Ribs in the USA

Soundnav · 19 January 2005, 12:57

Hello all,

As you all probably know, RIB's are not prevalent on this side of the Atlantic and I haven't yet been able to figure out why. I am a RibCraft owner here in the States (Long Island Sound) and I'd like to spread the word by starting up a RIB owner's club. Any suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Also, I'm in the US Coast Guard and our unit recently received delivery of a brand new 25' RB-S (Response Boat Medium built by SAFE Boats International in the Pacific Northwest). She is powered by twin Honda 225 hp 4-stroke engines. The performance of this recent arrival is phenomenal! Have any SAFE boats made it out east yet?

John Kennett · 19 January 2005, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundnav

I am a RibCraft owner here in the States (Long Island Sound) and I'd like to spread the word by starting up a RIB owner's club. Any suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated.

You could start by contacting other US members of RIBnet. You can search by country using the "advanced" member search on the Members List (or use the direct link: http://www.rib.net/forum/memberlist.php?do=search)

Spread the word about RIBnet and make it work for you! If there is sufficient demand I would be happy to make a US section here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundnav

Also, I'm in the US Coast Guard and our unit recently received delivery of a brand new 25' RB-S (Response Boat Medium built by SAFE Boats International in the Pacific Northwest). She is powered by twin Honda 225 hp 4-stroke engines.

Have you got any pictures for us?

John

Petrov · 19 January 2005, 14:06

Soundnav, i have a Swedish very good friend (american citizen) that was working for the Coast guard outside San Fransisco.
Wich station do you belong to.

limeydal · 19 January 2005, 14:19

Hi soundnav,
nice looking SAFE boats you use. I checked them out at the Miramar air show last year.
http://www.rib.net/forum/showthread....hlight=miramar

Theres a 3 of us down here in the southern California region.Myself in San Diego,boatster in L.A. and also another ribcraft owner down here in Chula Vista.(sorry forgot his name for now)
cheers Dal

Petrov · 19 January 2005, 20:03

Soundnav, wrong of me, he was laying outside Loa Angeles (LAX

)
The stations name is Station Channel Island Harbour, hmm strange name of a station isnt it

dctucker · 20 January 2005, 01:22

Soundnav, Greetings from another US RIB'er. I'm in Marblehead MA, with an ex-Coast Guard SeaRider 5.4. There's also someone from Maine who's posted here a bit. During the summer, I'd be willing to trailer to RI or even CT for a Northeast US RIBnet rally.

David Lawn · 20 January 2005, 03:08

hello soundnav. another US rib guy here. Your right, not to many ribs around. Im having fun showing them what they are missing though. Moved from the San Francisco area about a year and a half ago. Now live on the intercoastal just south of Wilmington NC. I operate a family adventure charter (lighthouse tours, sightseeing, aligator chasing, etc.) from a Zodiac Pro 6m and am having a blast.

Soundnav · 20 January 2005, 18:02

John Kennett - Thanks for the recommendation. I will do a search on the members of RibNet as you suggested. I will also spread the word about RibNet. Is this your website? P.S. Pictures coming soon...

limeydal - The SAFE Boats you saw at Miramar are similar if not exactly the same as our new boat. I'm scheduled to go to a 2-week operator's course next month - I can't wait. Also, do you ever come east on business perhaps? If so, give me a heads-up and we'll get together and go for a boat ride on my RIB. Long Island Sound is a great place to explore - especially on a RIB.

Petrov - With the exception of a brief assignment in Alaska, I've spent most of my time in the Coast Guard at small boat search and rescue stations here on the east coast. Is your friend a Bos'n Mate?

dctucker - Well, if you're looking for an interesting area to cruise, western Long Island Sound is a great place. There are several islands off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut, appropriately called the Norwalk Islands, more than a few lighthouses and great launching facilities. Also, we are about 40 miles from New York City - a short trip west on Long Island Sound. As we get closer to the summer, I'll certainly keep you informed of any rally or similar events. Hey - let's just pick a date and start a low budget advertising campaign for a rally now. I'll be out of the Coast Guard by June 30th - any time after that works for me. I think we are the charter members of a USA Rib owner's club to be named at a later date. You can be the president and I'll be the Beverage Consumption Coordinator. Let me know if you are interested.

dc - You are in Marblehead and own a SeaRider 5.4? Have you ever checked out the RibCraft's that are assembled in your neighborhood? I highly recommend that if you have time, call RibCraft and get a tour of their facility at Doaks Lane at Little Harbor (Please tell them that Barry said hello). If you go, you've got to check out the Mitagator at their shop. She's a black 7.8m with a whole lot of high-tech gear.

