Feb 20/2010 First trip with the RIB

    Pantoja, Frank, Alan and myself out of Haulover, first trip with my boat. Also my first time diving in 2.5 months. Vis was pretty good, water was cold. It was good to know that I could do 50ft right away being out of it for so long. I don't know the water temp but with the 3mm open cell suit it was ok on the surface but I could feel the cold near the bottom. I wouldn't mind a 5mm right now. Pantoja says it's colder this year than years past.


    We did some reef and artificials. I think fish are around. While I didn't shoot anything, I didn't care much anyways as I was more concerned with getting in the groove with the boat, I saw all kinds of fish. I missed on a big king and a yellow jack. Of course there was a very nice gag grouper where I've never seen grouper before. It was very distressing to not be able to shoot it. The guys had numerous sightings of good size grouper.


    Right at the end of the day, well we ended the day at that point, one of the chambers of the RIB deflated completely. We made it back no problem as the boat has 5 separate chambers and to my understanding will not sink even if they were all deflated. Today I learned all about how the tube inflation valves work and fixed the problem one. Overall I'm pleased with the performance of the boat and to my surprise it did fairly well with 4 divers on board.


    The guys got a bunch of fish, here are some of them.


    Ahhh..good times.:thumbsup2:


    I don't like diving Halouver because the viz is usually pretty bad, but yesterday it was an easy 30-40ft.
    Temps were at 66* in the morning. I wasn't cold in my 3mm,but I could definitely could feel how cold it was. At about 10 or so it warmed up to 70*. Fish were everywhere, almost had limit on hogs. Groupers were everywhere:@. One even tried to make friends:laughing3: with Sergio while he was chasing a hog. Fun day on the water with friends and shooting fish:thumbsup2:

    awesome Dan....and gang.


    sounds like the new craft fared well? Do you know why that chamber deflated? did you notice any other things you need to add/ remove/ rebuild or improve?


    glad you were hitting 50 w no problem...makes me feel like there is hope when I finally get a diveable day :)

    i like to spear fish

    nice, boat looks good.


    water was cold today in Boynton too, 70 degrees but the vis was outstanding, easy 75'. Saw a big gag and the biggest red grouper I've seen.


    I think I might need a 5mm top for next year.

    China V.I.P

    Thanks.




    Quote from LunkerBuster

    Do you know why that chamber deflated? did you notice any other things you need to add/ remove/ rebuild or improve?

    I still don't know why it deflated. I removed and cleaned the valve but didn't know how to put it back in correctly, and in the process destroyed a thin rubber patch which is the active part in holding the air in. I then made a new one out of a piece of bicycle inner tube, figured out how to insert the valve correctly, and it works fine now.


    I realized that the Bimini top is not necessary until the summer so I removed it. I need to figure out a place for the weight belts as they marked up my transom. I'm going to go with Frank's suggestion and install a bilge pump. The GPS and sonar are not working properly and need to be fixed. Other than that everything's good.

    I do my best to avoid the hard questions and there you go and jump straight to it :) The guys named it rompeculo (ass braker) because it seems I was going a little fast and they had a bouncy ride. I wasn't feeling it because I was sitting in the drivers chair. I don't know what to name it, maybe the same as my line of spearfishing gear except I don't have a name for that either.

    very cool Dan, have you thought about just having a milkcrate you bring in and out of the boat for belts and such.


    if you cut up a pair of lobster gloves (3bucks) and glue then to the bottom of the crate it will neither slide around nor mark your boat...just a suggestion.

    i like to spear fish

    Dan, congrets on her maiden voyage. I made a nasty 26 mile crossing to a off shore island in 7 foot seas.
    When I motored in the Avalon harbor I pulled a Guinness out of the cooler, gently cracked it on the anchor
    fluke, and named her BREATHLESS.


    I would carry on board , two air pumps and a valve service kit for all the valves. Plus patch kits and extra
    prop and drive pins. Every boat needs a bucket;).
    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited 6 times, last by Don Paul ().

    Quote from Dan

    I guess I'll need then for something special to happen to name the boat.


    and you're crazy :)


    Chicks, dogs and boats get their true names only after some adventure.:thumbsup2:
    Don
    PS....Llamala Conejo Blanco

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited 2 times, last by Don Paul ().

    Nice job on the fish. I think Haulover is better than Ft. Lauderdale, what was the sea state like?



    Conejo Blanco might be a sign, for some reason one has appeared eating grass in my backyard for a couple of weeks now.

    Davie Peguero

    Quote from seaweed

    Nice job on the fish. I think Haulover is better than Ft. Lauderdale, what was the sea state like?



    Conejo Blanco might be a sign, for some reason one has appeared eating grass in my backyard for a couple of weeks now.


    Man.... if I was Dan I would except this as an omen from God.;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1cfTMdjkYM
    And leave the bananas at the dock.:nono:
    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited once, last by Don Paul ().

    an really beautiful boat. Hope you enjoy it for lots of years to come. So how many bloody spots you have a the end of the trip. Good start...a good feeling. You need to come up with a name for everything. Have you narrow down to a few or you just still waiting?


    Congrats

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