A little over a year later...

First, I have to tell you that I have been terribly busy since my last post over a year ago. The funny thing is that this year I did the same trips to Vegas and Mexico. But in March of 08 we did a house swap and time has flow by. I did manage to do some upgrades to her.

I have learned a lot from doing some modifications to this RIB. First, was to change the motor from tiller controlled to remote. Second, was to get an arch. Third, was getting the seating and console in. After getting the remote kit from the local Mercury dealer, I was able to get it converted over in on weekend. It was actually easier than I had first thought. I was able to find a Estran stainless steel arch for a good price. Next came the bench seat from Boatersworld. I chose the swing back model so I can face aft when fishing on the Columbia river. I went with the same Todd console as before. It has a small foot print and the price is reasonable enough. As you can see from the photo that the project is coming along nicely.

I forgot to mention that I have added a 2 hp Honda kicker. Both for added security and for slow trolling for either Kokanee or Sockeye. In addition to the kicker, I have added two downrigger stations on either side of RIB. This is a fishing RIB first.

Today, the RIB is in the garage and is slated for some new topside paint. Also I am thinking about making my own navigational arch and bow rail. More come on this project.

Happy Ribbing!

Winter is here

Well it has been a couple of months since I have updated the blog. The past couple of months have been busy with trips to Vegas and Mexico. In between that time I have been using the new RIB on occasion and so far so good.

The AB 430 VS has done well with two or three people aboard. On one outing with my friend and his father-in-law in late September and the RIB did an excellent job. Even with 3 grown men leaning to on side of the boat, there was no signs of tipping or listing. Just simply amazing. Let's see someone do that with their 14' aluminum boat!

I plan on doing some upgrades in the next couple of months. One that will happen probably soon is a Bimini top. The question is getting the mounts for the top on to the fabric. This will be interesting project. The other is to mount a bench seat and a console. I have gone back and forth with this and a console is definitely the way to go.

My current project is installing a fulton swing adapter to shorten my trailer. It is almost complete and I will have some photos of the difference.

Maiden Voyage

On Saturday I took the my RIB out on her Maiden Voyage. It is always a nervous time taking a new vessel out on the water. This was no exception. A smart person would chose a safe launching site, like a small lake. But no, I had to choose the Columbia river. Not the best choice, but none the less I had other plans besides taken the RIB on her first time out. I wanted to do some fishing.

I brought my friend Grant out with me. It is good to have an extra person there just in case something goes wrong. For example, throwing a life line, or assisting with rowing. But I had brought an electric motor as backup. We launched with no issues to speak of. Then came to firing up the outboard for the first time. After a few cranks of the starter, the engine fired up and purred. Not bad for a 1998 50 HP Mariner that has seen some use. One thing I did notice that the motor is a lot quieter than my old 1987 30 HP Johnson. After letting the motor warm up a bit, and making sure the water pump was flowing out of the pee hole, we were ready to leave the marina.

Once out in the main stream, I gave her some more gas and she easily got up on a plane. Soon thereafter I was confident we weren't going to be stranded and headed to our fishing destination about 5 miles down river. The deep V hull handled the small chop with ease, and I could have easily plowed through some of the rougher water, but I played it safe. This is my largest RIB, and I can instantly tell that the boat can handle more that what I am use to. Everything about the boat seemed easier. I can't explain it, but it just felt like no effort to maneuver about.

After reaching our destination, we fished for about 2 hours without a single bite. There was plenty of room for our gear. Unfortunately I didn't have time to mount the rod holders, so we improvised and ran them through the handle of the outboard. Another inflatable joined the area and anchored about 100 yards upriver from us. It was a older, Zodiac SIB with a 35 HP Evinrude on her. There were 3 people and a dog in that boat and they seemed quite comfortable.

About 5 minutes later they had a fish on. I apologize for the photo quality, but I only had my smartphone on me at the time. The lady on the boat finally reeled in a shaker sturgeon. After the second fish on, we decided to move next to them and fish for sturgeon. After two hours and no bites fishing for salmon, it seemed like a good thing to do.

For the love of boating "Owning a Rigid Inflatable Boat"

This site is to express one of my hobbies. Rigid Inflatable Boats or RIBs for short. In my search for the perfect boat, I came across the inflatable kind. Growing up as a son of a fisherman, my father and I have gotten into some scary situations with his boats. The old, heavy, underpowered, fiberglass over wood boats. So I didn't want to follow in his foot steps. What I wanted was a small lightweight boat that could carry a load more than 700 lbs.

A small tri-hull would work, but two men, motor, and gear would be near capacity. Aluminum was out of the question. Don't know why, but the carrying capacity was one issue, and seaworthiness of a 12' boat would be another. Then I found this Zodiac Mark II inflatable boat in the Little Nickel ads. It was the boat, motor, and trailer for $1200.00. Sold! I had my first inflatable. Though it wasn't a RIB, it is what got me to the fascination of RIBs today.


I got my first RIB about 9 years ago. It was an old, discarded, Zodiac Hurricane 380 that was left in a field in Chehalis, WA.

The history of the boat is that it was used for the Exxon Valdez clean up in Alaska, and then auctioned off in Washington. The owner had put it on eBay, and I was the lucky winner of the auction for $320.00 delivered.

I remember the day the previous owner had dropped it off. It smelled, the tubes were in bad shape. Only one section would hold air, and the remaining sections had seen a lot sun. The hull had a one hole at the keel near the bow. So as I assessed the damage, and pondered what the heck did I do. I decided to put some air in the only functioning tube, and about an hour later the thing blew! Trust me, it sounded like a M100 going off!

Next became the slow progress of getting back on the water. I removed the old tubes and got her down the bare hull. With a little glass work, sand, and some paint, she was ready for some new tubes. Next was to call around for replacement tubes. Luckily, I found a set from a local Zodiac dealer in Seattle for the price of $900.00 (regular $1800). The tubes would be shipped from Canada within the next week. After repairing the hull and it was off to the dealer. About $600.00 later the RIB was ready for water.

So that brings us to today. This type of boat is not widely accepted here in the Pacific Northwest. Hopefully, I can change people's perception with this site. In addition to my blog, there are a lot of sites out there. One mainly is www.rib.net. I highly recommend this site for those who are new to world of Rigid Inflatable boats. I will share my good an bad experiences with owning a RIB in this blog. So hopefully some of you can avoid my mistakes and enjoy this beautiful area we live in.