David Lawn - How' it going? How many passengers can you fit on that Zodiac Pro 6m of yours and what kind of insurance do you have? I tried to get a quote for a 7.8 meter RIB that I intend to use for sightseeing and lighthouse tours. She would be set up with 6 pod seats forward and helm aft with a bolster/bench combo but my current commercial insurance carrier wasn't interested. I have a couple of other insurance agents to contact but thought I'd ask about your operation. Also, what kind of a seating configuration and power does your Zodiac have? My current Rib is a RibCraft 5.85 with a 115hp Yamaha 4-stroke, she tops out at around 38 knots with just Buddy and I aboard (Buddy is my dog).

Petrov · 20 January 2005, 19:01

Quote:

Petrov - With the exception of a brief assignment in Alaska, I've spent most of my time in the Coast Guard at small boat search and rescue stations here on the east coast. Is your friend a Bos'n Mate?

Soundnav, my friend was a Bos`n mate third class at Station Channel Island Harbour, his name is Sebastian (Swedish guy)
And his frined is a Bos`n mate 2nd class at Petersburg station (an island) in Alaska, his name is John Tracy, maybe someone you know.

dctucker · 21 January 2005, 01:32

I know Western LIS pretty darned well. Grew up sailing with my Dad out of Mamaroneck, NY. Spent many summers growing up on the beach in Milford, CT sailing a Sunfish and Windsurfer off the beach. I've cruised up and down LIS to the Cape & Islands many times. Bought my 25' sailboat in City Island and sailed it up to Scituate, MA about 10 years ago. Where exactly are you currently stationed?

No way I'm President, sounds like it might mean work! My unofficial title in my family is "Associate Recreationalist" as my retired uncle has claimed the title of "Chief Recreational Officer" of his fictional company called "Recreational Endeavors". Let's pick a date in July, and a location somewhere in between?? Maybe I'll be down in Noroton for a regatta at some point. I'll check the schedule.

I haven't been down to Ribcraft USA, though there are a number of them in Marblehead Harbor. One of the Yacht Club race committees uses one as a mark boat every Saturday. I also regularly see them being trailered out of town, on delivery. I followed on about 10 miles on my way to work one day, drooling the whole time. I should stop down there sometime, just for the heck of it.

Scotty · 21 January 2005, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundnav

Hello all,

As you all probably know, RIB's are not prevalent on this side of the Atlantic and I haven't yet been able to figure out why.

The absence of ribs in the USA is very strange. As your $ is worth 30% less than the Euro I thought that a rib would be a good buy but nothing second hand was for sale

. Maybe you guys should be looking for the agency for some of the European ribs ! Anyway if you decide to try a tranatlantic rib raid let me know

scubadoguk · 21 January 2005, 22:02

I tried to get a rib over here the money needed was way more than I had thought.
Shame I love rib diving.

David Lawn · 23 January 2005, 03:00

Soundnav. Off season here but I got enought charters at the end of last year to suggest a good level of interest here. I do similar tours to what your thinking, calling it "family adventure". Lighthouse tours, sightseeing, Wildlife, maritime history, taxi, etc... I set the boat up with a standup console and a wrap around leaning bolster for me. The console seats two on the front and I put in 4 Todd pedistals with seats in front of that for a total of six paid spaces (besides me also room for one more stand up if occasion arose). All passengers are in front of me which I like, especially when carrying kids. The Todd pedistals are fixed on the aluminum base plates and can be easily removed for more space such as taking out divers, etc. So far no complaints about the seats instead of jockys, but I tend to take it easy when carrying for hire. It is powered with a merc optimax 115. I top out at about 40 with just me and my buddy Maddie (my dog). I think I can tweek a bit more speed out of it after having some recent conversations with my engine guy. (Just finished 100 hour service and had some discussions about RPMs attained). I have commercial charter insurance from Port South that covers us for up to 20 miles offshore and no winter lay up. A good plan and pretty reasonable I think. David.

