Rib-TC

Rib-TC as the name suggests is a Rib (Rigid Inflatable Boat). She is a 5.45metre model made in England by RIBCRAFT.

We have owned her since August 2006 and have had several adventures with her this year.

She is 3 years old and was purchased new and the layout designed by her previous owner who named her TC.

This page is dedicated to those trips and adventures and we hope you like the stories and pictures we have to share with you.

 

2006. Time to stop working so hard and start playing!

22-June 2006 (Thursday)

Found TC for sale on the website boatsandoutboards. Having looked at many hundreds for sale on the net and a few more at dealers, this one really caught my eye. The main decider for me was the wide double cruising console. This was a "must have" if I wanted Tracy to use this boat with me. It meant that we could enjoy a day out on the water without shouting at each other all day as we have done so on other ribs where we sit in front and behind each other. The rest of the spec' was excellent. So we arranged to go and have a look.

 

25-June 2006 (Sunday)

We went to Bristol. Tracy (and I) were keen to watch the England game on telly that afternoon so we had to be home by 2.00! An Audi A4 and a very early start helped and we were at Gordano services on the M5 by 8.30 and we stopped for breakfast. Mark turned up with the boat towed by his Range Rover. He said he would be easy to spot and he wasn't wrong! The boat looked fantastic! We spent about an hour looking all over and asking loads of questions. Tracy was smiling, I was smiling, Mark wasn't so happy. He really didn't want to sell the boat but he wasn't using it as much as he had hoped. His children were growing up and interested in other things. There was only one small problem, the boat was for sale but wasn't available. Mark, his family and friends were booked to have one last holiday using the boat on a camping holiday to the Scilly Isles. That meant that we couldn't collect it until the 12 of August, nearly 6 weeks away. However the boat was exactly what we were looking for, Mark had taken great care both specifying the boat from new and looking after it and maintaining it since, we really had no choice. We struck a deal and agreed to send Mark a deposit cheque in the post. 6 Weeks went very slowly, we spoke to and emailed Mark often until he went on his holiday. We then just had to wait that bit longer till he returned and told us the boat was ready to collect.

                

4-August-2006

With 2 other helpers from the Sea Scout Troop Tracy passes her RYA Power Boat Level 2 course. This is 2 days of instruction with loads of practical sessions on the water and an overnight homework of navigation and journey planning. Well done Tracy!. Thanks to Brightlingsea Sailing Club.

12-August 2006

The day we had been waiting for. My friend and Sea Scout leader Rob came with us. He has an eye for detail and wouldn't be as emotionally involved in the purchase as I was. We met Mark at his lock up and went down to the docks in Bristol as we both agreed it would be a good idea to test everything before we transferred the money. It also gave us loads of time to ask questions regarding the boat, electronics and engine together with watching Mark launch and recovered the boat. The boat was in excellent condition and very clean. We had a great morning and spent about 2 hours driving round the docks and up the river, Mark demonstrated the boat at speed in the lower dock chamber. I was hooked and knew we had made the right decision to wait for it to become available. On the way home we stopped at Membury Services. A quick dash inside for the toilet and a KFC and we were back out in the truck park sitting on the boat still on it's trailer. Comments of noah and his ark were mentioned by some admirers as we sat and ate our lunch.

13-August-2006

The day we had really been waiting for!. Together with Rob and Nick, Tracy and I went out from Brightlingsea. This is to become a regular launch site for us. We used it with the Sea Scouts and when Rob and I help with safety boat crewing for the sailing club. We didn't really know where we was going or what we was going to find out about the boat. After about an hours cruising in the mouth of the river we decided that everything was going to be ok and went to Burnham on Crouch! This was to be our first trip. We had some paper charts with us, the chart plotter still needed the electronic maps for this area but it helped us find our way on the charts using the Lat/Long info. We arrived at the Royal Corinthian yacht club where we stopped for a drink. The return journey was a bit quicker as the tide was at high water and we were able to hop over one of the sandbars and take a short cut home. We all had a turn at the helm. Fantastic first day out on our new boat.

27-August-2006

Tied to a breakwater at Clacton, lunch-stop on a trip with Sudbury Sea Scout leaders and helpers from Brightlingsea to Clacton and back. Well if you are going to have an ice cream what better place than the beach!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another of the Ribs on the same trip. Or should that say 2 ribs? (Can you see Johnny Rescue as well?)          

This is me, Tracy and at the helm, Sammy (just for the day!)

28-August-2006

Just Tracy and I. We planned to go to Maldon to do a reccie' for a bigger trip later in the year when we hope to go up the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation to Chelmsford and return in a weekend. Taking in a sea trip and a freshwater trip. This was postponed as the sea was a bit rough going round towards West Mersea. There was a strong Westerly wind blowing over a big incoming tide. We decided instead to explore the river Colne and ended up at Rowhedge floating pontoon (see www.rowhedge.com for more details) for sandwiches and coffee. We then returned back to Brightlingsea but not before making the most of the spring tide and going right up to the strood, the causeway that links Mersea Island with the mainland.

