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.