First Boat

F

Feet Wet

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Messages
2
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Alright guys, I'm pretty much a total novice on the water so bear with me. Looking at getting into boating as a way to get the family off the screens and out of the house together. I'm an airline pilot by trade and initially thought general aviation might fit the bill, but it's been difficult to justify the expense and risk while not exactly providing opportunities for much participation for family members other than the one with the license. I have fond memories of cruising Puget Sound with my grandparents as a kid, and am ultimately interested in something that can accommodate a family of four for a long weekend, perhaps a week, and seaworthy enough to make the occasional voyage to Catalina from the San Diego area. Several of the people I work with have recommended Ranger Tugs, as well as Nordic, and as long as I'm dreaming about the (distant) future, Kady Krogen. I'm tempted to jump into a 2 or 3 year old R-27 right now, but I've heard enough horror stories about people purchasing boats that they really didn't use/need to know that's probably a bit foolish on my part. That brings me to the R-21ECs, which seem to be relatively affordable and perfectly capable of the bay cruising (Mission & San Diego) that I see myself doing initially. I look at the boat as something as a trainer, with an eye towards upgrading in a couple years once I have my "sea legs". My question for the experienced members here is: Is my plan sound? Is a second hand R-21 an appropriate choice for a complete novice or am I better off with something like a cheap bowrider or even a center console? Keep in mind, I plan to keep the boat in a slip on one of the bays as I live some distance away and don't really want to be fiddling with a trailer every weekend. I'd like to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly, and am open to suggestions.
 
As a novice boater the R-21EC (used or new) is the way to start off IMO. A used one will save some money for sure. The basic stock R-21EC is quite affordable. It goes not more than around 9 kts, so keep that in mind. It will also rock and roll in heavy chop seas, but the boat will handle things AOK and better than you.

After you gained your sea legs then trade your R-21EC for a larger Ranger Tug and for 4 people for weekend or a week I'd go for the new 2018 R-27. You may also be able to pick up an older R-27 (Classic) for less money.

Take a gander at the Ranger Tugs web site as it has all the boats in one place with lots of photos to help you see what features each have.

Good luck. 🙂
 
Your kids will be so bored with an R-21 they will spend more time on the web. Kids want action. Ranger Tugs are for you and your wife when the kids leave the nest. A lot better choices for what you want to accomplish. We love our "kidless" R-23.
 
I agree that a 21 may not be the best choice for a family, but not because kids don't enjoy boating, just because of the size. I think a 25 or 27 would be better, but a 29 or 31 would be better still. The extra beam of the 29 or 31 offer a lot more comfort for a family. With the bow and stern thrusters, they are easy enough to handle that I wouldn't worry about being a novice. You'll learn the handling characteristics in no time.

One option you might consider is chartering a ranger tug for a few days to a week. Most charter companies offer training, and a charter may help you decide if it's a purchase you want to make.

When we're not using it, our 29 is in charter service in the PNW, and is chartered by couples most often, but also by families. We get a lot of positive feedback on how much fun they have had.
 
For the area you'll be boating and if you want kids to stay interested, a center console deep vee hull is probably a good start. They're inexpensive to obtain and to operate. For day trips a 22-24ft center console will accomadate a family of four. With limited time on your hands you can cover a lot more territory in a faster boat. I have a hard time seeing a pilot and a couple of kids being thrilled puttering around at 5 kts in a R21. Most definItely it's wise to find out how the family agrees with boating before taking the plunge on a larger boat.
 
NorthernFocus":2x95mdw3 said:
For the area you'll be boating and if you want kids to stay interested, a center console deep vee hull is probably a good start. They're inexpensive to obtain and to operate. For day trips a 22-24ft center console will accomadate a family of four. With limited time on your hands you can cover a lot more territory in a faster boat. I have a hard time seeing a pilot and a couple of kids being thrilled puttering around at 5 kts in a R21. Most definItely it's wise to find out how the family agrees with boating before taking the plunge on a larger boat.
Click to expand...

Agree.
 
Feet Wet:

How old are your kids ? I have 5 grand children ages 2 to 9. They were always thrilled to come on my R-21EC and the older one enjoyed the rocking & rolling and the boat's negotiation of encountering waves head on. My 9yr and 5yr old ones were always designated as my 'lookouts' and they took this responsibility seriously.

