We are adopting a really well cared for 2020 R-25 w. Outboard. Looking for advice on must-have accessories and toys to extract all the joy we can out of our new family member. It will be homed in Lake Washington but will have lots of excursions out into the sound for overnights. Any advice on things to buy that would make us enjoy it more would be greatly appreciated.
NEW R-25 OWNERS
- Thread starter Jimiejohn
- Start date
Jesperjo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2024
- Messages
- 99
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-43 S
- Vessel Name
- Out of Office
Welcome to the group! There are a few threads on this already but what extras do you already have? Most people will tell you the first upgrade should be yacht bedding. In a thread a couple of months ago I also suggested a pair of additional G-5 fenders and two additional dock lines for the port side. And of course AIS. What do you already have?
JMarshallR25
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2024
- Messages
- 100
- Location
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-25 (Outboard)
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2537D424
- Vessel Name
- NISSE
The R25 is an awesome little boat. I hope you love it.
Here are some of my recommendations:
1) yachtbedding topper, sheets and comforter, and an extra 1” foam cut to fit beneath it. The factory cushions are not comfortable by themselves.
2) Starlink mini - internet anywhere!
3) Flags! This boat has space for an ensign at the stern, a burgee at the bow, and another flag of your choice on the mast.
4) better underwater lights - the cheapies on the trim tabs are not good enough if you want to light up the whole nearby ocean.
5) a better radio - upgrade to the Garmin like the bigger Ranger Tugs come with.
6) basic household equipment - a paper towel holder, trash can, pots and pans, and cleaning supplies.
7) Smartplug - the factory has switched over to it. It’s so much easier to just plug in rather than twisting and locking an old school cord. An easy upgrade.
8) Pillows and blankets - Ranger Tugs are meant to be cozy.
9) the griddle top for the Kenyon grill. It’s much more versatile to cook on a flattop.
You might want AIS, more solar, and/or more batteries in the future.
serendipity
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2024
- Messages
- 115
- Location
- Marion, MA
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-27 (Outboard)
- Vessel Name
- Serendipity
Welcome and congrats! The RT owners community has been a wonderfully welcoming group, as we enter out 3rd season as 2023 R27 owners. If you haven’t checked out Channel Surfing yet, it’s a good place to start: letsgochsnnelsurfing.com.
As we enter our third year, we are still refining our kit. However, a topper is a definite must have! Yes, AIS is a must have along with extra dock lines and fenders. That being said, using your boat will provide you with ideas about what works and what might be needed.
As we enter our third year, we are still refining our kit. However, a topper is a definite must have! Yes, AIS is a must have along with extra dock lines and fenders. That being said, using your boat will provide you with ideas about what works and what might be needed.
Thank you we jumped on with a mini star link as priority one. Love the other suggestions.
Sorry What is AIS. We def need bedding
Jesperjo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2024
- Messages
- 99
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-43 S
- Vessel Name
- Out of Office
Good question. AIS stands for Automated Identification System. It allows vessels to transmit data about themselves to other boats, and for other boats to receive that data and see it on their chart plotter or a handheld device like the Vesper Cortex or an iCom M94D radio. For larger and commercial vessels, Class A vessels, it is mandatory. If you go to https://www.marinetraffic.com/en You can see every commercial vessel, globally. Click on one that’s near the coast and you can see its name, course, speed, destination, departure port, and so on. People submit pictures so you can often get a picture of it too. For pleasure boats AIS is required if they are over 65 feet in the U.S. but under that it is optional. A pleasure boat, Class B, transmits a bit less information, but you still get course, speed, heading, range, length, beam, and type of ship.
The R-29 and R-31 come with AIS Receivers, but not transmitters. The R-43 comes with both. For the smaller boats, you can add a transceiver, like the Garmin AIS 800 pretty easily. Once you set it up, you will start seeing AIS targets on your chart plotter and it will flag any that are on a collision course, including a time until they are really dangerous.
Why do you need this? Last summer, we were heading back to Everett, WA from the San Juan Islands. It was beautiful and sunny, and as soon as we got into Rosario Strait, it was so foggy our visibility was sub-quarter mile. We had AIS and Radar so we just continued across. About half way across we saw a blob on the radar that turned out to be a tug boat towing a barge at about 7 knots. They were about half a mile out and on a collision course. We knew they could see us on their AIS and Radar, but obviously, we were a lot more maneuverable than they were, so we diverted a bit to avoid them. We never actually saw them out the window even though we passed them at about a third of a mile distance, but it turned something that could have been super dangerous into a non-event. If we had not had AIS and a radar we would have turned back, missed our tidal window at Deception Pass, and probably had to stay away an extra day and miss a day of work (ok, that might not have been a real hardship).
Personally, I won’t go out more than a few miles from the dock without AIS and radar any longer. We’ve had several occasions like this.
Let me know if you have any more questions!