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Originally Posted by columbiachop
i just got my second quote for new tubes up in portland oregon for 6000 dollars. the first was for 5600 dollars from HBI. 14ft boat with channels. i'm gonna just patch the h*ll out of the old ones. would love to have some shipped in from UK where they appear far less expensive.
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So happens I have one of these 14.7 as well with leaky inner bladders. Maybe we could act together to get just bladders (just plastic cylinders) made of another material?? or some alternative??
At the moment I'm working on another RIB project:
Over the past few years I have been conceptionalizing a small RIB tender for the use on cruising sail and power vessels, and sportfishing vessels in particular. It would put emphasis on a number of enhanced features that I do not believe are adequately addressed in the current market. I had written in brief on a previous occasion:
1) I was searching for a short, wide, open-transom tender/dive/sport craft that could be carried on the front deck of a gamefishing catamaran of my design (preferable two such tenders). I was seeking a relatively small craft that comfortable could carry 4/5 persons with some dive and/or dive/fishing gear. Too many of the existing RIBs are too confining in their interior space, particularly with their big round tubes. I wanted two persons to be able to sit on the tubes directly across from one another, and yet still have the leg-room and passage room to clear a central straddle-seat that might house a jet-ski type power plant. That would necessitate a fairly wide craft with a central hull that could house the water-jet drive unit. A wide craft needing a central hull rules out the cat configuration. I could have a transom for its structural contribution, but it needs to be ‘open’ to allow for immediate evacuation of any water that might swamp it as a result of a large wave washing over the bow stowage area of the mothership. With width I could accommodate the people without excessive length, and thus keep the boat size small and light-weight for the continuous hoisting service it will experience.
It would have a central saddle seat that would cover an optional inboard jet-ski style engine in lieu of a traditional thief-prone outboard….also safer no-prop diving usage. Ultra light model in carbon fiber, traditional model in stamped ABS.
I made a trip to the Miami boat show this Feb 06, and I was disappointed again. As I look thru the market I’m not finding a RIB tender/sportboat that could be carried on deck, or in davits, that is really ‘self draining’. They all appear as a captive ‘tub’, that if flooded by a random wave would become a very heavy ‘big bucket’ of heavy water hanging from the davits or sitting on the foredeck. So I am seeking a virtually ‘transom-less design’, or at minimum a ‘framed-transom’ that would allow for very quick water egress.
I also find most of the smaller RIBs to be very confining and tight on the interior space as a result of the full diameter tubes utilized in their design. The actual width of the boats between the innermost tube sides is very confining with respect to allowing for two full size adults to sit across from one another, let alone a steering console, cooler etc. Then if you add in all of the ‘stylized’ seats for passengers, center console for driver, engine mountings and drains, etc,etc, you end up with very little interior volume to carry people, dive equip, etc, and all of those other items (food, supplies, bikes, etc) being transported to and from the shore. Remember, in the islands your tender becomes your car!!
. You guys are definitely ahead of the curve on the US with ribs. The market here is simply not developed.
