We bought a new 12' AB RIB dinghy with a eurohelm from St Croix and a Tohatsu 25 Hp four stroke outboard. After 4 months we are very happy with the package but the fact that the dealer installed a suite of ad-ons is what made it work. What I have found from research, experience and talking to other owners, is that the biggest problem is the porpoising and bow rise in these light dinghys. We bought it from Lifeline Marine in cape canaveral. They gave us a great price and wonderful service. They held the FL registration since we were leaving the state which allowed me to do a delaware registration with 3 years at $30 instead of doing FL sales tax and annual registration. The items added to make a package are: Doel fin, wedge to tilt motor back a few more degrees, and trim tabs with gas shocks. All these combine to bring the bow down as speed increases. The trim tabs were the most obvious addition to make the boat flatten out as it reaches playing speed. In getting quotes from a number of dealers, I found other dealers to bid equally on main items but add outrageous markups on the detail items. Lifeline gave me a fair deal all around. . HTH with your dinghy selection. Oh yeah, no ownership of the dealership, just a happy customer. Oh, they also brokered the sale of my old dinghy in a fair deal. Gregory Han

Lifeline Marine at Cape Canaveral is one of the best dealers around. I've used them a number of times for various items for previous dinghys, and just a year ago bought a new Achilles dinghy from "Gator" (the owner). Their price was about the same as Defender for the dinghy itself. Defender would charge shipping but no sales tax; Lifeline charged a sales tax (but no shipping) since I was going to register the dinghy in Florida, which I would have had to pay even if I bought it from Defender because of the Florida registration! So, I actually saved money (the cost of shipping from Defender) by buying at Lifeline. A minor problem developed later (paint delaminating from some of the floor boards) within the warranty period, and Gator got it all replaced after contacting the manufacturer. He's extremely knowledgeable and helpful. A good place to do business. <><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><> Bob McLeran and Judy Young Manatee Cove Marina MV Sanderling Patrick Air Force Base DeFever 41 Trawler Melbourne, Florida Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog Web: http://cruising.mvsanderling.net/ On 8/22/2012 5:28 PM, Greg Han - Allegria wrote: > We bought it from Lifeline Marine in cape > canaveral. They gave us a great price and wonderful service. They > held the FL registration since we were leaving the state which > allowed me to do a delaware registration with 3 years at $30 instead > of doing FL sales tax and annual registration.