RIB Charter in the Solent: Frequently asked questions

A RIB Charter is where you rent a RIB boat to either skipper/drive yourself, or if you don’t have the experience/qualifications required, go out with a qualified skipper. 

To rent one of our RIBs for a bareboat charter your designated skipper must have at least 3 years of experience driving a similar vessel. 

Alternatively, you can charter if you are an RYA Coastal Skipper and provide a boating CV.

These are stipulations made by our insurance company. 

If you don’t have the required qualifications you may be interested in booking an Assisted RIB Charter. 

Our insurance company highly value experience and if you’ve owned a boat you may have years of boating experience and not necessarily any formal qualifications.

When you fill in your booking form (or pre booking form so we can check your experience before pencilling in any dates) let us know as many details as you can about the boats you have owned, years owned and where you owned them. This boating CV will help if we need to chat with our insurers about covering your RIB charter. 

If you don’t have the necessary experience or you are feeling a little rusty or apprehensive, you may be interested in booking an Assisted RIB Charter. 

If you don’t have the necessary qualifications to rent one of our RIBs for a bareboat charter, or you are looking forward to enjoying a libation with lunch, then a skippered charter is perfect for you.

Our qualified skipper will drive the RIB and help you to enjoy your time onboard.

A skippered RIB charter is suitable for up to 7 guests per RIB. 

Read more here.

For safety reasons, to rent a RIB for a bareboat charter you will need to have at least two people on board.

If you are looking for an extra pair of hands to accompany you, we offer an Assisted RIB Charter. Click here to read more. 

For bareboat the person driving must be at least 25 years old.

For passengers we don’t have a minimum or maximum age.  We have child lifekjackets available and would ask for your childs age and weight in KG in order to supply the correct one on the day.  There is of course a safety element and we can help tailer your trip for the ages required given the weather forecast

The excess on both RIBs as a bareboat charter is £2500. This is the maximum you will be liable for in case of an accident.

We hope that most trips go without a hitch but if a member of your crew inflate a lifejacket or lose a piece of equipment then we will need to charge you the cost to repair or replace.

We offer the option to reduce your excess from £2500 to £1250 for a non-refundable payment of £75 per day – to do this, tick the box on the booking form.

The sun is shining and there is nowhere you’d rather be than on the water, not a problem give us a call and if one of our RIBs is available we’d be happy to arrange a last-minute charter.

Prior to your arrival at the marina, you will need to allow time for;

1. Completing the online booking form
2. E-mailing / WhatsApp through your identification if Bareboat (Driving licence or ID card, Passport, Certification cards)
3. Arranging payment via bank transfer.

If you think you are more likely to be last-minute in your decision to rent a RIB, we have a pre-booking form that allows us to pre-qualify your qualifications and hold your details on file.

This makes booking a last-minute RIB charter much quicker and easier.

Contact us and we can get 50% of the paperwork completed upfront.

Our RIBs are based at Hamble Point Marina. The marina is located at the mouth of the River Hamble and it’s the closest mainland marina to Solent Water.

You can enjoy trips across Solent Water between the Witterings and the Needles.

This will offer you a wide area to explore. You can enjoy trips to the Isle of Wight

No – our RIB’s are not allowed to go shallower than 2.0m.  Charterers and skippers are asked to employ a minimum 1.0m safety margin when calculating safe water depth for normal operations. You are therefore to operate the vessel with no less than 3.0m (10 feet) of water, when motoring.  The depth alarm on board will remind you at 2.0m when you must return to deeper water.

No – our RIB’s are not allowed to tow anything.  The insurance does not allow towing of any kind whether it is other boats, water skiis, wakeboard or toys.

The rate you see online or we quote via e-mail, is the full rate for renting one of our RIBs. This includes all fuel, safety equipment and VAT/ Skipper where applicable. 

Extras could include short-stay costs of mooring in a marina. If you are stopping for lunch, expect to pay circa £15 to cover your visit.

If you are visiting another MDL marina you won’t have to pay. You can visit Mercury Yacht Harbour, Port Hamble Marina, Ocean Village Marina, Sparkes or Hythe Marina at no extra charge. 

If you pick up a mooring buoy in Newtown Creek, you may be paid a visit by the National Trust, who maintain the buoys and look after the area. If you are not National Trust members they ask for a small donation to help them to maintain the mooring field.

We will be closely watching the weather prior to your trip.

