I like the NewFees.
Do you hunt Sea Ducks with them?
How do you get them to climb back in the rubber raft?
My LabraWieler needs a plywood boarding platform with carpet attached to make the leap.
Can you take a close photo of the tank rack that you have. Did you build it yourself?
Also if you use it for Charters, What insurance company do you use? I have run into resistance from Insurance companies writing for Rubber Rafts as they say there is no seats. Next thing there gonna want seat belts. Hey! We already have "Airbags!"
I'm not a hunter and Newfies aren't really hunting dogs either, although they do have soft mouths. For the little foray in the pic we didn't put the lifejackets on them. The XLs jackets work well for us and give you a strap to haul them back into the boat with. I try not to let them jump out much cause its hard on my back getting them back in. Obviously dog rides = not diving that day. We do take them camping and such where they can run on the beach etc.
The tank rack is like a bike rack. Its 36" long down the centerline and holds up to 8 cylinders in 2 rows of 4 with backplates on them. Its 19 or 20" high. and the upside down "U" part of made from 2" AL tube. I had it built by Polaris, the builders of the RIB. They are in Langley BC, right up the road from me in Seattle. Sorry I don't have a zoomed pic of that.
As far as "charters" go... I don't run any. I just use the RIB for myself and friends. Its only 15.5ft long after all. I can take 4 recreational divers for 1 tank each or 3 divers with 2 or more tanks each. After that its danged crowded and hard to consistently plane with any kind of waves.
I have an agreed value boat insurance policy through Progressive but that's strictly recreational. I have 2 actual seats (the bench behind me, with dry storage underneath), and extra passengers ride on my tubes. While I theoretically could run charters since I hold a 50-ton CG license, I would not want to have passengers-for-hire riding on tubes.
I don't know where you are in New England but I would guess that a RIB is a bit of a poor choice for charters there. By the time the boat is large enough to be "off-shore" seaworthy and hold enough passengers to be profitable your tubes are going to be enormous 22"+ and impossible to swim back over. Basically negating probably the most "dive-friendly" aspect of an inflatable. Of course, unless you can find a CG approved commercial hull (doubtful) you will be limited to 6 or fewer passengers and uninspected status anyway.