       

       

       

 

8/9/10 September

Sea Scout Sailing Camp, Bawdsey. Click here to see the report.

22-September-2006

Southampton Boat Show. Having been to the Ribcraft Factory earlier in August to see how a rib like mine is manufactured we decided to go to the boatshow to have a look at one of the bigger commercial models in the line up. The weather was really rough, it rained all morning and we got soaked through. However we persisted and got a ride on a commercial rib. 10metres with twin 250 hp Suzuki outboards. This boat was specially made for historical and nature trips along the south coast out of Portland, see www.ukseasafaris.co.uk for more details.

            

As you can see it was a bit wet!!!

8-October-2006.

After much deliberation over the chances of it being very windy we decided to give it a go and headed for Brightlingsea for the trip to Maldon we wanted to do earlier in the year. I had recently met up with an old pal of mine who had also brought a boat and launches from Maldon. A quick phone call later and we decided to meet up at lunchtime. We launched as usual using the excellent services of the park and ride and were soon on our way to Maldon. The tide was a spring high tide at 5.1metres so I knew we have loads of water to play with and took the shortcut over the coakham hills. Not recommended unless you catch the top of the tide! It took us about an hour to get to Maldon.

 

 

We stopped along the way to look at the slipway at Ramsey Island and followed the channel round the south side of Osea Island and the  North side of Northey Island checking out the sea lock at the entrance to the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. We made good time to Maldon so we took a look at the town quay and the old wharfs going as far as the low road bridge before turning round and returning to a mooring near the slipway at the end of the prom' where Barry was launching his boat.

 

After a sandwich and a coffee we were soon off again. We went around the south side of Northey Island crossing the causeway with ample water. This was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me as I used to sail from here when we camped on the Island as Sea Scouts when I was only about 12. We had great times and sailed every day for a week at a time. We continued back up river to the outfall wall just off Bradwell power station. After a few minutes chatting with Barry and his crew, suggesting that next time we come out he "is" going to try water skiing, we both headed off. Barry returned to Maldon making sure he still had enough water to get the boat out. We headed off to West Mersea just to have a look round. We got back to Brightlingsea around 4.00pm and were recovered by Brian on the tractor.

 

 

 

A great day was had on an excellent October warm and sunny day.

15-October-2006

Well here we go again. This time it's off to Walton on the Naze, or at least that was the plan. We met up with Barry again who we saw last week in his boat at Maldon and planed to head out in just our boat this time. Barry brought his son Ryan along for the day as well. The day started in the cafe at Brightlingsea for a quick "what, where and how are we going to be doing today" over a cup of tea and a bacon and egg sandwich. We did a quick journey plan and discussed the weather and tides, all of which have a part to play. The tides were low neeps with LW at 13.30 BST and the weather was a force 4 or 5 increasing 6. However the sun was shinning and the day was forecast to be quite warm. We discussed the lack of water over Colne Bar and agreed we would have to head out quite a way before being able to turn and head up to Clacton. We would then get quite a strong head wind which may be a bit uncomfortable but we decided to stick with the plan for now.

We were launched by Brian from the park and ride as usual, (well done Brian for passing your RYA Power Boat Level 2 this week) and slowly made our way out of the creek in not much water. Turning south at the cardinal mark and observing the 8 knot speed limit for the short distance to the no speed limit buoys we were away. It was still a bit misty but the sun was starting to shine through. We had a good run heading south, the sea was quite flat as the tide was hardly running. Once we turned east though it started to chop up a bit but we continued as we had planned all be it much slower. Our cruising speed was reduced from a normal 20 knots to a more sedate 8 or 9 knots.

We arrived at Clacton Pier about an hour and a 15 minutes later and had a look at the lifeboat station. The lifeboat was out as the doors were open and the lifeboat was gone. The journey to Clacton Pier should have taken us about 30 minutes so we knew we were not going to make it all the way to Walton today. As this was the furthest I had been and keen to see a bit more so we carried on along the coast for a further hour or so and made it to the radar tower near to Holland on Sea before turning round and heading back.

The return journey was much easier, travelling with the wind it disappeared and the sun was hot on our faces. We could also get the boat up to speed again and surfed down many waves. We arrived back in Brightlingsea at about 2.00pm. Barry and Ryan decided they had had a good day and said their goodbye's. Tracy and I finished our lunch and were soon back out on the river. I wanted to check out a no speed limit zone on the river a little further inland. This is reserved for water sports like jet skies and water skiing. There was no one out today so it gave Tracy the opportunity to drive the boat at speed (25knots) to get used to the feel and sound of the boat and engine with some high speed turns thrown in for good measure. This was followed by a quick session of manoeuvres near to one of the buoys in quite strong wind and tide and we were done for the day.

