My first RIB! 5.5m Vancouver

scuba jimmy · 18 October 2010, 03:13

I got my first RIB and fitting it now. Its made from HDPE plastic. I purchased a 50hp merc short with tilt to on pender and will pick it up this week or so,then im on the water.

Im thinking of adding some storage and an arch or some curtains for weather. Any ideas are welcomed.

solos60 · 18 October 2010, 15:59

Welcome to RIBNET.. nice to see another Vancouver Ribber... any questions.. I would be glad help.. Curious about your HDPE Plastic Rib... did you purchase it locally ?

jyasaki · 18 October 2010, 16:07

Rotomolded hull? Interesting.

One of the fishing boat manufacturers had a hard boat made of rotomolded plastic; I remember that they had a lot of trouble with screws backing out of it; other than that never really heard much about it.

Congrats, and enjoy;

jky

Poly · 18 October 2010, 17:53

Scuba welcome to ribnet - and to the world of HDPE boat ownership - enjoy sitting back and smiling everytime someone posts a "how to fix a puncture" type thread! Is your transom made from HDPE too? Or just encases in it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Rotomolded hull? Interesting.

One of the fishing boat manufacturers had a hard boat made of rotomolded plastic; I remember that they had a lot of trouble with screws backing out of it; other than that never really heard much about it.

I can see why that could be a problem although I've never had a problem with the only two screws (self tappers) I've put in mine slipping out, all the fittings the manufacturer used are screwed into tapped metal inserts that are moulded in.

Rick Coles · 19 October 2010, 03:08

Good to see another west coaster on the list. Welcome~

Rick

scuba jimmy · 19 October 2010, 19:13

Thanks for the welcome guys! 4 of these ribs were made in Vancouver, 3 were 16's and mine was the newer prototype with a wave cutter bow. I have some of the machines for the welding and the moulds for it as well.

Ill be heading to pender island tomorrow to grab the motor set for it and then a couple weeks of rigging I suspect.

I want to add a live well and some seats and a few other toys but mostly I need help with the top. Whether its refitting another or building one.

What kind of plastic rib do you have?

PD it was not rotomoulded, my rib was welded from a new kind of hdpe that allows 30% decrease in drag on the hull.

Poly · 19 October 2010, 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuba jimmy

What kind of plastic rib do you have?

Funyak 390. Its Rotomolded HDPE.

If you've got the capability to weld PE then you should be able to build in some nice storage.

scuba jimmy · 19 October 2010, 19:44

Slick boat , I haven't seen that one before.

Mine has a bunch of compartments that link together. I can post some pics here.

Poly · 19 October 2010, 19:58

Interesting approach - I guess its a bit like building an Aluminium hull from plastic. How much skill is their in the welding compared to ali?

solos60 · 20 October 2010, 15:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuba jimmy

Slick boat , I haven't seen that one before.

Mine has a bunch of compartments that link together. I can post some pics here.

Did you foam fill the compartments in the hull ? I did that with an Aluminium Dive Tender I had and it worked out very well.... unsinkable !

scuba jimmy · 21 October 2010, 04:35

It's quite straight forward to work with given the right tools.

The hull was filled with foam billets before they were welded sealed. It would take a lot to drag it down.

I am thinking of making a couple more if anyone is interested. Can do anything from 16 to 24 feet.

solos60 · 21 October 2010, 15:13

Private Message sent

scuba jimmy · 25 October 2010, 16:04

Looks like we are going into production again.

We are building 3 more 24 footers and 1 more 18 footer. Let me know if anyone else is interested. Boats are all full custom to customer spec.

jyasaki · 25 October 2010, 23:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

I can see why that could be a problem although I've never had a problem with the only two screws (self tappers) I've put in mine slipping out, all the fittings the manufacturer used are screwed into tapped metal inserts that are moulded in.

As I recall, they were self-tapping screws directly into blocks of plastic. No inserts of any kind (though that may be incorrect.) Not sure if they were backing out or stripping out (though either would be pretty likely, I'd think.) I do remember that some of the problems were in locations that were pretty much inaccessible, and required factory attention to remedy.

The boat was built by a fairly major US manufacturer (or at least a US distributor) who I can't recall right now (Tracker, perhaps?), but I have not heard or seen anything about it in oh, 6 years or so.

jky

scuba jimmy · 31 October 2010, 23:19

18, 20 and 24 foot models available now. Available in truck front, center console or bare.