Cruising in a Ranger R21

J

Jim Holcombe

New member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
2
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C (Sterndrive)
Hello Folks

I have a couple of questions please . I'm considering a Ranger 21 and would like to know if it would be practical to use it / Cruise in the Sea of Cortez , rivers in Florida , and the ICW . I have sailed from California to Costa Rica in a 29ft Cross Trimaran with a hand held GPS and Tiller with out Auto pilot and am Ok with living simple . I currently live in Costa Rica and am selling our place down here on the Osa now .

My plan would be to put a hardtop over the Cockpit and tie the paddle boards up there . I could trailer the boat from pensacola Florida where we have a house and Grandkids and go across the States to AZ and down from there to the northern part of the Sea of Cortez or down south to the Crystal River and Keys . We have a smaller Truck and want a boat that can be pulled by a Toyota or Nissan .

My last question is have anyone here experienced pretty serious seas /water in one of these boats and do they do well ?

Thanks in advance for any advice .

Jim
 
Interesting journey, I thought that was all under travel bans ?
 
Hey Jim - I just bought a 2014 Ranger 21EC last year and had similar expectations as to having a small trailerable boat with the basic amenities and it been that and more! The 21 is a very stable boat and is a great boat for doing lakes, rivers and close inshore trips (in the right weather). It is super practical and many owners have done modifications to make it suit their trips and lifestyle. As with any boat it is prudent to know the limitations of the boat in weather, but I have read articles and posts about folks taking their 21 offshore and even to Alaska. I just did 10 days on the Erie canal with my boat and plan on doing a portion of the ICW this fall. It is a perfect boat in its category - super easy to tow and trailer with a small pickup and and really easy to maintain. It turns heads everywhere I go with its classic looks and is a great fun boat for a day trip or extended overnights. I have more info on my blog - littleredtug.com - I don't think you will find an owner of a 21 who is disappointed with the boat. The only thing is for some the 21 is a gateway boat and people move up in size! - Jonathan

https://www.littleredtug.com/
 
If you are in the Pensacola area and looking for a Ranger, I would strongly consider reaching out to Emile Petro at ModernTugs/Edgewater yachts sales. He has a great inventory and even more important, his service is outstanding.
I'm an extremely happy customer. If I ever need anything or have a question, I can reach out to him and his team and they are extremely responsive. They are a model for how a good business should be run!

Good luck with your search.

Best,
Bobby P
 
We (wife and I) have an R21 we keep in Marblehead, Mass. We went over to the dark side from a 26-ft keel sailboat a couple of years ago as we approach age 80.

The tug does best in fairly flat water. In any kind of sea, being so light, it will pitch and roll violently. That steel post next to the mate's seat is more than structural. You can hang onto it and maybe keep from being launched out of the seat.

I would slay there are three kinds of sea conditions you should learn to predict and categorize: 1 - flat water like small lake or canal. 2- moderate seas that are not life threatening, but will be very uncomfortable, and we do this for fun, right? 3- Dangerous conditions you should not even think about. The boat has only about a foot of free board amid ships, with a giant open cockpit that is not self bailing. You can only outrun bad weather at 7 or 8 knots.

I would say treat it sort of like a light airplane. Pilots are obsessive about weather. Pick your days, be willing to stay put at times. Having said that, it can be a huge amount of fun, and will draw admiring looks wherever you go.

Larry
 
Jim,

From how you describe you'd like to use the boat, you might want to consider a larger Ranger. You can tow nearly all of them!

Bobby
 
Thanks so much for replying to my questions , I'm reading all of them and will figure out how to reply to each of you soon . I'm still just considering what boat works for us and how we'll use it . So many options . We have about three months before we return to Pensacola and the Grandkids . So have time to consider all options .
 
Two cruise all summer on our 21ec. Anchor out every night, only getting back to port every 10 days for supplies. We cruise the north channel of Georgian bay. Mostly protected waters. As long as you can find a protected bay to anchor in you will be fine.
 
I have a R21 Classic and an R25sc, so have comparative experience. The R21 Classic is pretty close to the R21ec in terms of seakeeping and handling, with the major differences being in accommodations. I have had the R21 Classic for 10 years and have operated it on inland lakes, some of which are very large. I did the Great Loop in the R25sc.

Cruising the waters your reference is possible in the R21, but not really. Your fuel range (you have 18 gals) is pretty limited and carrying a lot go extra fuel in cans is possible but very inconvenient in this light boat, which is pretty weight-sensitive, even at displacement speeds. While the R21 can take a lot of weather, it will wear you out after a couple of hours of hanging on for deal life. They are very sensitive to rolling and taking 40 degree rolls in a beam sea is not unusual. With the speed available, you are absolutely going to encounter beam seas...not really "seas" but short, steep wind waves. You will need to become obsessed with the weather, especially where some of the more open-water parts of the ICW need to be crossed...Albemarle Sound comes to mind. Ditto for Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.

I strongly recommend you evaluate a little larger tug. Up to the R27, they are very easily trailerable. I pull my R25sc with a GMC 2500 Duramax with no problems. Even the R23, while on 2 feet longer, is a much larger vessel, being 8.5 feet in beam vs 6 feet for the R21.

There are used R25's and 27's on the market. Since the R21ec is out of production, you are looking at a used vessel anyway, so that is not a big constraint.

Camping in the R21 is fun, but gets old quickly. A 25 or 27 is "livable" but not by any means palatial.

Hope this helps.

TK
 
Hi Jim,

You might want to consider a C-Dory 22 Cruiser. We towed ours with an 89 Pathfinder. Much better cruising accomodations than the small Ranger, and plenty seaworthy too. We spent two months in SE Alaska on ours.
 
If you want to tow with a small Nissan or Toyota P/U then the R27 is definitely out of the running. The R25 comes in at about 9,700 pounds including the trailer and the R23 O/B is just below 9,000 pounds on the trailer. Not sure what your specific trucks towing capacity (and all the other lowing limits) is but keep that in mind.
I second giving the C-Dory a look. They have both a 22’ and 25’ model. Much more spartan than the RT but a good cruiser nevertheless. Both models weigh in MUCH less than the same sized RT. Plus the C-Dory is about 1/3 to 1/2 less expensive than the same sized RT too.
Good luck!
 
Jim, one of our Cbrat members trailored his 25 Cdory down to Baja and spent a couple of months cruising the Sea of Cortez. Had to return early due to Covid. He plans to return in future and is open to others joining him. You can read about his adventure here - http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t= ... sc&start=0 . He is a very experienced boater and familiar with the area. We have members in Pensacola as well. Good luck with your search.

Regards, Rob
 
any CW,tugs planning on trailering to the sea of cortez this winter?
 
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