Which RIB?

[nyabynghi]

Hello guys.. apologies if i am posting this in the wrong forum, please feel free to move. I'm a potential new boat owner but come in search of advice. I am a local tour operator in West Africa and would like to offer some boat excursions and possibly fishing trips to my clients.

My mentor in the UK said I should check out Ribs and someone else mentioned Zodiacs. I have been doing some preliminary research but for a first-timer, It's a bit.. well.. confusing.

The problem is I really do not know where to start and what I should be getting. Following points are important to me.

• Must take at least 6 people excluding the capt, but would be interested to see boats with more capacity
• Must be able to dock right on to the shore, so no need for a jetty
• Please confirm if any special training is required for RIBs
• The water it will be used on can be choppy at times

Any advice and potential boats you can let me have a look at would be appreciated. Will prefer good second hand for cost reasons.

I'm hoping someone can help point me in the right direction of good, sturdy RIBs at affordable price.

Thank you in advance,

Abi

[Poly]

Abi,

Welcome to RIBnet.

I'm a potential new boat owner but come in search of advice. I am a local tour operator in West Africa and would like to offer some boat excursions and possibly fishing trips to my clients.

You'll need a bigger boat to fit 6 people fishing than you would on an excursion.

My mentor in the UK said I should check out Ribs and someone else mentioned Zodiacs. I have been doing some preliminary research but for a first-timer, It's a bit.. well.. confusing.

As you will have discovered Zodiac are a (large) brand of RIB. They also make "inflatables" (referred to on RIBnet as "SIBs"). Often when someone uses "Zodiac" to describe a whole class of boat (like calling all vacuum cleaners a hoover) they mean the inflatable hulled (SIB) rather than rigid hulled RIB.

The problem is I really do not know where to start and what I should be getting. Following points are important to me.

I think the first thing you need to do is understand the local legislation / regulation on passenger boats. This is likely to include the type of equipment required, the qualifications of the crew, maximum number of passengers etc. You may also discover large license / harbour fees to pay which could either stop you going ahead or mean the boat has to be a certain size to be economical.

An extra point for you to think about - if there is no jetty available - how / where are you going to fill the fuel? and which type of fuel (petrol or diesel). It takes a long time to fill a large rib using Jerry cans which will make your "turn arounds" much slower - eating into running time (and therefore profit).

There is a strong RIB market in South Africa and you may be as well looking there as Europe. Certainly European sellers are likely to be very sceptical about any offer to purchase their boat coming from Africa due to the large number of scams on the internet.

[nyabynghi]

Hmmm, thanks a lot for taking the time out to reply. I now have a better understanding about Zodiacs.. I thought it was a type of Rib, but it turns out the similarity is that they're both inflatable but Ribs have most solid (rigid) hull?

You've given me some good pointers and I'll continue to look into the options. They are quite pricey and it may well be after all the other costs have been taken into account it's not an economical option.

Here the jettys are not, so mostly jerry cans but the distances involved are not too great.

I used to live in the UK for over ten years and maintain an account there which can be used for funding the payment if need be. I'd have to go look at (and touch) what i'm buying anyway... for that kind of money

Thanks again.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by nyabynghi

Hmmm, thanks a lot for taking the time out to reply. I now have a better understanding about Zodiacs.. I thought it was a type of Rib, but it turns out the similarity is that they're both inflatable but Ribs have most solid (rigid) hull?

Zodiac make both RIBS (rigid hull) and SIBS (soft hull). But in my experience if someone says "you should buy a Zodiac" or "a Zodiac would be good for that" or "is your boat like a Zodiac" what they actually mean is "a SIB would be good for that".

[MustRib]

if your in South Africa
and need a RIB...Rigid Hulled Inflatble Boat, then
you should check out Gemini Ribs.
They are built there and used by your own NRSI.