Offshore limits in RIB...

[NadMat]

Hey off shore boaters out there. I am planning on getting a 4.6M RIB with a 50hp 4cycle outboard for use as dive boat. Will get a portable marine GPS and radio before heading out into gulf any, mostly will be used in local lakes and rivers.

Plan on diving with 2-4 divers and one person to stay on boat when take it on camping/diving trips along gulf/east and west coasts. Would prefer a 6M or better RHIB with twin outboards, but that is not happening at this time for many reasons.

What are good general limits for offshore use on the smaller boat? Most of my gulf boating has been on large sailboats, not small powerboats, and the occasional fishing charter. I'm thinking limits would be imposed mostly by ability to get in or on shore before a storm rolling in can catch you on water and fuel limititations, say maybe 5 miles max?

Just looking for some thoughts, don't plan on pushing any limits hard, but when have boat and am looking for sites to dive, want to know where to draw line and get reservation on larger dive boat charter. I am aware even general limits will change with location and season around gulf.

Also, gear recomendations for boat would be appreciated, both general and specific.
Current plan is to get RIB, outboard, and canopy, and me and buddy will build our own trailer. As mentioned also plan on marine gps/radio unit, first aid and small ocean survival kits, vests for all, fire ext. , and a running/anchor light kit w/ small searchlight for night dives. Rib has rigid floor with inflatable keel.

I know Nemrod and a few others should be able to give me some ideas on this and seek to benefit from there trials and tribulations as RIB owners

 

[captain]

If it has a rigid floor and inflatable keel it is not a true RIB. RIB's have a rigid fiberglass hull bottom with an inflatable collar around it. What you are describing is an inflatable with a hard floor. Both are good offshore if it is a quality boat but the true RIB is a better choise. In boats that size fuel capacity is a limiting factor. I would say 10 or 15 miles is reasonable if you pick your weather. Although riding out a thunderstorm is not fun I would rather be in an 14 foot inflatable than an 18 foot conventional boat.

 

[Nemrod]

Nad,

I had an Achilles with aluminum floor and a inflatible keel. It was a quality boat and it's length was right at 13 feet. We ran a 25 on it. Obviously it is a smaller boat than what your looking at. On a very good day we probably took it ten miles out. This type of boat is very light, the inflatible keel is neat but does not provide much wave cutting. Expect a very wet, bouncy ride.

My Novurania is wood and aluminum floor with a wooden keel to stretch the fabric. It has run up to 50 horses and this boat is 14 feet long. Again, I would not hesitate going offshore under very good conditions but when I say GOOD I really mean VERY GOOD. It isn't that they are not seaworthy but that you will get pounded and bounced all over the place making for a tiring trip.

The soft hulls with inflatible or fabric bottoms are best suited for near shore operations--not offshore. Operating a mile or so from the beach and short runs etc. They can launch right off the shore as well with removable landing gear. So, yes, they can go offshore but I don't recommend it. I recommend using this type boat for close in work, they carry a big load and are quite stable.

As Captain mentions, if you are looking at a 16 foot or greater RIB with a fiberglass hull and inflatible collar then we are in buisness big time. You can go offshore with that. RIBs do not bounce and flop like the non RIB boats do. They ride more like a glass boat--because--they are.

So in conclusion, the soft hull boat your looking at will be great in rivers and lakes, can be used near shore and if your a bit foolhardy and devil may care--under optimum conditions --you may go offshore a few miles but don't get any visions of blue water.

When we lived in Houston we would go out ot the nearest rigs--every now and then viz was not zero--this is a few miles or so out. In Destin we dove the Jetties, WhiteHill and Amberjack and several wrecks within a five mile radius of the inlet. In the Keys we went everywhere. Out of Jupiter we dove all sorts of places, several long runs along the beach but everything down there is fairly close in --a couple of miles--water gets deep fast. Then rolled it up into our VW bus and away we went.

I caught a shark out of Galveston. It was pretty big, I really did not want him. It got in the boat. We got out. Nothing like floating several miles out in the Gulf with a shark in your rubber boat and you hanging on it.

Hope this helps--oh--hypalon fabric---good--everything else--bad.

