Newbee on-line

SnugTug · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:44 pm Post subject: Newbee on-line

Got a Ranger 25 in June 2007 -- love it. Never bothered to look around the internet for other owners until now. Finally looked into the C-Brats site from the Ranger Tugs website today. Great resource! All the issues I've been dealing with are well covered by others who have given it even more thought than I have. (Dinghy, storage, cleaning the brass, Kleen Heat for the Wallas stove, etc.) Picked up a Maxxon 7.5 ft inflatable dinghy (which we store on the swim platform) shortly after buying the Ranger last year. Lots of other good ideas in the forum.

We bought Snug Tug at Grattitude Yachting Center in Rock Hall Maryland but keep it in Ocean City, NJ. Anyone else out there on the NJ coast?

Our only significant trip was up the Jersy coast, through NY harbor, Hell Gate, Long Island Sound to Block Island, RI, Newport and up Narraganset bay to Providence, RI to visit our daughter. Great trip! Too bad we only had a two weeks vacation. Other than that, we cruise the coast of NJ. This summer Nantucket and Cape Cod are on the agenda (Still limited by available vacation time until retirement.) Can't wait!

Issues with the boat: (Mostly electrical) Wouldn't start one day just before the big trip. Found a bad ground connection where the ground strap attaches to the starter housing on the engine. (The paint wasn't scraped from under where the strap is attached.) Also found quite a few very loose bolts on battery cables. Also the house battery and starter battery cables were wired in reverse (the engine was starting from the house battery and the house stuff was running off the start battery!) Came across these issues while troubleshooting the bad ground problem. It also explained some other confusing electrical issues which went away once the main problem was corrected. Several other minor wiring issues. Minor non-electrical: Couldn't replace the Racor fuel filter because it was mounted too low to unscrew it from the bottom (re-mounted it higher).

That's enough for now. Later I'll be asking about maintenance issues, changing oil for the engine, transmission and genset. (Did it once, made a mess taking off the oil filter!) Might put an aftermarket Bimini on this spring??

Until then . . .

Jon & Marilyn Ponder
Collegeville, PA
(Boat kept in Ocean City, NJ)

thataway · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject:

Welcome aboard.

IT-SEA-BIT-C · Guest

good luck with your new tug and welcome to the site its great i"m about 30 mi. north of manhattan in stony piont on hudson river and cruise mostly LI& the river but hit new jersy frequently mabey will catch up this summer and cruise would luv to see ur tug ..........john

Trinity · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject:

Welcome!
Congrats on your new tug.

You will find this site has a wealth of information. We have had our R25 since September. Hull #46. You will find if you have any problems or questions, the factory gives great customer service.

Pat Anderson · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject:

Well, all right New Jersey! I am Rutgers-Camden Law Class of 1975! Brady Hill on Minnow is in East Amwell, don't know any other NJ Brats, but Marty Platzner (Lizzie) here in Washington State is New Jersey through and through!

dotnmarty · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject:

Hey Pat--Just because my ashes will be strewn in a booth at Mastoris Diner........

Welcome Snug Tug!

EDBRADY · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject:

Congrats on your purchase. Sounds like a you had a great crusie this past summer. How was the trip through Hell Gate. I keep my R25 in Stratford, Ct on Long Is Sound. We also cruised to Block Is and then separate trips to Montauk Long Is and East Hampton, Long Is. Plan on cruising down the East River to lower Manhattan and then up the Hudson this coming season. Perhaps we will cross paths.
Regards,
Ed Brady - Bradys Bunch

captd · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:41 am Post subject:

Welcome Jon & Marilyn,
Say active on the site, The more the merrier. Good source of how to fix things. Your electrical problem will cause me to check mine out. Battery runs down when nothing is on.

We just got to the Keys yesterday. Islamorada. Nice slip for the boat right in front of the house. Should be great fun for a couple of weeks. Son-in-Law and daughter got in late last night.

Captd

terraplane · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:01 am Post subject: ranger 25

Hi and welcome.

I live in Rock Hall and have been looking at a 25 . Jack, Robin and Ed are friends. I love the boat and am in the 'talking" stage with them

From what i hear, Ranger has worked to solve some of the wiring and electrical problems.

Any questions i should raise with Jack Heffner based on your experience?

By the way, we are having our annual C dory/ Ranger gathering here on June 6, 7,8...why not make a run down for the weekend?

I lived in Poughkeepsie for years (Vassar professor) and love the Hudson. I'm an old Clearwater member...a beautiful river, especially in Fall season.

Good luck with your boat and welcome to the site

Terraplane

SnugTug · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject: Thanks for the welcome

Thanks to all for the welcome to the forum.

On the question of the passage through Hell Gate: No problem at all. Went through at 10-11 knots boat speed which gave us 14+ knots GPS speed with the current in our direction. Lots of eddys and standing waves of 2 to 3 feet so it felt a bit like running the rapids. It wouldn't be a good place to have an engine failure! We stopped at Oyster Bay and Mattituck on the way through Long Island sound. Had some thick fog from Mattituck through Plum Gut over to Block Island.

Concerning the Rock Hall c-Dory rendevous, I think we were [inadvertently] at the last one in Langford Marina just south of Rock Hall last June (2007). We went there to go for a ride on the R-25 before we bought it and saw the c-Dory crowd gathered there. We took a good look at the layout on all the c-Dorys to get ideas on how to live in cozy quarters.

As far as any concerns for new buyers to watch out for, we don't have any. Just be sure you're satisfied with the available space and speed. We're comfortable curising at 10 or 11 knots fully loaded for cruising, which is pushing the Yanmar 110 hp pretty hard at 3000 rpm just 200 below the max limit of 3200 RPM. (3100 rpm is the max continuous) We basically use two speeds: 1900 rpm for 6.5 knots displacement speed which gives 1 gallon per hour burn rate (6.5 NM per gallon) or 3000 rpm which gives 10 to 11 knots depending upon waves/wind and burns 4.4 gals per hour (2.5 NM per gallon). Your mileage may vary . . .

Jon & Marilyn

W3DVY

PenguinPA · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject:

Welcome Jon!

Love to hear about the east coast adventures. Hope to make your acquaitance someday soon!