SIB - Soft inflatable boat
Discussion
I have an old Avon Redcrest with a 4hp that I've since a child in the early 80s. I was essentially an emergency tender in the locker of my fathers boat which I essentially purloined for mucking about.
Anyway, I made some new boards for it last month, serviced the outboard and have taken the children out on it. The plan is to just sling it in the boot whenever the weather looks good over the summer and just potter about on the Avon and Thames. Licenses and insurance already sorted.
However, the children enjoyed it much more than I expected so I have been pondering an upgrade that for this summer will work the same way but be notably more practical as well as expanding the remit of what's possible.
As such I have been looking at SIBs around the 3.5-4m mark. These would be just about manageable in terms of hoisting out of the boot, setting up and wheeling to the water while two children sit there making jokes about some fat old ginger t
t sweating in the sun.
The Honwave T38 seems to be the common option but the Excel which is basically the same price has the flat air deck which will be better for the children and the rollock set up also seems more convenient.
Later in the summer I might pick up a 20hp outboard but the general plan is to not throw any money at this unless the children really do have a great summer and then I would look to pick up a 6m RIB and go the whole hog.
I guess I'm wondering if people have experience of these SIBs?
Anyway, I made some new boards for it last month, serviced the outboard and have taken the children out on it. The plan is to just sling it in the boot whenever the weather looks good over the summer and just potter about on the Avon and Thames. Licenses and insurance already sorted.
However, the children enjoyed it much more than I expected so I have been pondering an upgrade that for this summer will work the same way but be notably more practical as well as expanding the remit of what's possible.
As such I have been looking at SIBs around the 3.5-4m mark. These would be just about manageable in terms of hoisting out of the boot, setting up and wheeling to the water while two children sit there making jokes about some fat old ginger t
t sweating in the sun. The Honwave T38 seems to be the common option but the Excel which is basically the same price has the flat air deck which will be better for the children and the rollock set up also seems more convenient.
Later in the summer I might pick up a 20hp outboard but the general plan is to not throw any money at this unless the children really do have a great summer and then I would look to pick up a 6m RIB and go the whole hog.
I guess I'm wondering if people have experience of these SIBs?
A friend has a very similar SIB to yours as a tender for his yacht which lives on a mooring. I never cease to be amazed how the dinghy rolls up so small and both the engine and boat are easily manageable to get in and out of the water, inflate and deflate quickly and go in the car with room everything else.
If you do buy a bigger SIB, my advice would be to not get rid of your existing dinghy for a while. An increase in weight and size could soon lose all the advantages that make your current one so enjoyable. A bigger boat with a bigger, heavier, thirstier engine, maybe a separate fuel tank, longer inflation/deflation times, more weight to hump around both at home and on the shoreline, you will start looking wistfully at that smaller dinghy.
If you do buy a bigger SIB, my advice would be to not get rid of your existing dinghy for a while. An increase in weight and size could soon lose all the advantages that make your current one so enjoyable. A bigger boat with a bigger, heavier, thirstier engine, maybe a separate fuel tank, longer inflation/deflation times, more weight to hump around both at home and on the shoreline, you will start looking wistfully at that smaller dinghy.
I have a boatworld SIB which is very similar design to the honwave but less money. It has a rigid inflatable floor and bombs about with a 10hp 2-stroke. We initially bought it for playing about with on a holiday to Lake Garda but now use it as a part time tender on our bigger boat.
Edited add https://boatworld.co.uk/boatworld-air-v-type-floor...
Edited add https://boatworld.co.uk/boatworld-air-v-type-floor...
I bought a second hand Honwave sib as our first boat to see if we enjoyed being out on the water as a family. It was great and in a way I wish I had held onto it. We had the 4.0m version with the metal floor and a 20hp Honda outboard.
I kept it on a pontoon in Salcombe that was accessible at all tides and we took it along the coast to Hope Cove and round past Start point the other way. It handled it pretty well considering that's open water.
Downside is at that size, and with the metal floor, it was quite heavy. We had some wheels on the transom but it was still hardwork dragging it up onto the beach. Mine came on a trailer so I never inflated/deflated it but I did have an electric pump that runs off a car battery to top it up. Something like that would make life a lot easier than manually pumping to inflate it.
