RIB Boat as a dive boat

[OE2X]

Wish you were back home with us. Be safe and thanks for serving.

Lots of RIBS in Florida. I have contacts at Zodiac North America. I can see if there is a shop down there that is equal to Cormac's shop. I think most of the Hurricanes are made primarily at the plant in Vancouver BC, but there may be one on Canada's east coast.

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

Cool, thanks for the hook up. It's never to early to start looking for the right boat!

 

[raya]

Anyone ever dive from a RIB (Rigid-hull Inflatable Boat) that is about 7.8 meters in length? I am considering one of these boats as a dive platform as well as an all-around boat to handle fishing and just plain old weekend boating. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions about these boats.

Check out this website www.oceansub.com this is where my partner works, they have a 7.5 mt rib, its ideal for diving they have a max of 9 divers they take out daily. Pic of the Rib is in OUR CENTER.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Yep, a 17' whaler at the Farallones. Actually, two of them. We have to pick our days
very carefully. Gotta be in the first half of the year (to avoid the landlord) and really
calm. Last year we only got two weather windows to go.

The biggest concern is "what do you do when something goes bad and you are two
hours from the dock.". This includes both boat and diver problems.

 

[OE2X]

Check out this website www.oceansub.com this is where my partner works, they have a 7.5 mt rib, its ideal for diving they have a max of 9 divers they take out daily. Pic of the Rib is in OUR CENTER.

That looks very similar to the way my boat is configured. I only have a single 140 so I have a dive ladder mounted on the stern port side. With the twin engines do you have a rope ladder coming off your radar arch? How is it to get back in the boat?

BTW - nice looking boat!!!

 

[Tom Winters]

That guy Cormac has some nice stuff there. I always loved diving off inflatables, but I spent countless hours on the maintenance as well - the other boneheads who used it in Hawaii often had difficulty between distinguishing what was coral reef and what was not.

 

[OE2X]

Thinking about that sort of thing, makes the hair on my neck stand up. At least we don't have coral here in the PNW - but we do have boat eating barnacles.

Two tours - ironically one of the brass at Zodiac North America happened to be in Seattle this morning when he got my email asking him about shops in FLA. I had lunch with him and he told me that he wasn't sure off the top of his head who to recommend to you. When he gets back in the office next week, he'll get me the info.

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

Roger that, thanks for the help!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I picked up a small 10'2" Zodiac last year, its a joy to dive out of and it can take shallow creeks and rivers(to get to springs) or choppy waters(in bays or the Gulf). I've taken it a mile offshore w/o gear in 2-3' seas I've also managed to flip it in 4-5' surf coming out of a narrow pass heading into the gulf - LOL.

It'll pack 2 divers with gear and 2 tanks each well enough, with enough room, you might even still get it to plane out with the little 9.8hp I have on it if you have a long enough straight-away and calm conditions.



Taking all that into account, I would think a 7m RIB would be an excellent buy. The RIBCRAFT 7.8 looks to be an awesome boat. It has Hypalon tubes, which I'm told is one of the best materials to have as far as protection from the elements(including the sun).

 

[zboss]

The one downside of RIBS is that the hull can eat into usable deck space. My 20 footTwin-Vee has about 7.5 feet of usable beam. In contrast, a Zodiac "Pro Open" of 21 feet has only about 4 feet of usable beam. That's a HUGE difference in space over the length of the hull. I also have a large storage locker at the bow of the boat.

With optional seating arrangements I could seat six people, plus all their dive gear AND all of their vacation luggage. I moved three bedframes, two nightstands, a dresser, three headboards, and an 8 by 4 foot cylinder of wire mesh at once in 4 foot seas at 18 knots.