First Boat EVER a Ranger Tug?

Hi. I'm wondering if there are any of you for whom the Ranger Tug was your first boat ever. How has that worked out? Would you do anything differently if you had to do it all over again? Did you buy new or used? Do you use it as much as anticipated? If you changed to a different boat, what drove the change? Looking forward to learning from your experience.

Oh yeah, and what size was your starter boat? Thoughts on that decision?

Just a thought... but I would think input from those of us that came from different brands/sizes may be more informational?

The old saying "you don't know what you don't know" could apply to those "FM only" boaters, in my opinion. In other words, there would be very little experiential input due to the simple fact that there is nothing in their history with which to compare brands or sizes. Not a negative thing, in any way... just an observation.

I can say from my own experience, I would have loved to have started with FM... I love their boats! But, alas, I began my journey in boating back when TV remotes actually 'clicked', thus the term "clicker" was used when referencing a remote ("Where's the darn clicker!!??"). :lol: I have gone through a few different brands and sizes, the majority of the last few models being Sea Ray. I also "downsized" from my last boat (290 Amberjack) to our current R23, and could only be happier if there were another 6" of beam in the R23 - but in reality, I just need to lose about 6" in my personal "beam"... so that particular issue can't be placed on the design of the R23 :lol:

This boat has everything I always said I wanted in all other brands and sizes I've had. Even tho the R23 is smaller overall than my Amberjack, there is simply MUCH more useable space! The fact that it doesn't cost over $900 in fuel just to spend a few nights in the San Juans is a major plus in my book! I shudder to think, with today's fuel prices, how much an outing in the Amberjack would cost! 😱

So you might think to open it up to 'all' owners? Just my $0.02. I'm sure you'll get some great info here tho!

Yes. R-25 Classic (single engine diesel) > R-29 Classic > R-31 (pre-hardtop) > R-43 (twin IPS) We'd do it again. Bought new each time from the factory. We used them more than we expected until we didn't.

The line has expanded and diversified a lot. Think about your likely use case they probably cover it well, especially for a first boat.

Cheers,

Bruce

Brian98133":2wzakk08 said:

Just a thought... but I would think input from those of us that came from different brands/sizes may be more informational?.......So you might think to open it up to 'all' owners? Just my $0.02. I'm sure you'll get some great info here tho!

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Excellent point. Yes! It would be great to hear about other first boat ownership experiences as well!

Ranger Tugs and Cutwater boats are a collection of a large number of systems that you need to learn about, operate successfully and be prepared to troubleshoot from time to time. Frankly, I’m glad I gained a decade of experience in my first “big” boat (a 24 ft I/O cabin cruiser) before buying our R-25 Classic in 2015. Even then the additional systems were pretty challenging at times.
I’ve heard new owners refer to the factory delivery experience as “drinking from a fire hose”. I think if you’ve had experience with similar marine systems on a prior boat the delivery experience is more like “drinking from a garden hose”.
For me moving up the 6” from the 24 ft cabin cruiser to the R-25 entailed learning the differences between operating an I/O gas engine to a diesel straight shaft, radar, cabin kerosene cooktop operation, having a gps Chartplotter compared to handheld gps, windlass operations, thrusters and a few other less frequently used systems. It was west and an evolutionary jump for me, not a radical transition.
All that said, the R-25 is a much easier boat to use for cruising and a lot more fun! I wish I had made to move out of the cabin cruiser into the R-25 years earlier!

PS: Perhaps the biggest transition for me not boat specific but was going from 1-2 day outings on freshwater lakes to 1-2 week cruises in the San Juan and Gulf Islands back in 2011. Weather, currents and tides are much more critical to understand and respect in the PNW! We had 3 years of literally crashing the trusty cabin cruiser into various docks around the PNW before we went to the super easy to maneuver R-25.

