What Have You Bought for Your Ranger Lately

[j&lgray]

January in the Pacific Northwest brings the Seattle Boat Show that takes up a huge exhibit hall and includes a huge floating on-the-water show at Lake Union. We always do some purchasing for the Laurie Ann at the Boat Show. This year it was:

After nearly three years, the two 25 foot bowlines were replaced. We have been very happy with 7/16" braided nylon with loops in one end that match the boat's color from Top Knot at http://www.mooringlines.com From our sailboat years, we have learned to have bowlines set up on each side of the boat secured at the center bow cleat behind the windlass and the bitter ends are secured in the cockpit. The 25' lines are not long enough to foul into the prop. The stern lines are a pair of 12" lines and we have one 20' spring line. We put a length of 5/8" rubber hose on the bowline where it goes through the deck chock and that takes the chafe damage. Both the old and new lines are washed in a 5 gallon bucket of warm water and liquid soap with a toilet plunger and then rinsed twice; an amazing amount of salt, sand and dirt come out.

Microfiber towels that are quick dry and big enough for shower use were acquired. Four spring clips that hang on the stainless rails will do great for cockpit laundry and for hanging our scuba diving gloves and hood. Two high efficiency yet quiet 12 volt fans by Caframo (the "Ultimate 12 volt Fan") were found on sale.

We trailer the tug and launch it frequently. After nearly three years, the transom tie downs needed replacing, the 2" web strap on the bow winch was cut back to remove the faded and weakened fabric, and the trailer's tongue jack finally failed completely and was replaced.

January is also fuel filter replacement month. Last year I made the mistake of putting a 2 micron filter on the Racor fuel filter-our Yanmar mechanic suggests a 10 micron filter. When I took off the Racor, the filter was very nearly completely plugged with grit. Racor suggests changing it "whatever comes first": every year, 500 hours or every other oil change. The Yanmar fuel filter ($40-sorry Cummins folks) took a bit longer than the 20 minute Racor job. If you want the step by step that I use for the Yanmar 110 HP let me know. I have to write the steps down or I spend twice as much time re-discovering them as actually doing it.

What have you bought for your Ranger lately?

[Rebel]

I would be interested in seeing your step-by-step for replacement of the Yanmar filter. My Yanmar is at home and needs to be completely serviced this winter after its initial 55 hours of run time. I was looking at how to replace the filter and it did not look very easy to me. Also, where do your purchase your filters? I live in Albany Oregon and have not found a local place to buy them yet.
I find lots of good information on this site and look forward to reading your future posts.
John Turner, John's Folly

[j&lgray]

John, I sent you a private message with the info.

[baz]

Well, I didn't buy the following as they were gifts....

Binoculars
Marine Night Scope (by Night Owl Optics and made in Russia, Model NONM4X-MR)

Have bought extra lines and one additional black fender to add/match to the three that Ranger supplied with the new boat purchase.

100' floating line for Man-Over-Board float cushion which was hang in cockpit whenever we leave the dock.

A few navigational aids.

Atomic clock from Radio Shack ($19) that has temps, date, etc and display is quite large and is placed on shelf above the instruments and wheel.

Manual bilge pump.

[Nellie Too]

For those people interested, the spring clips that were mentioned in a previous listing is found at the booth Boat Leather at the Seattle Boat Show. We also purchased them - 4 for $10. The web address is www.boatleather.com.

We are going back either Monday or Thursday to purchase some items we want.

The Ranger display is great - busy, busy, busy!

Nita

[Karma]

As we continue to personalize Karma, we have recently ordered the following items:

1) A new table with the fiddles turned down. Now we have a smooth topped table.
2) A new double width helm seat to allow Maureen and I to sit at the helm together.
3) The new overhead screens. These are made with sunbrella material and attach with velcro.
4) The new stern rail was ordered through Bolton Stainless at the show. This will allow us to put a cushion on top of the bait well and have an additional seat.
5) We designed and ordered an additional mast that will go "behind" our shorter "Zuma" mast. This will provide us with a place from which to fly our flag as well as "Spreader Lights" for docking at night. This too is being built by "Bolton Stainless".
6) A great gift that we received from Bruce and Vicki Moore was a collaspable ice bucket to hold our wine at the proper temperature. (Thanks again Bruce and Vicki!)

We are having a lot of fun with making Karma our own. I completed the install of the central vac system this week. It works great! No more crawling around on the floor with a dust buster! I will also be installing the new vents in the head door to allow additional air circulation in one of the wettest locations on any boat. While we normally leave the overhead hatch in the vent position while docked, you cannot leave it open when operating with any spray coming over the bow. I have also purchased an additional stainless steel hand rail that I will mount overhead as you go down into the stateroom. Maureen and I both reach out and grab the overhead when stepping down into the stateroom. Having the proper handhold wouuld be safer. I will post pictures as I complete these projects for any of you who care to see what we have done. I will change the date on the main page each time I add pictures. This will allow you to see whether or not any changes have been make without opening the entire album.

It was great seeing everyone at the show!

[johnniethek]

I am buying an inverter for the Red Ranger so I don't have such interminable waits for the 12-volt-powered coffee maker to finish its appointed task.

