boats and Outboards

[Poly]

Originally Posted by OSPREY RIBS

- best recipe for getting the family "hooked"? Something Comfortable with a dry Ride and not too fast.

I'd add that for many the destination is more important than the journey - so getting them to somewhere nice, that they could never access by land can make a huge difference. If you can, make the journey as interesting as possible (exploring places) rather than point the helm and go for an hour.

- are there any RIB clubs near by? I live in Cambridge -[COLOR="blue"] No RIB clubs as far as I know (other than this one of course) keep an eye out on here there are often cruises planned and often spare seats available if you contribute to fuel.

Well there is BIBOA. NW Ribsters (who used to hang about on Hotribs - not sure if they are still going). The Rib Club - who are really a boat sharing group based in Poole - similar to RIBshare in Gosport. And the Marine Club in Wales is a bit similar and have a RIB in their fleet. And then of course there are a couple of other forums/facebook groups for specialist interests etc. Cambridge isn't really the heart of RIB country though!

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by Poly

I'd add that for many the destination is more important than the journey - so getting them to somewhere nice, that they could never access by land can make a huge difference. If you can, make the journey as interesting as possible (exploring places) rather than point the helm and go for an hour.

OK, so my thinking of making short, intentionally interrupted journeys makes sense!

So at the moment I have two options:
1. Get a RIB from Southampton, with a skipper fully briefed on the situation. Skipper mostly required to provide local knowledge. Looking at weather forecasts Friday looks most promising.
2. Get a self-drive boat from Poole (as suggested by boristhebold) and be on our own.

Originally Posted by Poly

Cambridge isn't really the heart of RIB country though!

Unfortunately I know, I'm trying to find a way to make it work (assuming I get the buy-in from SWMBO!). The thinking of using some local rivers as a poor substitute to the sea also falls in that bucket. Anything interesting is 1.5h-3h drive away, which means ribbing won't really be happening during work days.

The immediate focus is on getting the buy-in from SWMBO, once I get "the" approval I'll then figure out how to use it

[HUMBER P4VWL]

We have a 5 and 3 yr old. Everything revolves around seeing and eating things in good weather!

Started with a 2.5m rib at displacement speed on the river to see ducks and get an ice cream. Dragging hands in water etc

Then moved to 6.5m in sunny weather for a pootle for 1/2hr.

Next journey was a sunny day to an island to see puffins and seals, then a play in the waves (with them and light spray hitting the girls made them v excited)to an anchor point for picnic. All about the food. That was a 6hr day and the whole Menai strait. Circa 40 mile round trip.

Keep them dry and warm with a promise of chips or ice cream and they'll love it!

[Jerry]

Poole Boat Hire booked for tomorrow. 7yo excited to be the skipper for the whole day.
Fingers crossed, hope this will be a success!

Thanks for help.

[HUMBER P4VWL]

What type of boat can you get and for how much/ how long?

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

What type of boat can you get and for how much/ how long?

I got one from poolboathire.co.uk as recommended earlier. By the time I started booking things, all the RIBs were sold out.
We'll see how it goes, will report next week.

[Jerry]

The weekend was fantastic, everything went to plan. Weather, tide, boat, spirits - all in place!

Everybody loved 1/2 day on the water, to the extent that the decision has been made to acquire a 5.5m-6.5m RIB - a thread started in the "wanted" section.

Many thanks for the suggestion of getting a boat from Pool Boat Hire - really excellent service, I was impressed!