Caribe, AB or ?

[bottleinamessage]

I'm going to replace my HP air floor dink with an RIB lite.

Any opinions advice as to which brand/model to buy?

[Vasco]

I've had an AB Lite (10'06") for the last few years. Very happy with it. Nice big tubes and good sheer, rides pretty dry. AB has been growing in popularity over Caribes the last few years. Both are good buys.

[bottleinamessage]

Vasco: What engine and HP do you have?
Thanks.

[Vasco]

15 hp Yamaha 2 stroke. The most common dink/engine combination seems to be an AB or Caribe with the 15hp Yamaha 2 stroke. My engine is five years old now, used heavily for 6 months out of the year. I change the plugs every year and that's it.

[camaraderie]

I've got the Caribe 10 lite. Like it very much...way better than my prior West/Avon model. I have heard good things about AB too so my guess is you can't go wrong with either.

[bottleinamessage]

Thanks to all for the input. Stopped today and looked at the Apex. Still leaning towards the AB. It would be nice if someone would build one that iincorporated all of the best features of each.

[Prflyer1]

Have owned Caribe here in the Caribean, they really hold well, great ride, and the resale value is big.

Danny

[Pblais]

I have a very old AB and it's more than 12 years old and is doing better than I am. You just need to keep the UV off thenm and they will alst a very long time.

[bottleinamessage]

Bought the AB 10 Lite yesterday. The local dealer took my HP floor in trade. This morning I installed a "keel guard" and wased the hull. Tomorrow we'll splash it and fabricate lifting straps.

[Vasco]

bottle,

I put two lifting rings in the forward part of my AB. A couple of "D" rings in the sides of the hull before the double bottom starts. I couldn't see lifting it with the one ring in the bow. The lifting rings in the transom were ok. I made a harness out ss wire, nicro pressed and snap hooks. I leave that on the davit falls and just snap them onto the dink when I haul the dink. I leave the motor on as my longest passage is a day or two.

[bottleinamessage]

How did you attach them? Drill thru the bottom of the boat? I would also prefer to liftiing points. Got any pictures?

[Vasco]

bottle,

No close-ups and the boats in FL and I'm in Toronto. In the picture in my earlier posting you can see my dink, the second one from the right. You can see like a grey smudge in the figlass hull fwd of the numbers. That's one of the d rings. Drill through the single skin, the d ring comes with two backing plates, one on the outside and one on the inside, some 5200 and a couple of acorn nuts to cap the bolts.

[bottleinamessage]

Rick: That is a very good idea. Thanks for sharing it. I reviewed what AB provided for lifting points and looked at what you did. Your idea is far superior. So today I went to WM and picked up all the components to duplicate your idea. Took me about 20 minutes to install. Really works great.
Thanks again.
Jay

[Vasco]

bottle,

You're welcome.

[bottleinamessage]

Took our first ride yesterday. The Yamaha 15 2 stroke is a delight compared to the Merc. It's so much quieter. The ride was dry even the Chesapeake chop. Needless to say, I'm very pleased.