RIB or Sportsboat ?

[Flanker]

Gary,

In answer to your question there are responsible people and others. I am sure that having a baby on a stationary RIB is no different than a Li-Lo, probably even safer. What I am talking about is the whole purpose of a RIB, an exciting go anywhere machine, if you are not going to use it for that purpose why have it? If you do have it for that purpose where are you going to put the baby, and where is the cut off point for either taking it or not?

I have said nothing about younger children, that is a different matter, I am commenting on Babies. They are very delicate (not that young children aren't), why expose them to what is the equivalent of whiplash at speed on a RIB or speedboat for that matter. Pottering about safely is another matter again, you could be in any boat, you don't need a RIB for that. I fully agree that children should be part of the family and be able to enjoy the sea 'safely', that's why I chose my boat, others would choose something different, it's personal choice, but safety is everyones responsibility.

Anyway I withdraw any offensive remarks forwith apart from the picture of the young children without life jackets. Perhaps none of you have had to take dead babies out of the water after they have drowned! I have. Perhaps none of you have seen shredded babies that have gone through the windscreen of a car because they were not strapped in, I have. They had no choice or chance over their life, it was lost to idiots who should be locked up for a long time. Maybe that will reinforce what I am saying to you all, and why it is so sensitive to me!

Pete

[matiboy]

Flanker

You are making a bit of an asumption that the kids in the pictures cant swim, given that this chap lives in the med they may be water babies

anyway I read your book recently, an interesting read " HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE" interesting approach ??

just a thought : when you are blasting around in your new glass inboard in perfectly flat conditions at 50 mph, you suddenly hit something hard floating in the water that you hadnt noticed...possibly a large log

you've pierced the hull and water is flooding in, the 300+ kg of engine is gonna do one thing ......take the hull straight to the bottom within a few minutes

Its at this stage you perhaps wish you had a rib ! So get an action plan in place for this eventuality

Even in my previous 21 foot bayliner with 4.3 litre inboard I never took the kids out in it (other than down the Hamble) because of my fear of its vulnerabilty to sinking quickly and a the fear of a fire from the inboard


as the kids are getting older 4 & 7 I specifically chose a rib because I thought there is no safer boat....

What I dislike about ribs is their cost relative to other boats, the little amount of storage space and how exposed to the elements you are

But I still have piece of mind

Think your wrong on this one mate

[Garygee]

Hi Pete

We have a RIB for a number of reasons

1) We can only afford one big(ish) boat so want a boat that the family, the adults and everyone can use. A Rib allows this. Aslo we hope the lifespan of the RIB will mean when the "kids" do want to fly round in a force 6, when they get older then can do so.

2) We like RIBS and if we are ever caught out with bad weather, especially with kids on board we want to be in tha safest boat possible.

I understand your comments and agree about looking after kids. I also belive that people who put kids in cars without seatbelts/babyseats are idiots but thats not most of us.

Thanks for your withdraw of any offensive remarks , its just that most of us do take the saftey of kids very seriously and your generalisation do not represent the majority.

Regards Gary

[Flanker]

Matiboy,

I am probably a few years behind you re kids ages. I am having an 'A' Frame (gantry) designed and made for the boat to hold the lifeboat, radar reflector and radio mast. I found a great company in Liverpool who are going to build it for me, they deal with any stainless steel structures if anyone wants the details. I will e-mail you a copy of a picture in the factory, I can't get pictures on here, as I am still learning, you can describe it to the others.

Oh! I don't seem to have received my tickets to the RIBnet Christmas party yet, have they been posted !

Pete

[Flanker]

Matiboy has no e-mail shown, if anyone else is willing to accept the photo it would be appreciated.

Pete

[matiboy]

I reckon that John Kennett is logging on as another user, under the guise of Flanker

is this a cunning attempt to spice up the forum and raise the ratings with a clever bit of confrontational discusion, John ?

Genius sheer genius John

Or have I been watching to many films LOL

[Flanker]

Matiboy,

It is definately me, Flanker, where is the e-mail address,

Cheers,

John

[Keith Hart]

Hi Flanker,

If you want gruesome stories I bet I can beat you with mine......

Keith (we know why don't we folks) Hart

[Flanker]

I might have to question that! but equal maybe. (where is Clive?)