The larger boats IMO can coddle kids and protect them from knowing the boat's capabilities and water conditions. The R-21EC is a marvelous boat to start with, is easy to maintain, really sips fuel and will not require you to lose any arms or legs financially. The boat is simple and the kids will learn a lot from it as much of it is exposed. Lift the R-21EC's engine box and the wonders of the engine will be seen and marveled at by the kids. They will see the engine at work. The turning circle of the R-21EC is absolutely awesome and can be put hard over at top speed without any worries at all. It's simply a fun boat to drive. Yes, top speed is around 9 kts as I mentioned so pay attention to tides/currents as you could maybe find yourself going backwards. :lol:

Good luck.... and if you are in any way unsure spend the smallest amount of money that doesn't hurt your bank account.
 
Going back to what I said in another post: What is your mission with a boat? You've mentioned the family all on board and taking trips from San Diego to Catalina. IMHO a slow, small R21 is not a good fit for that mission. A new R23 is probably not a good fit if you want to overnight in the boat. We just had kids and grandkids for 5 days in the San Juans in our R25 but it was only workable using hotel rooms at resorts to supplement the boats realistic 3 adult sleeping capacity.
If you want a boat for camping, like a recreational vechicle, and plan on longer trips, the Ranger Tugs are great.
If you want a boat for fast trips with a possible one night out I'd suggest a 27 ft or bigger Sea Ray.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. Kids are 6 & 9. The mission of the boat will literally be for the family to get their "feet wet" 😀 . We'll all be learning together. Boat handling, line handling, inland & coastal nav, etc. Hopefully all punctuated by an occasional picnic on the boat or having a beer or a glass of wine in the slip at the marina with friends. I have no illusions of ever overnighting the family on the 21. That'll come later on something bigger if we decide we like it. Right now it's really just about having an excuse to get out on the water and learn a thing or two. I've looked at the center consoles and while their speed and size are appealing, they really all seem geared towards fishing, which is not necessarily my main interest on the water. I also like the idea of getting used to the handling qualities of a single shaft trawler since that's where I see this going as we size up. The Sea Rays/Catalinas/etc. seem to offer a lot of space and versatility for the money, but they all seem a bit fisher price in their build quality and fixtures and I'm concerned that their operating costs will be more airplane-like than I prefer. Like I said in my initial post, the 27 is what really first appealed to me, but I don't want to make that kind of financial commitment until/unless I know this is right for the family.
 
We had purchased a new 2008 Regal 2000, a 20' bowrider. We purchased new because we didn't want to deal with a used boat and not knowing anything about boats. Our background is no experience at all!!! Our kids at the time were 4 and 2 years old. We had it for 8 years. Loved every minute of it. Spent time on the Lake Washington going port to port for lunch. We did use it for water sports and swimming on those hot days. We found that we like cruising, for we took the bow rider on the puget sound and explored the south puget sound.

In September 2015, we decided to go for it, we purchased the 2016 RT29CB. Our kids at the time were 11 years and 9 years. We chose the RT29CB based on if the kids could fit in the cave, for that was their sleeping area if we did any long cruising trips. It is a long queen size berth and now at 13 and 11 years old, they still fit and still love it!!! We will be joining Ranger Tugs (our second time) on the Desolation Sound trip and the boat is perfect for our family of four.

Since we had our share of trailering the bow rider, we opted for the boat to be in moorage. Which means, I can take the boat out with the girls anytime.

We chose Ranger Tug because we love the layout and the perfect, not so big, size that can get you in those tight spots where a bigger boat can't. Good luck in choosing your boat of choice.
 
Feet wet:

You're gonna get all kinds of different answers from all kinds of different individual experiences. So good luck, and with that... There is 0 learning curve to getting you and your families feet wet with a boat.

IMO, don't waste your time stepping through boats when you already know what your goals are. Shop around and look at the boat you want and bring the family with you.

If you are set on a Ranger and you are looking to spend an extended amount of time with 4 people on board, don't even think about anything smaller than a R27.

I started with a Bayliner 192 cuddy cabin, 2 years later traded to a Bayliner 265 cabin cruiser. Looking back, I should have started with the 265.

Get the boat that fits the way you want to use it first. After one trip on the starter boat, you will immediately wish you had bought the bigger boat.
 
Hi, Reading your original post and all the replies, I was surprised that there was no mention of Cutwater boats. Cutwaters are made by the same company, Fluid Motion, that make the Ranger Tugs. They offer much the same cruising capabilities as the tugs, but in a more modern hull that permits faster cruising speeds ( our Cutwater 28 cruises at 20 knots ).The cruising accommodations are almost the same in both boats, size for size. I think the Ranger people may be looking at upgrading the Volvo desiel from a 150 hp to a 170 hp when they resume production of the Ranger 25. That may help with it's slow cruising speed in the future.
If you are looking for an economical entry point, anticipating moving up if the boating experiment proves out, I'd recommend considering a used Ranger 25 or either a Cutwater 24 or Ranger 23 if you can find a used one. Then you could move up to a Cutwater 28 or Ranger 27, 29. (I have been told that there are problems with the performance of the Cutwater 26.) Waiting to move up will allow time and experience to assess the pros and cons of the outboard and inboard versions of both boat lines.
Good luck and happy cruising, wherever you choose to start. BobnDoc
 
There is one other option that maybe got lost from your intended post. You're concern is you are worried after buying a boat you may find it's something that you will rarely use, or worse, your family takes edit "no" edit interest in it.