I am buying a special burgee made by Linda LaMay, part of the dynamic duo (Mac is the other half) that comprise the team of the Island Ranger. I am looking forward to finally have some color waving at me from the bow as we ply the waters of the Northwest.

I am buying two good Maptech-like maps that give me the info I need to cruise the Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast of B.C.

JtheK

[Nellie Too]

I am soo glad someone read my input about inverters for making coffee. They work very well and are not that expensive. They can plug into your 12V adapter. Congratulations on a fine decision. We put a 1800Watt in our R25 before they became available from Ranger but this was a built in one, the portable ones still work well.
Bob

[sparky]

Three new batteries - don't ask

Starry Night has a SOLAR SYSTEM - details and parts list will be posted soon, but we added a 130watt solar panel to the starboard side of the sport rack, along with a digital display.

Sparky

[Levitation]

So far, new binoculars with built in compass.
A float coat for the ships' dog...
New battery charger...
Should be going for cockpit canvas in a week or two (weather dependent and another 6-10 inches predicted for today)...

Pending is epoxy primer and bottom paint (Pettit Vivid) but I am starting to rethink my life long policy of doing everything for myself - I may hire this one out - somehow my brain is not convincing my body that it can lie under that trailer and hold a screaming grinder overhead for hours on end...
And I noticed during the few weeks that we were at the marina last summer that no one laughed at my anchor, so by standard engineering criteria, it is way TOO small... Thinking of a Fortress, but not sure what the biggest one is that can be mounted before the shanks strikes the winch...
Still musing over the radar dilemma, 18" closed versus 4' open array...

[rt11002003]

denny-o,

I've used Interlux 2000 and Trinidad SC (or SP?) for a number of years now, on several older boats. Works great! I'm not sure I'd use something like Interlux, any barrier coat, unless I had reason to suspect osmosis blistering is a possibility. I used Trinidad alone last year on my R21EC and everything is ok; the boat is kept in the water.

I also gave up bottom work. With seven out of seven damaged cervicals, it became impossible for me.

I'm in the process of selecting radar sets. I'm impressed with the new broadband radar. If it interfaced smoothly with Garmin I'd probably buy it. I'm a Garmin fan, have used their equipment (including radar) for years without problems. My R21EC is a wee bit small for an open array, though it might serve additional duty as a gyrostabilizer.

Gene

[Levitation]

Gene I looked hard and long at broadband... Go to PANBO and read his test... But, what the real users are saying is that mostly they are disappointed... I suspect that the Garmin HD is what I would go for on your boat...

[Bruce Moore]

We purchased a Spot Satellite Messenger and plan to use it for routine check-in messaging, assistance requests, emergencies, and cruise tracking. I'm going to start a separate thread because I'm interested in your experience with, or impressions of the device and service, and I don't want to hijack this thread.

Cheers,

[Sporty II]

I recently purchased 4 interesting products...

( 1) A 'Davis Vantage Vue' ... Weather Station. It does the wind, rain, temps, humidity, graphs, somewhat forecasting, and does it wireless. It is a new style Station from Davis. For several years, I have enjoyed their Vantage Pro at my home rooftop. I easily can approve of this new product. The installation was very nice and straight forward. I spent some time to figure out the location on the forward cabin top ... and, to design the mounting post. If interested...
http://www.vantagevue.com/products/prod ... pnum=06250

( 2) A 'Shaft Shark' model SS500 Stainless ( 2 piece) cutter blade for the Prop Shaft ( just forward of the prop-hub) On the R29 the shaft diameter is 1-1/2 inch. I will have it installed ( haul-out) next week. The company claims that the device will work well to cut lines and web nets, poly lines securing crab traps and so on. If interested, please review this handy device...
http://ab-marine.com/Shaft-Shark/Shaft- ... ion-device

( 3) A 'WestMarine AIS' device to allow identification of marine traffic of the heavy gross tonnage ... and, other vessels who subscribe to this reporting system. So, it interfaces with the Garmin 5215 Screen and shows the direction, destination, ship info and so on. It also advises of possible collision courses. I think it is a good add-on for north bound Rangers, especially if we might be IFR ( airplane talk) and using our nice radar screens. The AIS is of no use with other boat traffic that do not use a similar reporting device. So, a person needs to not become lazy, in their observation scanning diligence. The WestMarine 1000 can transmit position and receive. Less expensive systems will receive information, only. The WM 1000 allows the option of Transmit on ... or travel in stealth mode. Very cool !

( 4) A "Manson Supreme 35 lb. Anchor". I really enjoyed the process of improving anchoring skills and the hunt for new equipment. So, after some good research, I settled on the Manson Supreme 35lb. It has a sharp point ( digs in, even with kelp) ... and it is designed to land on the bottom, shovel ready ( so-to-speak). I also believe that the extra 13 lbs. ( over the supplied anchor) ... will be of great use on the north-bound trip in 2010. I am so pleased to discover this anchor. If interested, please review at...
http://www.manson-marine.co.nz/SitePages/Supreme.htm

Pete on Sporty II ( R29)

[rt11002003]

denny-o,

Thanks for the PANBO tip.

Gene