2 choices...none clear!

[sablack]

First off, I have never own a RIB, been mainly a traditional boater/sailer. However, I now live on the Chesapeake Bay in US, Maryland. First, I want to find a good boat for my son and his friends...must be indestructible (almost), safe for the Bay waters from mild to moderate weather, and user-friendly for teens. It needs to be able to be beached and pulled up the sand about 40 feet for storage. They would use it for fishing, swimming off of, and anything else they could possible think of (and I probably would not want to know...most likely something I did as a teen anyways). So, after a trip to the Galapagos, where we were using Zodiacs, it occurred to me this might be the perfect boat. I use to have an old aluminum boat waaay back when I was his age...still have it today. However, it was great for an inland lake with a whopping 15 hp Evinrude engine...but not well suited for the Bay. So, after that long and wordy lead in...I was wondering what you options on what type of Zodiac or similar would be well suited for this type of environment.

Second, I have noticed several lines are now make more "pleasure craft/fishing" style boats i.e. Zodiac Medline and/or Zodiac NZO. What benefits do these have over the traditional well-built fiberglass versions i.e. Pursuit, Intrepid, Grady White or similar?

Any and all opinions are welcome...one more thing...does anyone know of a good dealer in the Annapolis/Southern Maryland area that deals in these type of boats?

[jyasaki]

Hmmm. You don't mention how much you want to spend. Nor have you really put any limits on performance or range or anything else.

Given that you don't have one single use in mind, your question is pretty general. I would suspect that most of the responses will be as general as what you asked.

Dragging anything 40 feet up a beach is going to be tough. That may well be your limiting factor.

Other than that... well, if it's for teenagers, I would suspect it doesn't matter too much what you get, as they will figure out ways to both enjoy it and get into trouble with it

jky

[sablack]

Thanks for the reply...yes, a bit more info might be helpful:

1) The smaller one: Price ~1-3K ish, with nothing larger than maybe a 25-30 hp engine. Key aspect is easy to handle, easy to beach and relatively easy to drag up 20 feet (it is shorter distance than I thought) by a couple teenagers. Terms like "bullet proof", "stable in mixed weather", and "low maintenance" define this particular boat.

2) The larger one: Price is not really the issue...just trying to understand if a larger RIB offers something more than a traditional hard side. Price could be anywhere from 15-30K used, or 50-80K new. Would need to be used effectively as a fishing boat, pleasure cruiser, sport boat (skiing), yet safe in many kinds of weather. Also, the above mentioned "bullet proof", "stable in mixed weather", and "low maintenance" are also a big player...can I expect less long term issues with a RIB than a traditional hard-side? Also, this one would be in a boat slip, with no need to drag up any beach (but would be nice to beach it at some islands for short stays).

Thanks for the input...

[jyasaki]

OK, so you're looking at 2 different boats. Missed that in the OP.

General info:

RIB's tend to be: 1) more stable at rest than hard boats due to a wider platform, and buoyancy at the gunwales. 2) Inherently safer, as they will remain in a usable orientation when flooded, as long as no damage to the tubes, and assuming you don't invert the hull (which is considered bad.) 3) much lighter than a comparably sized hard boat. 4) Generally greater carrying capacity than a comparably sized hard boat. 5) Self-fendering, as long as you don't run into things at speed.

Disadvantages: Tubes are somewhat more delicate than fiberglass (watch for exposed nails/bolts/wood splinters when docking.) Material will degrade over time due to exposure. Have to watch pressure when leaving the boat out of the water in hot weather. You tend to lose a bit of deck space for a given beam due to the diameter of the tubes, so if you need the space, a hard boat may be a better choice. Bottom treatments for RIBs can be a bit tougher to figure out than for a hard boat, assuing you are not trailering (if you are trailering, bottom treatment is not necessary.)

If you're looking in the 1-3K range, you'll be looking at used boats, most likely in the 12 foot or less range. Probably not going to be a lot of availability in RIBs, though a glance through the yachtie newpapers may yield some tenders that would fit the bill.

As far as dragging it up the beach, well, good luck. Sounds like a lot of work to me. Some launching wheels may help in that regard, but I still think it's going to be a chore.

Perhaps a small trailer that can be manhandled? Would also enable you to take the boat to other locations.

"Low maintenance" and "boat" rarely go together in the same sentence.

As far as the bigger boat, well, the first couple of paragraphs above should help.


jky

[Poly]

Originally Posted by sablack

1) The smaller one: Price ~1-3K ish, with nothing larger than maybe a 25-30 hp engine. Key aspect is easy to handle, easy to beach and relatively easy to drag up 20 feet (it is shorter distance than I thought) by a couple teenagers. Terms like "bullet proof", "stable in mixed weather", and "low maintenance" define this particular boat.

That price (I'm assuming we are talking US dollars) with a reasonable sized engine is going to limit you to second hand older boats or small sibs. Neither of which care going to be "low maintainance" especially if you are dragging them up a beach.

For "bullet proof", "stable in mixed weather", and "low maintenance" you might want to look beyond the simple rib/sib - and think about something like this: http://www.marinerevolution.com/mac360.htm or http://www.fun-yak.co.uk/html/fun_yak__secu_12.html or http://www.samboats.com/smartcms/def...?contentID=696 - obviously if you can find a US manufacturer you'll be more likely to get a sensible price and maybe used models within your budget. Even these won't be easy for a couple of teenagers to drag far though.

[hotrubber]

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[Bigtalljv]

I saw "indestructible", east coast, and boat so that = Boston Whaler in my book. A 15' should do for the kids. I have skied behind them to fishing to things my folks don't know about so it fits there too.

Jason