If that is the underlying area of concern, then I completely see your hesitation in buying something big and then finding it's just sitting in the water and never getting used.

If that is indeed your biggest concern, look into chartering a boat first. Take the family out for a day. If they like it, plan a longer charter on a larger boat. Then when you're sure this is something thewhile family would enjoy together, then shop for your ideal family boat.
 
Feet Wet":2f8iedaz said:
Thanks for all the replies so far. Kids are 6 & 9. The mission of the boat will literally be for the family to get their "feet wet" 😀 . We'll all be learning together. Boat handling, line handling, inland & coastal nav, etc. Hopefully all punctuated by an occasional picnic on the boat or having a beer or a glass of wine in the slip at the marina with friends. I have no illusions of ever overnighting the family on the 21. That'll come later on something bigger if we decide we like it. Right now it's really just about having an excuse to get out on the water and learn a thing or two. I've looked at the center consoles and while their speed and size are appealing, they really all seem geared towards fishing, which is not necessarily my main interest on the water. I also like the idea of getting used to the handling qualities of a single shaft trawler since that's where I see this going as we size up. The Sea Rays/Catalinas/etc. seem to offer a lot of space and versatility for the money, but they all seem a bit fisher price in their build quality and fixtures and I'm concerned that their operating costs will be more airplane-like than I prefer. Like I said in my initial post, the 27 is what really first appealed to me, but I don't want to make that kind of financial commitment until/unless I know this is right for the family.
Click to expand...

The low cost/affordable new or used R-21EC seems to be the ticket for you IMO. Your family can learn from its operations and can easily handle the 4 of you in the very large open cockpit which can be enclosed with a full enclosure if you wish. After the family has spent some time on the R-21EC and they all agree that boating is fun and want more then start the decision process for a larger Ranger Tug. One of the primary reasons Ranger Tugs continues to build the R-21EC is for people/families like yours. It's considered a starter boat that Ranger Tugs marketing hopes will lead you to wanting something bigger with more creature comforts. I've known many people that have made this transition. BTW... I'm told that Ranger Tugs makes little profit on their R-21EC sales, so that makes the R-21EC good value IMO.
 
I think the new Ranger 23 and Cutwater 24 are simply ideal for a starter boat that can day cruise or even wakeboard for the kids, and allow the adults an overnight or two in supreme comfort. Of course, they jump you into six figures but incredibly versatile boats. You should take a road trip and demo them.
 
for kids go cutwater 24. more speed. get you to destinations quicker so the kids can do other activities than sit on a boat all day.

if you want activity whilst on the water for the kids than its sailing, fishing, wakeboarding.
 
another option is go take some courses with the whole family. ramp your skills. choose a club that has boats to charter once you pass the courses. gets your feet wet without dropping the cash on a new boat that might not fit.
 
I have never posted anything on this site, but when I saw your post, I felt particularly experienced at being an inexperienced boater so I decided to respond to your post/question. The long time boaters on this site will probably make fun of my lack of knowledge about boat terms, but I still wanted to expose my flaws in hopes I can offer some advice as a fellow non boater who recently became a boat owner. Please note my user name is no longer accurate (no boat yet) as we did purchase a Ranger 21EC in June of 2015. Before purchasing, neither my husband or I had any boating experience. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Talk about novice - that's an understatement for us. We live in Seattle, Washington area and are surrounded by water. One day, out of boredom, we attended the Seattle boat show for something to do on a rainy day. No boat even tempted us until we were about to exit the convention center building. Just as we turned the corner towards the exit, we saw it - the Ranger Tug 21EC. It looked so cute. Like a life size toy tug. We had to walk on board and check it out. We loved the large back deck. Plenty of room for taking our friends out for a picnic on the water. We loved that it had a small cabin for bad weather or for sleeping if we were brave enough to take a boat on an overnight trip (which we have now done - took the boat through the locks (what an experience) and out into the sound. We stayed one night in downtown Seattle marina and another two nights over in Poulsbo). We loved that it was small and didn't scare either of us when we realized we would be the ones to navigate the boat by ourselves. There were so many things we loved about it yet we didn't buy one at the show. We decided it was too crazy for two people who never owned a boat to buy a boat at a boat show.