My perspective: size doesn’t matter that much when considering what it takes to own a Ranger Tug or Cutwater boat (by owning, I mean doing the things it takes to keep the boat ship shape and ready, whether you do the work yourself or outsource it). They all have the systems of much larger boats that must be understood and maintained. For example, my R-23 has ten different pumps that move fluids around for one purpose or another. I guessed seven before starting my search. I have a video documenting all ten.

So, if owning/maintaining a Fluid Motion boat is pretty much the same among the models, it comes down to utilization and enjoyment of the boat you choose. For us, we chose the R-23 because we can use it anywhere. She’s cruised the ICW in 5 different states and several NC inland lakes. I work on her in my driveway. In the past few weeks, I’ve installed a Fantom radar, rearranged the battery locations, upgraded the solar controller, and installed a NeboLink tracker. It’s the right size for us - empty nesters with the freedom to work from the boat.


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We took delivery of our 2021 Ranger Tug R27 last July.
This is our first boat and first introduction to boating.
It has been an incredible experience.
Lots of fun. Lots of mistakes.
Knowing what we know now, starting out with a smaller boat would have been wiser.
But I would likely do it the same all over again.
The R27 ticks a lot of boxes.

I bought my first boat (a Kayak) when I was 12. When I was 17 that got replaced with an aluminum canoe (I proposed to my wife it that). Kids in our early twenties and we bought a used 1963 MFG Sea Cruiser, it was 19 years old and difficult to get a full week's vacation on without a breakdown. New 18.5 foot Sea Ray bow rider in 1983. Little kids did not do well in a bow rider and it got traded in for a cuddy cabin in 1984. 1986 we traded the cuddy for a 1987 Sea Ray 230 Weekender which we loved. It served us well for about 20 years and was a dependable boat that had a reliable compass that would get us all over the Great Lakes in all kinds of weather long before we even thought of using anything like GPS and a chart plotter. (It had an untimely end in a highway accident through no fault of ours). That was followed by a Sea Ray 225 Weekender which was much more aerodynamic on the highway but sold after 2 years because it was not really the boat we wanted for the Great Lakes. 2010 we bought a Sea Ray 240 Sundancer. Nice boat but the canvas was a pain to deal with so in 2015 we bought our first Ranger Tug a R25SC. Great boat, mostly trouble free with routine maintenance. This was a whole new type of cruising with a hard top and no more wind in the face looking over the windshield. No more water skiing was the biggest drawback. Learning to drive an inboard while docking was a new challenge but easily learned with the help of the thrusters. Highway travel was similar to the 240 Sundancer, but the garage roof needed to be raised. 2020 we ordered a 2021 R29S. It was a little bit larger feeling out on Lake Michigan, but felt a lot more livable. Not quite like camping on the boat. The biggest difference was the highway travel and the effort to get oversize load permits, put signage on the boat and truck and find roads and other facilities that we fit over. (Finding indoor storage for it when we are not at the lake is the biggest challenge that has not yet been resolved after our original plan for that fell through at the end of last summer. (The canvas we had made for the R29 actually cost more than our first new boat and trailer in 1983.) There is no question that the two heat pump/air conditioners and generator on the R29 add systems and maintenance, but otherwise the boat is not that much more to maintain. In hindsight, I enjoyed moving up in steps and based on the available finances at the various stages in our life we feel we did the right thing. We bought what we could afford at the time and used each boat until we bought the next one. My advice is do what you are comfortable with at the time, both in terms of spending and your operating skills or challenges you want to undertake. Just don't wait too long for the perfect time because you cannot go back and live last year over. You can always sell a boat and go up in size (or down) or do something totally different. I would suggest that you not buy more boat than you can afford to operate without worrying about slip fees and fuel costs. A kayak uses no fuel and can still get you out on the water!

One advantage of the Ranger Tug lineup is that pretty much everything you want comes standard. It saves a lot of decision making compared to buying another boat and deliberating over all the options, particularly if this is your first boat. Although the R27OB was my first boat to own (other than a tinny) I had taken a four day course (Competent Crew and Coastal SKipper) and then over the years had rented several boats of various sizes (34 to 42 ft) from outfits in Vancouver False Creek and Comox on Vancouver island to tour Desolation sound and the Broughtons. That helped a lot in forming an opinion of what boat would work best for me.