We had another great day and the weather was really great for mid October. Lets hope it continues and we get more chances to use the boat this year. Sorry no photo's as I left the camera in the van......

22-10-2006

Something a bit different this weekend. First off on Saturday we helped at the working party restoring Stratford St Mary Lock. See the working party pages for details of this. Then on Sunday Tracy and I together with James (one of the Sea Scout helpers) went to Wivenhoe to do our Marine VHF/DSC radio operators license. This was held at the Nottage. The Nottage is a maritime museum during the summer and a maritime educational centre during the winter. Whilst we was there the workshop was full of lovely wooden clinker dinghies being built using very traditional skills and materials. We would recommend the Nottage as a training centre and invite you to take a look at their website. The Nottage is a registered charity and raises funds from donations and income from training courses.

 http://homepages.rya-online.net/nottage-maritime-institute/

   

      

29-10-2006

Time for the clocks to go back. An extra hour in bed or an extra hour on the water? Easy, an extra hour on the water! Tracy and I decided not to adjust our watches until we arrived at Brightlingsea, so we arrived at 10.00am then changed them back to 9.00am. This meant we had the extra hour on the water rather than at home in bed. The weather was good, clear skies and sunshine. The wind was not too bad and the forecast was for a good day's boating. We wanted to go to Walton on our last adventure but didn't make it as we couldn't go fast enough to get there and back. Today was going to be different. A quick journey plan and we were off again.

Heading out of the creak on a bearing of 160 degrees and we soon passed Colne point and Colne bar (30knots on the flat sea) we then turned and headed up the coast, not as close as we have done previously when going this way. This time we wanted to see a few more of the bigger shipping buoys so we headed out past Eagle and on to the first one, Wallet number 3 then on to Wallet number 4 (we made a small mistake here and found oriana instead, oops!) and turning in towards the naze at Medusa. We soon picked up the channel at Crab Knoll and followed the other boats up the channel to Titmarsh marina where we stopped for our usual sandwiches and coffee. I might treat Tracy to a meal out one of these days. The journey plan calculated the distance at 23.6 miles although this didn't include the final part of the channel to the marina. The chart plotter/gps showed a distance of 26.9. Not bad I thought. We went round some of the buoys a few times as well taking photos and changing drivers. The time to do this was 2 hours and 40 minutes. The journey plan indicated this would take 1hour and 30mins. I guess I need to do some work on this. Perhaps we don't go as fast on average as I thought we did.

I also suspect we have an error in our compass. We will check this out on future trips.

The return journey was a pleasant 30 knots along the coast just off the ends of the piers at Walton and Clacton, stopping to take a look at the Thames area coastguard station at Walton and the lifeboat on its mooring at the end of the pier. I wonder if the lifeboat crew run the whole length of the pier before boarding the lifeboat?

By the time we got back into the Colne the sea had flattened to nothing so we drifted for a while near the inner bench head buoy and did some hand bearing compass work before heading back into the creak.

Back on the trailer and a tow to the park and ride and that was another great day over. Global warming, bring it on, if the summer extends into November.

       

       

       

   

27th December 2006

Inspired by my dad, Laurie to live and active and full life and with his help, patience, support and guidance I hope I am, this would have been his birthday. Dad always did mad things on his birthday like dragging us as small children to some windswept shelter next to the sea at Clacton to eat the last remaining turkey sandwiches and enjoy some hot soup from a flask enjoying the brisk and cold fresh air, he would tell us all he was doing us good and to stop moaning. In more recent times he would enjoy a row down the river in his rowing boat, sometimes using his electric outboard to get to the pub for a drink and a sandwich that bit quicker.

Continue this theme I decided to take our boat out and enjoy the same kind of day. Launching from Brightlingsea, this time without the help of the park and ride as we missed the morning launches. We headed out to sea with Nick, Rob and 2 of the older sea scouts Will and Isaac. Rob took the helm first and took us out through the channel which at low tide was a bit shallow and very narrow we were soon past the south cardinal and picking up speed as we left the 8 knot markers behind. We identified the Colne Point, Colne Bar and Eagle buoys as we passed them by. Will then took the helm followed soon after by Isaac and between them they both navigated using the chart plotter and helmed the rib up to the old lifeboat station on the pier at Clacton. From here we headed out to the wallet number 6 buoy before Nick took the helm for a longer leg to the Wallet Spitway clearwater buoy. Listening to the bell and again using the chart plotter to set a "goto" of the NW Knoll port buoy we headed back into the River Colne/Blackwater estuary at last it was my turn to take the helm. The visibility was dropping and with the tide starting to run we decided we had all had a good if not a bit cold day and headed back to the hard to recover the boat. Thanks to my willing friends and crew for making this day a bit special.

           

If you have any comments or questions about our adventures in TC, please use the email address that can be found in the contacts section.

 www.riverstour.com