We upgraded to a 4m rib for two years, and then bought a 7m wooden launch. I used the rib as a tender to get out to the pontoon but sold that last March. I replaced it with a cheap second hand small fibreglass Bonwitco dinghy but I'm thinking of going back to a smaller Honwave as I found the inflatables much more stable than the Bonwitco.
I don't think you'll go wrong with one and if you don't like it you can sell it on easily. I sold mine after one year and got back what I paid.
I kept it on a pontoon in Salcombe that was accessible at all tides and we took it along the coast to Hope Cove and round past Start point the other way. It handled it pretty well considering that's open water.
Downside is at that size, and with the metal floor, it was quite heavy. We had some wheels on the transom but it was still hardwork dragging it up onto the beach. Mine came on a trailer so I never inflated/deflated it but I did have an electric pump that runs off a car battery to top it up. Something like that would make life a lot easier than manually pumping to inflate it.
We upgraded to a 4m rib for two years, and then bought a 7m wooden launch. I used the rib as a tender to get out to the pontoon but sold that last March. I replaced it with a cheap second hand small fibreglass Bonwitco dinghy but I'm thinking of going back to a smaller Honwave as I found the inflatables much more stable than the Bonwitco.
I don't think you'll go wrong with one and if you don't like it you can sell it on easily. I sold mine after one year and got back what I paid.
I used to have a similar Hondwave; the boat was great, but the 8HP Honda outboard was a PITA to lug about- heavy and awkward.
If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
mac96 said:
I used to have a similar Hondwave; the boat was great, but the 8HP Honda outboard was a PITA to lug about- heavy and awkward.
If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
I bought an 1103 Torqeedo last year for mine for that reason, no fuel tank to lug, fairly light and you don’t have to faff about trying to get it to start whilst bobbing about in the water. Particularly if you launch off the beach and there’s no pontoon to hold on to! Not sure about the Torqeedos range for a full day out as I only use it for a tender to get in to shore if we moor to a buoy but it’s surprisingly nippy. If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
Huntsman said:
Argh.
I have just sold an Avon Serider 4mtr.
They are fab, kids would love it.
I used to take a 13ft dellquay dory from Beaulieu to Cowes when I was a teenager. Used to take the ship to shore portable and enough money for an ice cream. Strangely, I can't imagine letting my children ever do that and I don't think I'd do it with them but the idea of the SIb would be to do some more adventurous stuff than just pottering down an inland water way. I have just sold an Avon Serider 4mtr.
They are fab, kids would love it.
CQ8 said:
I bought a second hand Honwave sib as our first boat to see if we enjoyed being out on the water as a family. It was great and in a way I wish I had held onto it. We had the 4.0m version with the metal floor and a 20hp Honda outboard.
I kept it on a pontoon in Salcombe that was accessible at all tides and we took it along the coast to Hope Cove and round past Start point the other way. It handled it pretty well considering that's open water.
Downside is at that size, and with the metal floor, it was quite heavy. We had some wheels on the transom but it was still hardwork dragging it up onto the beach. Mine came on a trailer so I never inflated/deflated it but I did have an electric pump that runs off a car battery to top it up. Something like that would make life a lot easier than manually pumping to inflate it.
We upgraded to a 4m rib for two years, and then bought a 7m wooden launch. I used the rib as a tender to get out to the pontoon but sold that last March. I replaced it with a cheap second hand small fibreglass Bonwitco dinghy but I'm thinking of going back to a smaller Honwave as I found the inflatables much more stable than the Bonwitco.
I don't think you'll go wrong with one and if you don't like it you can sell it on easily. I sold mine after one year and got back what I paid.
Thanks for that. The places that I have in mind to launch from will allow me to put it all together by the car. None of this stuff is light but for a season or two I'm willing to put in the graft to see how much the children enjoy it and if they do I'll make my life easier by getting something bigger on a trailer. And as you say, a well looked after boat and outboard should sell easily and kit will be bought with the view that it is transferable. I kept it on a pontoon in Salcombe that was accessible at all tides and we took it along the coast to Hope Cove and round past Start point the other way. It handled it pretty well considering that's open water.