Not “first boat ever” however, previous boats have all been runabouts or ski/wake boats on Adirondack lakes. The 27OB will be our first cruiser… I pondered the same question before deciding and after a demo run felt 100% confident in doing so.

We actually initially went with the 23 and after thinking it over moved up to 27. Go for it!

We got the boat bug and I was convinced we needed a 25’ C-Dory. We went to look at one and the admiral was not impressed. Great for bloody decks but not so great for cruising. Next up was a Cutwater C30. That was much nicer but another couple got it. The third visit was to look at a R27 being built at the factory. There was a R29 next to it owned by an Alaskan fellow and we made the mistake of walking through it before the 27. The admiral approved and we signed that day. For the 29...

Been smiling ever since, though I am eyeballing the R43. 😀

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It's great to see there are some new to boating people here, and to learn from the more experienced. It makes sense that regardless of boat size, the systems are generally similar in terms of their systems. We looked at the R23, R25, R27 and R29 at the Seattle Boat show. The R27 seems to be our initial frontrunner - the two burner stove and oven and the ability to go faster (even if we don't use it much) is very appealing. We are two adults and two canines.

At first glance, a less expensive boat to learn on seems like it makes sense, but we keep coming back to the idea of a newer, gently used R27 OB (R25 or R29 are also contenders), maybe 3-5 years old. Old boats (>10 years old) seem like even if well maintained, will likely require more fixes and we aren't especially handy. It's definitely a big leap of faith with a high cost really like the idea of learning from the "wish I would have known".

Our R-27 classic is out third boat.
First was an 18' Starcraft runabout with a 4-cylinder Merc inboard.
Good for water skiing and that was about all.
That was WAY back.
Next was a 20' Seaswirl cuddy with a V-6 inboard with an OMC outdrive.
We could sleep on board at least.
Son and his friends enjoyed it.
Had that for many years until our son grew up and went to college.
It became not so much fun for us, so we sold it.
We were boat less for many years then we got the bug and purchased the R-27.
I have never been a big fan of outboards.
It is in charter service in Anacortes, WA, and we live in Utah, so we don't get up that way as often as we would like.
Too many other commitments at home.

If we were talking sailboats, I would say that there is no substitute for starting small, as in "no motor and if you screw up, you get wet" small. I started on a Sunfish, then Hobie 14, and then a Venture 24. I learned how to sail, how to depower, etc. using sail handling. When the engine on my friends Pearson 303 failed, she didn't know what to do. I said, "it has sails." She said, "but I have to a dock it in a slip." So, I sailed her boat into its slip. She was amazed. If she had started with a Sunfish, instead of a Pearson 303, she wouldn't have been amazed.

But nowadays, with all the systems, like remote control bow and stern thrusters, etc: I'm not sure that I feel the same from the RT23 through the RT31. You can start fresh with a RT31 and learn how to handle it pretty competently if you are prudent. Not so with my former single engine wooden H28 sailboat, or single engine wooden 27' Chris Craft cabin cruiser (no garmin, no thrusters, no everything else...........).

Just do yourself a favor, one you have mastered your RT27. Dock it now and then w/out using the bow thruster. That way, when it fails due to dead battery or sheared pin, you can confidently do it the old school way.

H28,
The same advice applies to navigating.
Learn to do it the old-fashioned way, compass, parallel rule, paper charts, ded reckoning for when the electronics decide to not work.
Usually happens at the most inopportune time also!

bluestreak":zmgcynd5 said:

H28,
The same advice applies to navigating.
Learn to do it the old-fashioned way, compass, parallel rule, paper charts, dead reckoning for when the electronics decide to not work.
Usually happens at the most inopportune time also!

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Well said............