Life changing decisions.....

[jeffrey]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, but I have been following the site for a few months and I am intrigued. Very intrigued. I am a long time boater and presently have a 40' motor yacht which I have owned for the past 18 years. However, my wife and I would like to change our cruising style and do some longer distance cruises which our boat does not lend itself in doing due to the fuel burn. I long for the days of $3.00 a gallon gas or diesel. Ancient history!

My question is this. Are there any owners of the R29 who used to have larger boats and have made the transition to the R 29. My wife is crazy about the boat, but I'm not so sure if we could live a bard this size vessel for 5 months like we do presently. How was the transition and was it difficult and what do you miss most about not having the larger boat?

Any opinion would be appreciated.

 

[captd]

Jeff,
My wife and I did exactly that. We had a 45 ft. Chris Craft Commander that we lived on 6 months of the year. We had a nice slip all year round in Coco Beach. In the winter we would head for the Bahamas. Problem was the fuel costs were about $2000 to get there and get back home. We could not afford to run much after we got there.
To make a long story short we ended up with the 25 Ranger Tug. We could spend six months living aboard. In the Keys and the Bahamas. Moving around as much as we wanted to. We did not have to pay slip rent all year around or none at all .
We towed the boat home when done cruising and got it out of the way of the hurricanes. We save the cost of all the haul outs and bottom jobs. Insurance for the same amount of the policy was much cheaper because we live in Montana. Here we pay for registration only once. It is licensed permanently.

Probably saved us $20,000 a year. ( fuel was cheaper then) The 29 Tug will be better yet for a live aboard. Go for it.
🙂
captd

 

[Nellie Too]

Buying a Ranger R-29 would be a great decision. Nita and I had a 38' Monk tri-cabin for many years, it costs a small fortune, but I will admit, I miss the MIMI (pictures available in our photo album). Buying the R-29 was about the best decision we ever made. We have stayed about two weeks at a time, maximum, due to job responsibilities and buying a new home but many, like Captd have spent months at a time. Our friends Herb and Willie Stark spent about four month this summer on their R-27 others have spent that much time on their R-25s. Good luck, a R-29 would be a great decision.
Bob and Nita

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Jeff:

Although we do not have an R29, we do have an R27 and have transitioned from being liveaboards for 5 years on a 40' trawler to living back on land 8 months and trialering and boating the other 4. We decided on an R27 because we'll be Trailering a great deal and thought the 27 would be easier. If we can do this on the 27 I would think the 29 would be an even easier transition. If you have any specific questions and would like to send us a PM please feel free do to so.

 

[jeffrey]

Hello,
I would like to thank all who replied to my post on the transitioning issue. I do believe that my next step is going to take a very close look at the R29. My wife and I were on board a 29 at a boat show, but time was limited due to the number of people wanting to board. After that I plan I making a trip to the factory and see how the boats are built.

Right now I'm looking at the snow outside my house. I live in Colorado and I keep my boat on Long Island inNew York.
I have only been back here for two weeks and am not exactly ready for this.

 

[JamesTXSD]

We do not have a 29... in fact, we don't have a Ranger Tug. Our boat is a 25' C-Dory Cruiser that we bought just before Ranger came out with the R-25. We have spent up to 5 months at a time in it. Previously, we had larger sailboats. And even larger diesel pusher motorcoaches. It was a small sailing catboat that helped us come to the conclusion that traveling was less about the stuff and more about the experience. We have had amazing travels on our C-Dory: a couple summers cruising in the Pacific Northwest, a winter in the Florida Keys, Lake Powell, the San Francisco Bay area, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, the Erie Canal, Hudson River, NYC, the Trent-Severn Waterway... and many other great cruising waters... at the time the cruising is best there.

When we first considered a powercruiser, I read about a couple named Bill & El Fiero (http://www.cruisingamerica-halcyondays.com/) who cruised all over on their 22 foot C-Dory. My first thought was: if they can to that, we can do that. We went to the Seattle Boat Show, pretty intent on buying a 22. We met Jeff Messmer (yeah, he was with C-Dory before Ranger Tugs) and ordered our 25 from him (after my darling wife said, "That one," when looking at the 22 vs the 25).

We've talked about a bigger boat for living aboard, and it may someday come to that. But, both of us are quite content with the experience of traveling on our boat. We don't have everything we own onboard when we cruise... but we plan our cruises and take what we will need. We can get into shallow coves that bigger boats only wish they could enter. Anchoring is a snap. And being able to change cruising areas at 60 knots on the trailer is what makes it all work. No expensive haul-outs: we pull out with the trailer... the wife backs the trailer down, I drive the boat up onto it. She can move the boat around by herself at the dock. Easy.

We frequently are asked about our boat, and often by bigger boat owners. They are intrigued by all the places we've been, but it generally comes down to: "Can you really be comfortable on that boat?" Well, sure. We have what we need for amenities, they are just closer together. 😉 The sunsets are the same. The nights at anchor are still great. All the nav gear guides us where we want to go. The planning is the same, but the boat handling is easier. Stays in marinas are less expensive. We can choose fast or slow. The truck can be our "re-supply" vehicle, where we leave a different season of clothes or the dinghy.

The Ranger line of boats are very nice with a company that listens to and supports their owners. You can live large on a smaller boat... all it takes is attitude, a spirit of adventure, and a sense of humor.

If you want to see our cruising: http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=5212

Or: http://captnjim.blogspot.com/2011/03/ca ... le-in.html
for the story of our travels with our boat cat, Molly. It also chronicles some of our decision process on getting that boat.

Good luck with your decisions.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[Nellie Too]

I really think that Jim B said it better than anyone could. What a great story, thanks for sharing.
Bob and Nita

 

[Stella Maris]

I have to agree with Bob and Nita. Jim said it best.

 

[doke01]

I did a factory visit when I was in Seattle earlier this year. It was pretty nice and I got a personal tour of the whole place. Their customer support is fantastic! We bought our R25 in 2007 and they still treat us like we are new customers.