Downside is at that size, and with the metal floor, it was quite heavy. We had some wheels on the transom but it was still hardwork dragging it up onto the beach. Mine came on a trailer so I never inflated/deflated it but I did have an electric pump that runs off a car battery to top it up. Something like that would make life a lot easier than manually pumping to inflate it.
We upgraded to a 4m rib for two years, and then bought a 7m wooden launch. I used the rib as a tender to get out to the pontoon but sold that last March. I replaced it with a cheap second hand small fibreglass Bonwitco dinghy but I'm thinking of going back to a smaller Honwave as I found the inflatables much more stable than the Bonwitco.
I don't think you'll go wrong with one and if you don't like it you can sell it on easily. I sold mine after one year and got back what I paid.
Do wear a kill cord and wear life-jackets. 
I do bore on about this because I had an accident due to my own stupidity and my friend Nick (and his daughter) were killed in an almost identical incident.
Accidents on the water can happen in a heartbeat and it's always bad.
Sorry.... bore mode off.
I do bore on about this because I had an accident due to my own stupidity and my friend Nick (and his daughter) were killed in an almost identical incident.
Accidents on the water can happen in a heartbeat and it's always bad.
Sorry.... bore mode off.
NDA said:
Do wear a kill cord and wear life-jackets.
I do bore on about this because I had an accident due to my own stupidity and my friend Nick (and his daughter) were killed in an almost identical incident.
Accidents on the water can happen in a heartbeat and it's always bad.
Sorry.... bore mode off.
I was about 8 when I watched a man stand in the water to start his ski boat only for it to tear off and run over someone swimming. I was on the beach with my mother and sister. We then watched my father who was on the boat anchored off shore, jump into the tender and use it to get alongside the circling speedboat to kill the engine. We all then watched the Air Sea Rescue helicopter arrive to take away the man whose back had been torn open by the prop. I do bore on about this because I had an accident due to my own stupidity and my friend Nick (and his daughter) were killed in an almost identical incident.
Accidents on the water can happen in a heartbeat and it's always bad.
Sorry.... bore mode off.
I was never allowed out without the kill cord attached and a life belt on and I never took them off once around the corner. I've been boating all my life from dinghies on the Solent up to Lutine further afield. I fully appreciate your sentiment and agree entirely. Much of the reason for wanting to do this now is to instil boat sense into my children long before they happen to end up on someone's boat who doesn't have a scooby.
Once that's done they will be big enough to move onto firearms.
DonkeyApple said:
Huntsman said:
Argh.
I have just sold an Avon Serider 4mtr.
They are fab, kids would love it.
I used to take a 13ft dellquay dory from Beaulieu to Cowes when I was a teenager. Used to take the ship to shore portable and enough money for an ice cream. Strangely, I can't imagine letting my children ever do that and I don't think I'd do it with them but the idea of the SIb would be to do some more adventurous stuff than just pottering down an inland water way. I have just sold an Avon Serider 4mtr.
They are fab, kids would love it.
hidetheelephants said:
Better drowned than duffers; if not duffers won't drown.
On of my favourite quotes. Good olde Arthur. Back in the 80s the Solent was mostly sail boats with a few motorboats. It's remarkable just how busy it is today with engined boats. Plus despite there being more eyes on the water I do feel there is a lot less looking today.
But there are three types of idiot that I feel it imperative for my children to be able to spot, those in cars, this on the water and those with guns. Lessons that have stood me well.
Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 21st April 00:35
4Q said:
mac96 said:
I used to have a similar Hondwave; the boat was great, but the 8HP Honda outboard was a PITA to lug about- heavy and awkward.
If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
I bought an 1103 Torqeedo last year for mine for that reason, no fuel tank to lug, fairly light and you don’t have to faff about trying to get it to start whilst bobbing about in the water. Particularly if you launch off the beach and there’s no pontoon to hold on to! Not sure about the Torqeedos range for a full day out as I only use it for a tender to get in to shore if we moor to a buoy but it’s surprisingly nippy. If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
DonkeyApple said:
hidetheelephants said:
Better drowned than duffers; if not duffers won't drown.
On of my favourite quotes. Good olde Arthur. Back in the 80s the Solent was mostly sail boats with a few motorboats. It's remarkable just how busy it is today with engined boats. Plus despite there being more eyes on the water I do feel there is a lot less looking today.
