So What Did You Do On or With Your Ranger Tug Today?

Island Ranger

Following in the C-Brat tradition, I thought I'd start a new Ranger Tug topic.

Today, actually yesterday, we went down to Lake Union Sea Ray in Fife, and crawled all over our new Ranger 25 - Island Ranger, hull number 23. The Factory is done, now it is up to LUSR to apply the bottom paint, and check things out. We're also waiting for Dave (King Canvas) to install the canopy and enclosure. We're hoping to take delivery this Friday (Good Friday) if it is ready,otherwise, we're planning on Sunday (Easter). We're going to launch there, and take Island Ranger home to Cultus Bay on her own bottom - then come back to get the trailer later. Can't wait!

The boat is even more than we had hoped. We found storage places that we didn't know existed. There is a hanging rod in the mid-cabin berth that I never saw before. I know there is a radar reflector now mounted inside the stack which makes us show up as a big 40' boat on radar! I love the separate red cabin lights - but can't believe all the switches. The new battery wiring looks great, and they included a support block under the thru-hull fitting to prevent damage.

I know John had to take her out twice already to get the ST6002 S1G Autopilot working correctly, and although it was raining pretty hard, there is no sign that water has ever gotten into the bilge (or anywhere else).

What a beautiful boat!

And, to help us move on in our transition, Tyboo changed our login from Two Lucky Fish (which is now Tim's boat) to Island Ranger. Alaska here we come!

See you all at Lopez.

Mac & Linda
Previously : Two Lucky Fish
Now : Island Ranger

C-Sick · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: Congratulations It is a Holy Week

Mac & Linda,

Congratulations on the progress of Island Ranger. I think it is so cool that you are going to head home on the water and pick up the trailer later. WTG

What all will LUSRF being doing to the boat - other than bottom paint and sea trials?

The timing is going to be just great to get some water under the hull before making the grand trip to alaska. I hope you will be able to post along the way.

Thanks for opening the New Thread.

Have a Holy Week!

Old Dog · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

Congratulations on the progress. Like you we are amazed at the amount of storage space that exists even if it isn't all as convenient as we'd like. What I miss most is not having any drawers so will be adding them.

Think it's cool that you are "driving" it home. Way to go. Will probably find a few things but the checkout on yours was undoubtably better than on earlier ones. LUSR is still learning as is the factory.

We are taking our first real sea trial this next week - probably starting tomorrow. Schedules/weather/stupidity/etc have taken a heavy toll on my patience but ...we finally have it all together (I hope) and will get off for a couple days. It doesn't count until the first mate says it's okay and she hasn't signed off yet.

I will send you a message about anything you need to watch for that we find this next week. Hopefully nothing major but little stuff maybe like the length of the drain hose on the built-in cooler - ours is - well, let's just say that it is too short.

Have fun - see you on the water.

starcrafttom · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 10:54 pm Post subject:

Mac if you spring for gas I can pick you up at the ferry drive you down, grab your trailer and be back at your house before you with the trailer . just need the funds for gas. the ranger (which gets better milage ) will pull the trailer with out boat just find. Call me.

Ron on Meander · Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject:

Mac,
Congrats on getting the new baby all ready to go. I'll bet you can't wait for Friday to come. I'm sure looking forward to seeing her in Lopez.
Happy Cruising
Ron

SeaSpray · Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:50 pm Post subject:

Hi Mac,
Congratulations on the new boat!

I will be waiting for pics from your Alaska trip.

Steve

Island Ranger · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:30 pm Post subject:

The sun is shining, it is 51 degrees, winds are calm, and I'm sitting at home. Sad

But Island Ranger is almost complete. Very Happy

Yesterday King Canvas Dave installed the canopy, but didn't like the way the enclosure fit so he took it back to the shop for some changes. His crew is headed back down to LUSR to finish today. In the meantime, Jack has started painting the bottom. Looks like we are on track for Friday. Can't wait!
Mac

sportner · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:11 pm Post subject:

Mac,
Congratulations, I can feel your excitement in your posts, looking forward to seeing you at Lopez.

Old Dog · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:01 pm Post subject:

Finally - at last - yes, we did get a cruise on our new C-Ranger. Drove up to Olympia on Sunday and launched out of Swantown Marina for a couple hour shake down cruise up and down Bud Inlet. Spent the night at the marina and went out Monday morning for about four hours with no particular destination but lots of things to check out. Spent the afternoon in the marina messing with things and pulled out as the tide was going out on Tuesday morning. Nice spot only slightly marred by the time it takes to get out of Bud Inlet.

Engine purred and all the major sytems worked well. Nav gear worked quite well. Dealing with comfort issues but generally all was good. Onboard engine heat worked very well which was good because it was cold. Lots of good things to say about how things worked.

Top speed (full tanks, lightly loaded with supples, no dingy on board, two person crew) seemed to be just over 14.5 knots. At about 2/3rds throttle (2400 RPM), it seemed to find a groove at around 8.5 knots. Works for me - fast enough to get there, slow enough to see as Jimmy Buffet says.
Would have liked a couple knots faster but this is quite okay.

Nothing more than light chop (1 to 2 foot waves, small swells) encountered but seems very stable. Took much more water onto the windows than we were used to for the sea conditions so the windshield wipers are more important than expected. They are marginal. Think the use of Rain-X or something similar is going to be a necessity. Here in the PNW, no defrost capability will also be an issue. Hate installing fans but will have to do something.

Overall - first real sea trial was a huge success. Are we happy - you bet!! More to follow.

Island Ranger · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 12:46 am Post subject: Canopy Pics - Ranger 25

Finally remembered to take some pictures of the canopy and enclosure on Island Ranger. They are in my album. The design looks great - easy access and it looks like there are multiple storage options although I haven't tried taking it down yet.

Mac

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:08 am Post subject:

Congratulations on your first outing, OldDog. Rain-X works well (we see a lot of water on the CD-25 windshield at slower speeds, as well). The outside stuff is more effective than the indoor (supposed to help with fogging) stuff. I haven't installed fans, but a portable (sometimes called personal or crew fan) fan works well for keeping the windshield clear. Ours operates on D batteries and also gets use in the v-berth on warm nights. We also use a small box fan that we got in the Wal-Mart camping section to move even more air; battery operated, but has an outlet to plug into the 12v

I'll be looking forward to more updates. We found Swantown a great place to spend time getting used to our boat. Mid-week, many of the transient slips were unoccupied... made for good docking practice.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

Old Dog · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

JamesTXSD -

Good idea. On another boat we had a couple fans built-in and didn't really like them so a portable might just be the simple and better solution. Thanks - willl give it a try.

At this time of year, the transient slips at Swantown are quite empty so we did take advantage of it. Of course, in a moment of distraction and carelessness, I did manage to get blown into the end of a slip and put the first scuff marks on the hull. Only serious bruise was to the ego since the marks will buff out. Made me think that serious rub rails like on the Nordic Tug would be a nice feature on this boat.

Have fun,

captd · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:16 pm Post subject:

Mac,
Do you have screens on your enclosure? (sides)
Guess I have some coming. Did you get the travel boot? Looks good.
captd

Island Ranger · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:41 pm Post subject:

Nope, no screens, nor did I get privacy curtains.

Mac

Island Ranger · Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:26 pm Post subject: Canopy Pics - Ranger 25

I took additional pictures of the canopy that Dave (King Canvas) and John Livingston designed for us. They designed it so I can leave the canopy on, pull two pins and fold it back out of the way for fishing. Works pretty neat! Pictures are in my album.

Mac