Introduction

[sparrow]

Hello All: After lurking for several years I've decided it was about time to introduce myself and my 1991 21 Classic. I've owned this boat for a decade and still love it.

I'm an environmental consultant and use the boat in my work, mostly to check on marsh creation projects and tidal studies in my local estuary (the coastal bays of the Mid-Atlantic). I also do a little fishing, but never far from home, so most of my trips are under five miles.

For a while I burned 100% biodiesel made from the leftovers from our local chicken processing operation. Not a good idea, as the BD ate some of the seals and plastics, with the worst degradation to the flexible pick-up tube in the fuel tank. Lesson learned. I now burn 10% BD and have had no problems, although Yanmar says that 5% is the safe maximum for my 2gm. I figure they are on the conservative side.

Boat and motor are easy to maintain, but I have let the exterior teak go grey. I've added an in-hull depth sounder with the transducer located aft below deck in a 6" PVC tube. Works well.

The aluminum poles in the pic are from an old Sunfish and they support my awning.

--Sparrow

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Nice looking R21 Classic. Welcome to Tugnuts.

Jim F

 

[mcphersn]

Awesome boat. Glad to see another tree, er, coral hugger on the list.

 

[mrrlc]

Great picture and cool looking R21. Thanks for sharing and welcome!
Bob

 

[Champ]

Nice!

 

[Levitation]

It was a classic R21 in blue that hooked me into the Tug family.
There should be a law against boats that look that good.
Wound up with an R25, but that's another story.

 

[Brian B]

Cool looking boat.
I wish Ranger still offered a White Hull.

 

[LAKERtoo]

.. ANOTHER good looking R21 Classic .. I have a 2005 blue on white as well .. it looks pretty much the same .. I've never understood why the white hull was discontinued .. what are you using for battens in your tarp/sun shade ? and what do I see hanging down from your swim grid ? .. do you have the mast and boom for the boat .. Cheers Rob

 

[sparrow]

Thanks to all for the compliments. I have to admit I'm pretty proud of my little tug and enjoy all the compliments I get from fellow boaters when out on the water.

Lakertoo: The awning is from a sailboat I once owned. I had it made by a local canvas shop. The battens are made from some old Hobie 16 main battens. Lines from the grommets lead down to plastic hooks that clip on the rail. Easy to set up and shades the whole cockpit. The rear spar goes through a hole in the aft seat down to a step fastened to the deck.

I thought about adding a mast and boom. I have a couple old spars that would work, and I bought the mast step from a Ranger dealer. Decided against it however, as I didn't see myself using a steadying sail and the rigging might get in the way in any case. The crossbar seen on top of the cabin is a rubber-coated steel bar from a kayak carrier setup that sits on two wooden mounts, all held down with bungees. I can remove the whole rig in a couple minutes.

What you see hanging from the swim platform is the ladder that is normally stowed underneath the platform. I was snorkeling that day in about 4' of water checking on some underwater grasses we had planted the year before, and when I was returning to the boat she looked so good I couldn't resist taking pic.

The colors are a little off in the pic I guess, because her cove and boot stripes are a dark green, not blue.

The best thing I have done to the boat is add an autopilot. One of my neighbors is a genius with all things electrical and he had an old unit lying around that he adapted to the boat for $400. I couldn't do without it.