But there are three types of idiot that I feel it imperative for my children to be able to spot, those in cars, this on the water and those with guns. Lessons that have stood me well.
Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 21st April 00:35
I think that the access to 'easy boats' such as RIBs which present as being very user-friendly to operate has encouraged people to buy and run craft when they don't yet understand the nuances of the sea, and how to really handle a boat in tricky situations - the accident mentioned above is a good example and a tragic loss of life which could have been prevented... the power and speed capability of modern boats is scary - I have always resisted the notion of more regulation, but I would happily see a requirement for qualifications above certain levels of power - Level 2 PB does not teach you to drive a boat with a sufficient level of expertise... people should be encouraged to respect or be scared of the sea - not ideal for selling more toys, but a more accurate reflection of the complexity and what can go wrong...
I like the approach of water / roads / guns
I have taught lots of children to shoot from c. 10 years old - old enough to understand the safety, young enough to respect what you say / not have the teenager attitude of knowing better... your offspring will be brought up well! 4Q said:
mac96 said:
I used to have a similar Hondwave; the boat was great, but the 8HP Honda outboard was a PITA to lug about- heavy and awkward.
If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
I bought an 1103 Torqeedo last year for mine for that reason, no fuel tank to lug, fairly light and you don’t have to faff about trying to get it to start whilst bobbing about in the water. Particularly if you launch off the beach and there’s no pontoon to hold on to! Not sure about the Torqeedos range for a full day out as I only use it for a tender to get in to shore if we moor to a buoy but it’s surprisingly nippy. If the boat is going to be continually inflated/ deflated and the engine carted around a lot- make sure the engine is not too heavy. With hindsight, I would have used the boat more with a smaller outboard. O for the days of lightweight 2 stroke motors!
I don't know what the standard of driving was like r side of the A40 but in this side there are hatchbacks in hedges every weekend morning. The youth driving standard and possibly the alcohol involved seems ridiculous to me. I want my children to have the confidence to firstly not get into a car but secondly, if they find themselves in one to be instructing the driver to stop.
They're also very likely as they start to escape the gravitational pull of their parents to end up on shoots or boats and with both I've noticed a rise in the number of people who genuinely haven't taught themselves enough and are unsafe.
What's good about somewhere like the Beaulieu River is that there are private pontoons up near the mouth where a kid can get really good practice at mooring and handling with tides, wind and a bit of chop then go upstream to explore the creeks.
I'm sure that like shooting, yachting has had a significant influx of new participants due to the significant wealth expansion and you certainly see some poor skills coming in to marinas but that just helps the gin slip down. I suspect modern nave systems help hugely though. Back in the 80s your regularly see a motorboat cut the channel leaving the Beaulieu River over the bull run to only see it smash to a halt as it beached. You'd even see yachts do it. I'd imagine that modern nave systems remove a lot of those errors.
They're also very likely as they start to escape the gravitational pull of their parents to end up on shoots or boats and with both I've noticed a rise in the number of people who genuinely haven't taught themselves enough and are unsafe.
What's good about somewhere like the Beaulieu River is that there are private pontoons up near the mouth where a kid can get really good practice at mooring and handling with tides, wind and a bit of chop then go upstream to explore the creeks.
I'm sure that like shooting, yachting has had a significant influx of new participants due to the significant wealth expansion and you certainly see some poor skills coming in to marinas but that just helps the gin slip down.
I suspect modern nave systems help hugely though. Back in the 80s your regularly see a motorboat cut the channel leaving the Beaulieu River over the bull run to only see it smash to a halt as it beached. You'd even see yachts do it. I'd imagine that modern nave systems remove a lot of those errors. DonkeyApple said:
I don't know what the standard of driving was like r side of the A40 but in this side there are hatchbacks in hedges every weekend morning. The youth driving standard and possibly the alcohol involved seems ridiculous to me. I want my children to have the confidence to firstly not get into a car but secondly, if they find themselves in one to be instructing the driver to stop.
They're also very likely as they start to escape the gravitational pull of their parents to end up on shoots or boats and with both I've noticed a rise in the number of people who genuinely haven't taught themselves enough and are unsafe.