Pete

[batfalcon]

Originally posted by Flanker
Matiboy,

It is definately me, Flanker, where is the e-mail address,

Cheers,

John

Who signs this message ?

[Flanker]

Batfalcon,

You are obviously smarter than I thought, can we be friends now?

Pete

[batfalcon]

if you admit you were wrong.

[Flanker]

Ok a little,

John

[matiboy]

seen your boat on your website, its the dogs danglies...

(that in english means its excellent) looks like something out of the film Mad Max

why dont you put a picture post in gallery of the various different hoods , covers, etc you have had made for it as I am sure this would raise some interest

Still jealous of your weather

[Keith Hart]

Posted for Peter Burns............

I was going to put it on the one with all the bother, the kid one. I am trying to show that I have taken steps to get somewhere to store my life raft, but it will also be useful to others as they have quoted what I feel is a good price, see below.


...........................

Copy of e-mail

Peter,

See the attached photograph of an employee welding a gantry. This is a smaller version of what i imagine you require. Your gantry will obviously be much taller than the one shown in the picture as the vertical height of this one is only 320mm, and is mounted on the top of the cabin of a Shetland. Your gantry as previously suggested will be approx. 6 ft tall, and 5-6ft wide. The vertical supports will also be further apart to facilitate stability. I hope this is what you are looking for. If not let me know, as we have the facilities to fabricate almost anything from stainless steel.

Regarding your bathing platform, I would not charge for design. This is a service we normally provide FOC. All i will require is a rough idea of what you may have previously seen and liked or photographs of what you require and we will customize the design to fit a Glastron.

Hope this ok. Any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

[Flanker]

E-mail received from Hallmark Engineering re photo, may be of interest to others, Pete.

e-mail :-
From the pictures you have sent, I personally think a rear gantry would improve the appearance of your Glastron. Possibly creating a sports cruiser look, and creating the illusion that the boat was bigger than it actually is.

From your photographs, I estimate the gantry would be approximately between 5' and 6' high, and maybe 5' to 6' wide, mounted on the side of the boat as oppose to the deck. The gantry would be fabricated using 1" (316) mirror finish stainless steel tube, and the top would be mirror polished both stainless plate both sides to mount your fittings. The sides would also have stainless plate mirror polished to mount any lights etc.

If you required the sheet to be pre-drilled to facilitate fittings for a life raft you should provide us with the mounting brackets from all fixtures in order for ourselves to establish a template. I will return these brackets when the gantry is delivered. As the sizes I have estimated are approximate I can, at this moment only provide a ball-park quote. However, any fluctuation as a result of increased dimensions would be relatively insignificant. Total cost = £ 295.65p. Approximate lead time would be 3-4 weeks.

The bathing platform you mentioned would require more detail for me to establish exactly what you require.

We can design the platform on your behalf and provide drawings, for your approval if required.

I trust the above meets your approval and look forward to hearing from you soon,



Regards



Jason Owen

Managing Director

Hallmark Engineering Ltd

[Flanker]

Thanks to Keith for his technical expertise in importing the photo.

Pete

[batfalcon]

You've read my mind.
I'm expecting a new digital camera next week and I was thinking of this particular theme to post.
I mean a fully detailed photo galery, in order to guide anyone interested to build something relevant.

[Mike Garside]

Originally posted by Flanker
I still stand by my view that pictures of young children playing unsupervised on a boat without any life jacket is sickening.

Oh dear, Flanker. Here's another sickening pic for you.

'appens to be of my daugther Mel and it was taken in 1980. She was 6 then and I took the snap while she was helming our small sailboat through the Panama Canal during a family circumnavigation.

When we felt she was responsible enough, aged 8, she was doing full 4-hour night watches in the Pacific Ocean while the rest of slept.

She survived and, like Wavelength, I'm now the very proud father of a grown up lady who has a 5-year old son of her own. Needless to say, his mum and I can't wait to get the boy out Ribbing soon's we get the chance.

By the way Charles, I was impressed at the way that young lad of yours was handling his SIB last time we were out with you. Bet Keith wishes he's started that early in life!

[Richard B]

Originally posted by Mike Garside
Bet Keith wishes he's started that early in life!

He's not the only one!