Blue Ranger Tug, headed south on I-5 Sat a.m.

[Gin]

We were on our way from Salem, Or to Portland Saturday a.m. to spend the day and the night on our Ranger 27. We were just south of Portland and heading north on I-5 when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flashing glimpse of a Blue Ranger Tug headed the opposite direction. Because of other traffic, I couldn't see the stern of the boat to catch the name. Looked like a R25 with one, maybe two kayaks on top. My hunch is that it was one of the tugs returning from the Desolation Sound cruise. It was cause for celebration in our car to see a fellow Ranger Tug on the road!

Gini

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Gini,

Sure it was blue? Tugnacious was headed south on I-5 Saturday morning south of Portland with an orange and a yellow kayak on top. Here's a picture of the boat at Dent Island Lodge on Desolation Sound. You have to blow it up real big to see us. Interesting that with all that plastic around us, most people were interested in our boat. And then there was the fuel dock....



But the hull is green, not blue. So maybe it was someone else?

As a side note, the Grand Banks we were tagging along with is just behind us on the dock. Their fuel consumption was five times ours, but what made it really dramatic was surfing their stern wake. Forget the bow wake which peels out from the bow and rocks all the docks and other boats. That long wave-length wave that is perpendicular to the axis of the boat.....that can be surfed to perfection. On flat water we would drop in behind, cut our power and surf it, reducing our fuel consumption by about 15%. Much to the chagrin of the big boat.

Although we didn't spawn with the rest of the Tugnut school in Desolation Sound, we sure saw a lot of them and visited with many on the water, including the amazing Anne Cox in Cascadia and her sweet old lab (in Squirrel Cove). Andrew Custis even cut in on Channel 68 near Powell River when we were chatting with the Grand Banks 47 we were tag-teaming with. Him headed south, us headed north. The boat ran flawlessly (although I will post a useful note about leaking secondary fuel filters) and the weather was amazing.

If it was us headed south on I-5, you saw two pouty-faced boaters headed home, sorry that their 2 week trip to Deso was over. Great boat. Great trip. Next year is Lewiston Idaho to Portland. We will see the Portland tugnuts there.

Jeff and Barbara

 

[Gin]

Jeff, I do believe it was you! It's the pouty faces that makes me feel so sure. 😉

My conclusion that it was blue must have been a good example of snap judgment based on little physical information. What makes me feel more sure it was you is that (a) green can pass for blue easier than, for example, red or yellow would, and (b) the kayaks on the photo you posted look right. The one I saw was definitely bright red or orange and yellow of some kind. If it was sometime around, oh, 11 a.m. or so, then I think it was you. Nice to know that the person who gave me the theme song for our boat was so close to us on I-5!

So still planning on that Lewiston to Portland trip, eh? We don't have a trailer to meet you up there, and going up river to Lewiston is quite a swim. But still, somehow, we hope to meet you through that trip. We were in Hood River a couple of weekends ago on a semi-business event. Stopped at the Bonneville dam to see what locking through might be like. "No hill for a stepper," as my mom would say. But the conditions up river sure do get windy. Colleen was not enthused. Late July and August are probably the worst for it. But mornings are pretty glorious. Get out at daybreak, and moor up by noon or not much later (if that) and it all seems do-able. Let me know as your planning progresses. We'll be interested . . .

Meanwhile, great to know it was you that we saw on I-5.

Gini

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Yep. I am still sulking from having to go back to work.

The beta on the Lewiston-Portland trip is that it starts hot and dry with some wind and gets windy at the Columbia. You just have to manage it. Nothing worse than Georgia Strait or SF Bay. Will report next year.

Jeff

 

[Rebel]

Make sure and check on the availability of diesel on the river before you get too commited. We looked at going up river from Umatilla and then returning down river. We found that no one would provide diesel anywhere on the Snake river. We ended up not trying to make the trip. John Turner

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Yep. As far as I can tell you have to run the 120 miles down to the Columbia with no diesel service. Fortunately, that is well within the range of the tug, even if we go at 15 kts, after we fill it on its trailer in the gas station in Lewiston. The greater complication is retrieving the truck in Lewiston and recovering the boat in Portland. This is one of those time-and-money solves it problems though.