What's good about somewhere like the Beaulieu River is that there are private pontoons up near the mouth where a kid can get really good practice at mooring and handling with tides, wind and a bit of chop then go upstream to explore the creeks.
I'm sure that like shooting, yachting has had a significant influx of new participants due to the significant wealth expansion and you certainly see some poor skills coming in to marinas but that just helps the gin slip down. I suspect modern nave systems help hugely though. Back in the 80s your regularly see a motorboat cut the channel leaving the Beaulieu River over the bull run to only see it smash to a halt as it beached. You'd even see yachts do it. I'd imagine that modern nave systems remove a lot of those errors.
No different south of the A40 - especially on the Lechlade to Burford road - however I am now moved to Bristol, so the interesting difference is that teenagers have less need to drive - where in the Cotswolds it was a rite of passage and a necessity - often being cheaper than the school bus at 17, one year in our village, every 17 year old had rolled their car into a ditch on the road out of the village They're also very likely as they start to escape the gravitational pull of their parents to end up on shoots or boats and with both I've noticed a rise in the number of people who genuinely haven't taught themselves enough and are unsafe.
What's good about somewhere like the Beaulieu River is that there are private pontoons up near the mouth where a kid can get really good practice at mooring and handling with tides, wind and a bit of chop then go upstream to explore the creeks.
I'm sure that like shooting, yachting has had a significant influx of new participants due to the significant wealth expansion and you certainly see some poor skills coming in to marinas but that just helps the gin slip down.
I suspect modern nave systems help hugely though. Back in the 80s your regularly see a motorboat cut the channel leaving the Beaulieu River over the bull run to only see it smash to a halt as it beached. You'd even see yachts do it. I'd imagine that modern nave systems remove a lot of those errors. 
I think there is a rise in people taking part in leisure activities they haven't grown up with - where shooting under the age of 18 used to be primarily the offspring of farmers and landowners, there are a lot more teenagers going from clay shooting once a year to a shoot where they think they know how to handle a gun - rather than the older pattern of starting beating when < 10 moving to father and sons type days / rough shooting / beaters days, then getting a peg but with an adult standing guard - and hopefully coming out at 18 as a competent shot who is safe... on the shoot we had until recently, no under 18 stood on their own, there was always a competent gun with them... and they were more likely to pick up visiting guns who were not safe, then to cause issues themselves.
similarly, boats - you would often start as the child of a keen yacht owner or by living near by - starting simple with a punt or dinghy, learning to row and sail and eventually graduating to a simple outboard (seagull?!
) before working your way up to bigger and more powerful kit - a teenager who jumps into a rib with 200-300hp on the back as their first nautical experience is unlikely to have absorbed the same skills on the water... I think that throwing them in young in a small boat is perfect! The Beaulieu River is great -though you may have to avoid the odd landowner who claims it entirely as his (despite Exbury also owning some of it!) - happy memories of fast sorties up river at night by rib - you have to focus to stay in the river and not end up as an art installation on the Exbury bank!I think with any of these things it is about learning a craft - driving / shooting / sailing / etc. - where you start simple and learn the fieldcraft, understand how weather affects you, etc. and then as you build up skill you increase the complexity or sophistication of what you are doing - it is much easier to do that by starting children young and doing it deliberately, rather than the quick easy access too many teenagers and young adults have to expensive, powerful and expensive kit...
Thanks. The 3.6 Excel seems about right for what I have in mind. There's a 3.9 but I'm not sure an extra foot plus a few extra kg mean that much. A 15 Tohatsu seems to be the sweet spot for getting on the plane and hoisting in and out of a car. Setting up is never an issue compared to packing away at the end of the day but much of the time I'd just be using the old 4hp outboard and if the girls really do have fun then skipping to a 6m RIB would be the next logical step. I think the key benefit of the Excel will be the flat air deck floor when it comes to children sitting down and climbing in and out.
Given how weird this summer is going to be, having something as an option for day trips for not a lot of outlay is likely to be useful.
but much of the time I'd just be using the old 4hp outboard and if the girls really do have fun then skipping to a 6m RIB would be the next logical step. I think the key benefit of the Excel will be the flat air deck floor when it comes to children sitting down and climbing in and out. Given how weird this summer is going to be, having something as an option for day trips for not a lot of outlay is likely to be useful.
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