Fast forward a couple months. I couldn't stop thinking about that Ranger Tug. So I signed up to tugnuts (thus the noboatyet) and started reading about the Ranger Tugs and about the Ranger owners. I love the community around Ranger Tugs. I dreamed of going on the Rendezvous in Roche Harbor (which we haven't done yet). And then I found an ad for a used, 2014 Ranger 21EC. It was totally loaded and it was all I could think about. I contacted the owners (Dave and Maureen Baker) who were so knowledgeable about boating and so willing to share some of that knowledge with me and my husband. We got the bug and we bought the boat. It was a great decision and I'm so glad we did it. The only thing we added to the boat was a full weather enclosure for those rainy and windy days in the PNW. The Bakers had installed a gorgeous surrey top (like it much better than the bimini) and we had panels made for the sides and back. We have put over 250 hours on the boat since June of 2015. We go out every day we find time. WEATHER DOESN"T MATTER. Most of the time, we're the only boat on Lake Washington because all those other boats that are bigger or go faster, sit in their slips under cover. Those faster and bigger boats seem to only be on the lake during perfect summer days because who would spend all that money on all that gas to go out on a rainy day? Our boat goes out year round, rain or shine and we go for weeks before having to put fuel in the tank. The Ranger 21 is very fuel efficient. We take her over to Lake Union for happy hour and there hasn't been a trip that we don't get compliments because it's such a cute boat. Many people ask if they can step on board.

We had a steep learning curve on boating. Dave and Maureen took us out for our first lesson on and I'm grateful they did. Even a small boat takes some getting use to and I'm still learning to dock. I mostly leave that to my husband because it makes me nervous and I handle the lines. Our marriage was tested as I am a back seat skipper!! I was afraid my husband was going to drive through the dock on many occasions and I wasn't quiet about my opinions. It was stressful at first and there were a few moments that we wondered what we had done. BUT, we love, love, love our boat and being on the water. We call Stella Maris our waterfront property. Even if we don't have time to take her out, we often go to the marina and sit on board, listening to tunes and just admiring the waterfront views.

Even though boating now for two years, we are still learning things every day on the water. So much to know and most of it comes with owning and learning as you go. Can't imagine how overwhelmed I would have been with a bigger boat that comes with more parts. We broke our impeller the very first week we owned the boat. I didn't even know what an impeller was. We learned how not to do that again and my husband learned to fix it and to keep a spare on board. I could go on and on about what we've learned but here's the moral to the story...I am glad we started SMALL. We have enjoyed every minute on board Stella Maris. We have had up to 8 people on board for a cruise around the lake or South Sound (we trailered her down to a family cabin at Hartstene Island). We pack a picnic and just cruise with a bottle of wine and good friends or family. I think the 6 and 9 year olds would love this boat. By the time they hit their teens (or before), you'll be ready for bigger like the Ranger 27 or 29 and then you can decide if they still love boating. If they do, they will want to bring their friends. If they prefer to stay at home with their friends, you can take another couple or two with you. There's room on those bigger tugs either way.

I know that because we just met Andrew Custis at the Ranger Tug factory yesterday. We looked at the new R29. LOVE IT!! And we are seriously considering making the leap to the bigger boat as we now feel ready to start taking longer cruises to the San Juan Islands. BUT, I never would have wanted to start in the bigger boat. Both from a financial and from a learning curve perspective, I think starting with the R21 was the right thing for us. We aren't sure we're ready for the leap. We may opt to spend another year or two with our R21. We are having all those discussions now and trying to decide what to do.

At the end of the day, we have no regrets starting with the R21. We love the boat and have so many wonderful memories already thanks to Stella Maris. Wishing you the best with your decision. You can't go wrong with the Ranger R21EC.
 
noboatyet - what a great reply to Feet Wet! We've been boating for awhile but your descriptions brought back a lot of memories of starting out. I'd been sailing for some time but it was a first for my wife and I when we bought our first powerboat (a Regal 3760). I LOL on the back sat skipper comment 🙂. By the way, we're into our first year on our R29 CB and absolutely love it. Let me know if you have any questions.

Feet Wet, we took our boat from Huntington Harbor down to San Diego over the long July 4th weekend and had a great time. It's a great boating community down there. Note that the harbor does get a little choppy in the afternoon and some significant wakes get kicked out as there's no speed limit outside of the marinas. However your kids will probably really enjoy going through the wake! Note that the R21 is a very capable boat. We have a "neighbor" in Huntington Harbor who regularly takes his 21EC over to Catalina. His name is Brent Gudorf and he's on the Facebook group "The TugNuts" with pictures and stories posted.
 
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