N

 

[Nemrod]

Let me add this to a already long story. When we did most of that we were 20 somethings and barely 30 somethings as we bounced across the waves. We would stay out in the sun all day in a swimsuit and a kooler of drinks. Somewhere along the way I realized I was not a twenty something anymore and much prefer a boat like our Boston Whaler or something similar. It has a bimini top for shade and it has to be pretty rough out for it to bounce your innards out. We had a bimini on the Novurania but in one of our moves it did not ever find us again. Look and see if that boat can be outfitted with some sort of bimini so at least when at anchor you can have some protection from the sun. We run with the bimini up on the Whaler but I found that my light weight Novurania with bimini up tried to fly so we stowed it except at anchor. N

 

[NadMat]

Thanks for the input, and you are right, what I am looking at is an inflatable with an solid floor and inflatable keel. I know what I really want is around a 7 to 8 M fiberglass hulled RIB with nice twin outboards , but cannot afford it for a while , and as at moment most of diving will be in Texas and nearby lakes and streams with only the occasional forays to gulf I really do not yet have 'need' for it.

Also, even if I end up getting the larger RIB eventually, right now I am trying to find a boat I can take with me when already towing PUP camper with 4runner, and the real RIBs are a bit to heavy for that, even in 4.6M range. Mostly for use in near shore excursions, but just wanted to know what might be reasonable if heard about a local spot a little ways off shore, and felt like diving it myself rather than hiring guide and boat.

At a certain point of distance off shore combined with expected difficulty of dive I would usually be finding a dive boat locally anyway to benefit from their experience. Experience can be an expensive thing to obtain, so I am always trying to benefit from others when possible, guess I am just a cheap SOB

In eight to ten years, I will hopefully own both the smaller inflatable and the larger, better equipped RIB, but for right now, I can afford to own the smaller boat next year some time, and even when and if get larger RIB there will be times and places the smaller boat will still be a better choice. More toys are always better

How would the smaller inflatable w/ inflatable keel work around the Florida Gulf coast area and Keys? That would be one of the camping/diving vacations I would be doing with it, staying at local campgrounds along gulf coast on way down to Keys. From research I have been doing, looks like a whole lot of excellent diving within its safe range off shore.

 

[NadMat]

/snip
Current plan is to get RIB, outboard, and canopy, and me and buddy will build our own trailer. /snip

I hear you on the bimini top Nemrod. Already had that planned, been out on buddies 13-14' inflatable once with no choice for SI but baking on shoreline or baking in wide open boat. Long days on boat demand cover of some kind. Didn't even consider a boat that I could not order some kind of canopy along with boat.

Thanks again for all the input, and keep those suggestions coming.

 

[mike_s]

With depriving your brain cells from enough oxygen, no telling how far you'd get it off shore.

Perfect example, during the sinking of the Oriskany, there was some redneck who rode his Jetski out 22 miles to the sinking site. He even strapped gas cans to the back of it. (no I'm not kidding).

 

[NadMat]

With depriving your brain cells from enough oxygen, no telling how far you'd get it off shore.

Perfect example, during the sinking of the Oriskany, there was some redneck who rode his Jetski out 22 miles to the sinking site. He even strapped gas cans to the back of it. (no I'm not kidding).

Thanks for your attempt at a reply mike, but I don't see how it applies to the questions that I was asking in thread

 

[dannobee]

Don't forget that the antenna on the portable radio won't let it transmit very far. Better to mount one somewhere high if you're planning to go very far out.
If the water's calm, I wouldn't hesitate to take an inflatable pretty far out, just keep spare gas on board. Also, if you're far enough out, a compass comes in handy (to backup your GPS), as there might not be a point of reference. You can use your scuba one in a pinch, but the boat ones are bigger and easier to read. But if the seas/weather takes a turn for the worse, the ride back could be slow, wet, and rough.

When I was big into fishing, I'd occasionally see one guy out by the Farallons (26 miles out of San Francisco) in a bigger RIB. I'd opt for a bigger cuddy cabin type boat if I was doing it regularly, though.

 

[Nemrod]

"With depriving your brain cells from enough oxygen, no telling how far you'd get it off shore.

Perfect example, during the sinking of the Oriskany, there was some redneck who rode his Jetski out 22 miles to the sinking site. He even strapped gas cans to the back of it. (no I'm not kidding)."

Well, I think his advice is good, he is saying that you can go out in anything but is it wise to do so--usually not. I would say that at 25 miles give or take the Oriskany is to far out for the soft bottom inflatible we are discssing. Now if it were 3 miles out yeah, 25 miles---NO!

Concerning fuel when operating off shore it is another place to utilize something like the rule of thirds. One third out and one third back and one third reserve.

You will need radio, cell phone, GPS and a good sonar/fishfinder. You will need first aid kit and a oxygen. Anchoring in deep water, you need lo'ts of line but with snmaller boats we have often drifted with them in tow.

Captain is a professional charter captain BTW, when in doubt, hire somebody like him to take you out--that way you get back.

N