How did you get into RIB's?

[JSP]

Everyone starts somewhere- So how did you get into using RIB's?
Mine was simple, got told they where good and as I was the only person in my family that didn't own a boat and I wanted something that the others didn't have I went for a RIB. Interesting enough I first looked at a 3m RIB with 10HP engine. The decided I wanted something bigger and looked at Flatacraft 4's. Then some bugger on here told me for the money I had to spend I would be best with a 4m Searider. Got one and got hooked. Now going onto a bigger tub.

So come on, how did you loose your RIB cheery?

[Nasher]

Easy one for me this.

When I was very little my father had one of the very first Flatacraft Force4's, and then swapped it in for a newer one every few years, so I just sort of grew up with small RIBs.
I inherited the last Force4 when we lost my father. I kept it for a few years then went for a bigger RIB to use for longer runs than were comfortable in the 4M.

Nasher.

[Nos4r2]

After a bad experience with a crap cabin cruiser a rib was the only way I could get the mrs to agree to me owning another boat

[A.MAC]

Advert from Babcock Disposals from litttle bro in med = fight with wife+purchase
of rib silent treatment for about two months
I would call that a result silence is golden if you pardon the pun Its f***in bliss cant hear a chirp job done

[codprawn]

Been brought up with boats since I was about 2. The first time I was in a rubber boat was an old Zodiac in Aden. I ended up with my own little SIB which was prob about 5' long - thing it's still in the attic - made from hypalon and bright yellow.

I remember going to Earls Court when I was about 10 and the ONLY boat I was interested in was a large military Avon.

In other words it started from a very young age!!!

[Tony]

After several trips out on Guernsey Rib Voyages, i was totally hooked. Had no idea what to buy, so after a few weeks on here and a bit of research for the correct rib for channel Island use, I ended up with a Scorpion 8.1

[jwalker]

Just a progression over the years really. As kids we used to swim in the local river... came across an old canoe skeleton in a garden nearby... bought it for 10 bob. Nailed hessian over it, got a tin of coal tar from the gas works and sealed it. Hooked. Wife re-introduced me to kayaking in my 20's... white water canoeing... canoe surfing... sea kayaking... inflatable... big inflatable... rib... bigger rib... now.

[Vintec]

This is a nice thread, it's fun to read about everybody their own way of getting into RIB's. Feels a bit like getting to know everybody a little bit like this.

Well for me, from a baby I went on the boat from my grandfather and was allways on the water in the weekends, remember I could hardly wait to get on the boats every week.
Then my parents bought our first 4m polyester console boat, a week later this was replaced for a 5m console boat (Elan 495 Family with 30 hp suuz). After that season we bought an Elan 20cc console boat with a 100 hp suuz (the beautifull V4, which I still love). With that deal I got my first SIB, a bombard tropic 305 with a suuz 8 hp.

Then 2 years later we sold everything and got a Grand Banks 42ft classic with twin caterpillar 10 ltrs V8 (210 hp version), we bought this (I was 15 years) in Hardlepool. Maybe somebody here knows that place...?
Anyways that winter I spend a lot of time working on the GB, and in spring for my "hard work" I got a new SIB, a Quicksilver 330 with 15 hp mariner.
After two years of boating my parents split up and we had to sell all the boats.

I couldn't afford my own boat yet, and 3 years ago I bought a SIB again. I just loved boating to much, especially rubber boats. I bought this SIB, a bombard typhoon 420, with a 15 hp mercury. This march I sold the engine and went for a 30 hp yamaha, tillersteerd. This summer on garda lake in Italy, I broke the transom of my SIB. That was when I decided it was time for my first RIB, so I bought my first RIB on 18 october of this year.
Had to mount the RIB myself, with a lot of help from my oncle. (console, steering, seating the whole lot) And now for the last month a new world opened for me, the RIB is just fantastic to boat on any kind of weather.

Quite a long story, but that's how I got into RIB's.

[samt]

Got given a rowing dinghy when I was about 12. Then had several inflatables. Started working for on hire and passenger boats at 15, became a boatmaster at 18. Found this site, discovered the avon searider, bought one as a project, used it for a summer. Started a marine engineering degree, ran out of money, had to sell the rib.

[Mollers]

The Old Man had a 2 berth ply cabin boat with a Johnson 50 Seahorse when we were kids. We had loads of fun with it and as I got older he let me and my mates go off on trips with it as long as we paid for the fuel.

In my early twenties I had a 14ft Shakespear with a Suzook 65 which prefered to run on 2 rather than 3 pots most of the time.

Bought a Rinker 206 Captiva in 94 and kept it for 9 yrs. We had great fun with that boat. The Rinker went for a Searay 250 Sundancer, the kids got into sailing dinghies and the Searay was hopeless for rounding them up when they'd blown off in the wrong direction.

Bought the 6.5m Vipermax in '05. I'd spent most of that summer researching which rib to buy, luckily ended up with a good boat. The 6.5 didn't have enough seats, went for a 7m with 6 jockies this year.