My project boat

[pathalla]

Pictures of a ex military (Navy seal test boat) rib we bought last winter. It is a 32 foot aluminum Hull (3/8 inch plate) which was originally powered with Marinized rotary engines running jet drives, we bought it without power and have since rerigged it, paint, wiring, welding, etc. etc... It now is powered by two 250 hp. Yamaha outboards with Seastar dual cylinder hydraulic steering installed on a 32 inch extension bracket that is welded to the transom. This boat is used in the Great Lakes region in the U.S.A. and it runs and rides awesome. Ribs are not anywhere near as popular here in the U.S. as in the U.K., I can't understand why as I have always loved running these boats and the outstanding performance they have. That said, they are slowly becoming more popular, although a boat such as ours is rare. I will post some pictures of this project at later stages of work soon.

[codprawn]

That looks amazing - did you get the tubes with it?

[Hightower]

What sort of power plant did it have in the rear? I mean the two either side are obviously Jet units, but what's the hole in the middle?

[Rogue Wave]

I like Ali boats and she does look good do the toobs strap/bolt on

[pathalla]

We took the tube set off the boat in preparation for paint and welding, The sponsons were manufactured by Demaree inflatable boats (http://dibboats.com/ ) to U.S. military specifications, this company builds tube sets for military and commercial applications out of Friendship Maryland U.S.A. It is a bolt on tubeset and it takes about 2 hours to tighten all the bolts.The boat did have triple rotarys with jet drives which is the reason for six holes transom and keel. the boat is currently bright yellow with a black tube set which makes it pretty noticeable. I did this purposely as in 1997 I was t-boned ( run over) by a 39 foot cigarette operated by a drunken idiot, (total disregard as to the rules of the road-water) when I owned a 22 ft. rib with a 150 hp Yamaha. Unfortunately We had 9 people on board and were unable to get out of the way in time to avoid the collison. Luckily, no one was killed even though he drove over the exact center of my boat. No one is going to run this over!

[boatster_sr4]

THat is an impressive rib! How'd you come about that one? I personally couldn't afford to own something like that. The logistics are beyond my capability. That thing must kick some major butt!! Keep posting pics.

[columbiachop]

welcome pathalla. it's nice to see another "yank" on here. you're right about not having many ribs around. up here in the northwest they are extremely rare. people say i have a really nice "raft".

keep the photos coming. where do people find these ex military boats? best i've found is a pallet of giant rusty anchors.

andy

[pathalla]

Thanks for the comments, as to finding this one I just got lucky, doing a long, long, search thru brokers on the internet and found this boat last year in Maryland, went out two days later and bought it. I had looked pretty consistently for about 10 years, they are hard to find used.

[pathalla]

Digital image of a photo I had taken previously, I will post additional pictures just as soon as I find out where I put them...

[pathalla]

Weather be Damned! I've been cooling my heels long enough, cabin fever is driving me crazy! Broke out the propane heater and what do you know? It's not half bad temperature wise once it's fired up, boats double tarped and I can work in reasonable comfort underneath the tarps. Just a couple of pictures of things we are doing. Pictures of the electrical system in the main console, aft bilge compartment, and fuel fills in the forward console, Will be changing some of the electrical around as some of it was temporary just to get the boat up and running. The red jacket shift cables will come out as these were cannibalized out of another boat and are over length. The wiring runs will be sorted out and clamped down with some really slick rubber lined cable clamps I found at a elec. surplus house, they look to be aircraft hardware of some sort. The main hatch aft will be fitted with electric Lenco cylinders to raise and lower it so there won't be any more manual lifting of that (I hope). The fuel fill necks are being replaced. I've bought some nice fills with pop up gas caps made out of stainless, You press in on a large button in the center of the cap and a nice knurled piece pops out. Gives you good leverage for unscrewing the cap if it's a little tight. Stay tuned, more to come.