Business

Rancho Santa Fe family riding
the waves of success

Heather McDonald and Ken Manzoni of Adventure R.I.B. Rides with their water babies Gabrielle, 3, and Kaelin, 11 months.

By Maria Connor

Since launching their boating adventure company last August, Rancho Santa Fe husband-and-wife team Ken Manzoni and Heather McDonald have been riding a tidal wave of success.

Adventure R.I.B. Rides offers charter excursions around the Southern California coast on an authentic Navy SEAL Rigid Inflatable Boat, or R.I.B, that has been reconditioned and outfitted with quiet, eco-friendly engines.

The six-passenger vehicle makes for an exhilarating, intimate ocean excursion.

As the one-year anniversary of their business approached, Manzoni and McDonald celebrated the success of their professional venture and the coinciding 10-year milestone in their marriage. With their two daughters, Gabrielle, 3, and Kaelin, 11 months, they are a family that works together— and plays together.

“We’d been looking to start a charter business for several years now,” McDonald said.

They checked out boats in Mexico and the Pacific Northwest, but it wasn’t until they came across a decommissioned Navy SEAL team boat for sale that they found what they truly wanted.

“We thought it was a great niche for here in San Diego,” McDonald said.

After meeting, and marrying, in Northern California, the couple moved to Rancho Santa Fe where McDonald was raised. With a toddler and another child on the way, McDonald left her job as a program director for a youth arts non-profit organization to handle marketing for their new venture.

Stepping into the role of captain was natural for Manzoni, who grew up on the water. “I’ve been a professional mariner all my life,” he said. “I’m really a sailor at heart.”

While they expected to capitalize on the busy summer tourist season, the popularity of winter whale watching took them by surprise. The potential to expand beyond recreational excursions has been a big part of the company’s success.

Adventure R.I.B. Rides caters not only to tourists, but also to naturalists and researchers requiring access to the environment. The boat has been used for special events and corporate team building activities, organized by Manzoni and McDonald’s other company, Premiere Yacht Charters.

Several different adventure games can be customized to the needs of individual clients for professional or personal events. For those preferring an intellectual challenge, participants compete to answer trivia questions about naval, natural and San Diego history.

Hands-on activities such as a man overboard drill, tug o’ war, beach landing and knot tying are geared toward those looking for an extreme adventure.

“They feel like they are a Navy SEAL for the afternoon,” Manzoni said.

A pirate treasure hunt offers safe fun for younger participants, and is a great birthday party option.

For those with an interest in nature, the R.I.B. allows them to get close to nature without a lot of noise and disruption.

Naturalist and author Hadoram Shiriahi rode along on a whale watching outing in March. Manzoni took “special care to avoid disturbances to the animals and the surrounding environments,” Shiriahi said.

The wildlife sanctuary of the Coronado Islands in Mexico are a popular destination for biologists, and Californian researchers have hired Manzoni to transport them to study endangered species because of his earth-friendly policies.

Licensed to captain 100-ton vessels, Manzoni has sailed other charters, including a 58-foot, 49-passenger catamaran. He also got into water film production as a marine coordinator and started Premiere Yacht Charters under an umbrella corporation, Aqueous Solution.

Television and film producers found Manzoni’s water savvy a valuable asset and put him to work. His first project was the film “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” with Russell Crowe. Some of his other credits include the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and “CSI: Miami.”

“In the last five-to-six years, we’ve been trying to point out the benefits of doing water production filming in San Diego,” Manzoni said. “We like to think we can solve anyone’s challenges on the water.”

Both companies have expanded, almost faster than Manzoni and McDonald anticipated.

“I’ve been overwhelmed with the response,” Manzoni said. “Like any new business, there were challenges, like getting the word out there.”

Tag-teaming professional and family responsibilities, the couple has managed to respond to the tremendous success of Adventure R.I.B. Rides, and look forward to the future, which includes a sailing trip around the world when Gabrielle turns 10.

“It’s worked because we’re a team,” McDonald said.

For more information, and charter schedules, call (619) 808-2822 or visit www.adventureribrides.com.