We want all of our guests to enjoy a safe and fun time when they are out with Bluetooth RIB Charter.

If the weather is due to be unfavourable on the day of your charter, we will contact you the day before to see if you would like to reschedule your trip.

Yes of course, please click here to see the latest weather and tides in the Solent area. 

One of the big conundrums of living in the UK is the uncertainty of the weather.

What to wear and bring along with you will depend on the weather forecast for the day.

We don’t supply wet weather gear so please bring your own if required.

However, even the sunniest of days on the Solent can be chilly when travelling at speed on a RIB.

Rather layer up and be comfortable than wish you’d packed your gloves or a hat (that won’t blow away at speed!)

Sunscreen is important even on overcast days as being out on Solent Water is a great place to catch some rays.

Please note that our RIB’s have jockey style seating so trousers and shorts rather than a skirt or dress will be much more comfortable.

Shoes wise, flat with non-slip soles are best. Deck shoes, sailing boots or trainers are great and leave your heels at home!

Click here for our suggestions on what else you might want to bring for your RIB charter. 

Both RIBs have predominately jockey style seating for 6 passengers with a small bench seat in front of the console for 2 passengers and a seat at the rear for 2 passengers.

The jockey seats are nice and comfortable but if you are usually a skirt or dress wearer we would advise shorts or trousers may be a more practical option for your time onboard the RIB.

If either RIB and our skipper are available then yes we’d be happy to offer a water taxi service.

Please click here for more details.

Full day charters tend to run from 9-5 or 9.30-5.30. If we have both RIBs booked with different parties then we will stagger starts by 30 minutes. If you’d like to start later, please let us know and we’ll see what we can do to accommodate. 

Half day charters are booked for morning, afternoon or in the summer months, early evenings. Timings will be 9-1 or 9.30-1.30 and then 1.30-5.30 or 2-6. This allows us a little time between charters to clean off the RIB. 

If you’d like to enjoy a multi-day RIB charter and keep the RIB overnight, we need to know where you will be mooring her. 

If you are staying near Hamble, you can berth at Hamble Point Marina or another MDL marina free of charge. Let us know so that we can pre arrange that for you. 

You aren’t insured to drive at night, so she will need to be on her berth an hour before sunset.

We have really great working relationships with other local charter companies and by working together we can accommodate many more people than our own RIBs will hold. So we can arrange seats for as many people as you wish to bring with you – alongside commercially endorsed skippers if required. 

Our RIBs and skippers are based at Hamble Point Marina, the closest marina to Solent Water. 90% of our charters start and end from Hamble Point.

Our RIBs and skippers are based at Hamble Point Marina and 90% of our charters start and end there.

We are able to pick you up from other locations across the Solent and these may incur an extra fee to cover any extra marina charges plus a cost to cover time and fuel.

In theory we can pick you up from most locations across the Solent that have a marina or pontoon that we are able to access. Some locations are tidal and not accessible at all times throughout the day.

Please get in touch to chat through options for being met at locations other than Hamble Point Marina.

Onboard each RIB we have the following electronic equipment:

• Raymarine depth gauge
• Raymarine Axiom touchscreen chart plotter
• ICOM DSC VHF
• Handheld VHF
• 12v cigar-style socket

If you are looking for an original gift then a private RIB charter will not only offer the recipient something to look forward to. It will offer a great memory. 

Please click here for more details on our gift vouchers. 

To comply with coding, both RIBs carry 10 adult lifejackets on board at all times.

If you are travelling with children we recommend that you bring your own lifejackets so that you know they will fit correctly. 

We have a selection of children’s lifejackets available so please let us know your child’s weight if required so we can ensure we have one that fits. 

Unfortunately, pets are not allowed onboard, sorry.

The first step would be for you to get in contact with us.

Let us know what date(s) you are interested in, how many people you are looking for and what type of charter you are looking for.

We offer:

Skippered RIB charters for those with no or little experience.
Assisted RIB charters for those who don’t have the experience our insurance needs, are feeling rusty/apprehensive or who can skipper but are travelling alone. 
Bareboat RIB Charters for those with over 3 years of experience on a similar RIB and/or Coastal skipper. Please let us know more about the skipper’s experience when you enquire. 
Water Taxi for those wishing to be dropped off, picked up or enjoy a return trip to locations across the Solent. 

Once we have firmed up a date, we’ll send you an e-booking form for you to complete. Once received, we’ll send an invoice and when that is paid, your charter is confirmed.