Soundnav · 23 January 2005, 17:28

David Lawn - Your operation sounds good. I have some drawings of a RIB that I may have built for a similar purpose. I can mail some copies of them to you. If you're interested, send me a mailing address to my e-mail account. My e-mail is soundnav@hotmail.com.

Also, do you have a telephone number for Port South Insurance?

Do you ever head up to the New York metro area? If so, I'm only about 40 miles east of NYC located on Long Island Sound. If you ever find yourself up this way, give me a heads-up and we'll go for a boat ride.

Cruising the Sound year round....

Take care,
Barry

David Lawn · 23 January 2005, 20:44

Soundnav... Where abouts on the sound? My wife grew up in Lake Ronkonkama (sp?) and we still have family and friends we get up to see occasionally in the area (Rocky pt). Will try to look you up on next visit. Same offer if your ever down this way. Port Souths number is (910) 763-4446 (or maybe 910-343-0005), and the ladys name is Amanda Smith. She is my broker and is very helpful. I think the binder is written with Charter Lakes out of Michigan. Dave.

John Kennett · 23 January 2005, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by dctucker

No way I'm President, sounds like it might mean work! My unofficial title in my family is "Associate Recreationalist" as my retired uncle has claimed the title of "Chief Recreational Officer" of his fictional company called "Recreational Endeavors".

You can all be "Executive Vice Presidents" or whatever you want!

One of the great advantages of using RIBnet to arrange cruises, rather than forming a club, is that you don't need a committee, a treasurer, membership secretary, newsletter editor or any other of those thankless tasks!

John

The Jackeens · 24 January 2005, 06:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kennett

One of the great advantages of using RIBnet to arrange cruises, rather than forming a club, is that you don't need a committee, a treasurer, membership secretary, newsletter editor or any other of those thankless tasks!

John

You forgot...

Committee Meetings

and

'Minutes of Committee meetings'

Yep...we're big fans of the 'we're going out...anyone else out?' approach for the shorter spins.

A bit more work probably needs to go into the longer spins & thanks to Biboa for looking after peeps there.

missus

Alan · 24 January 2005, 16:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by scubadoguk

I tried to get a rib over here the money needed was way more than I had thought.
Shame I love rib diving.

Guys, I'm a little North of you up here in Newfoundland, Canada, but am a recent emmigre from the UK where I was a fairly active ribber.

I would like to get a RIB or other fast, seaworthy trailable powerboat to explore Newfoundland and will be looking for something in the summer all being well. From my largely web based research so far, RIBS do seem to be as rare as rocking horse doodoo in both US and Canada and when they are found they are expensive compare to conventional powerboats. I may look at importing from the UK (although it will be a second hand boat, and finding a decent second hand RIB in the UK can be a challenge at times!) but the exchange rate and shipping costs make that an expensive proposition. I can see me ending up (lowers voice) with something like a Boston Whaler, simply as choice of boat and logistics of getting it up here will be better.

I'm also thoroughly spoiled as I used to have a Scorpion so nothing really else will do! Maybe Richard B will sell Blue Ice back to me..........

pettal · 24 January 2005, 17:38

Limeydal will probablly be able to help you with costings for getting a rib into the states as he's just taken an XS-Rib from the UK to California.

Soundnav · 01 February 2005, 23:56

dctucker - can you make it down to Norwalk, CT near the end of July or perhaps early August? I'm contemplating a Rib Rendezvous to be held at Sheffield Island (check out www.seaport.org for more info on this island).

There is a great launching ramp in Norwalk and the Huntington Harbor Lighthouse may also be included in the days events (check out www.huntingtonlighthouse.org for more info on this one).

Our menu for this event - barbecued RIBS of course!

I hoping that RibCraft USA will bring down a few boats from their plant in Marblehead and I've also contacted other RIB dealers in Rhode Island and out on Long Island in New York.

Let me know if you are interested.