New R23 owner that can hardly wait!

[jagizzi]

My wife and I pulled the trigger on the R23 at the Bremerton Trawlerfest.

We take delivery at the end of June and are super excited. This is totally new to us as we have only owned a small fishing boat in the past, and that was more than 10 years ago, so we have a lot to learn. I've joined the US Power Squadron in SW WA and am looking forward to years of using this boat until we can slow down and enjoy a 29 or 31.

Our main cruising grounds will be the San Juans in the Summer and the Columbia River in the shoulder seasons. I am open to any and all suggestions, comments or ideas and have gone through this forum many times.

Our choice was easy as the 27 would have pushed the towing capacity on my new F-150, and it being new it would have been tough to turn around and buy another truck. The 23, loaded with trailer, ought to be well within the 10.7k # towing capacity so that is the way we went.

If anyone cruises the San Juans out of Friday Harbor we would love meet, tag along or hang out. Same goes for the Columbia.

The main question at the moment is the one of dinghy and I'll lurk for others experience on this. The outboard gets in the way of the obvious mounting point and the roof seems like a barrier to use. I don't figure towing will work if we are cruising at any speed so would love to hear if anyone else with a 23 has this worked out yet.

I look forward to discussions and ideas on this forum and appreciate it as a resource.

Thanks folks,

Jim, Kelli, Jenna and our lab Abby ;-)

 

[baz]

Jim, Kelli, Jenna and our lab Abby: Congratulations. 🙂

The RT R-23 and new 2018 R-27 at Bremerton Trawlerfest was also my focus as well. I attended on the Thursday and Friday. On Thursday I gave the R-23 and the new R-27 a good 'look over'. I had set my sights on the fully-loaded R-23 prior to the Trawlerfest and was anxious to see the new R-27 and how it compared to the R-23. I took a test ride on the R-27 on Friday with Kenny Marrs at the helm.

When comparing the fully-loaded R-23 to the new stock 2018 R-27 I came to the conclusion the new R-27 was a good value for us along with its 'introduction pricing' and it provided more room and additional conveniences and creature comforts that we considered important when comparing to the R-23. So the new 2018 R-27 was ordered with Andrew at the Trawlerfest.

The R-23 and the new 2018 R-27 and good boats and the change from the traditional RT internal diesel to the outboard did not bother us, and in fact we quite liked the idea in many ways. Having the option of going slow or fast appealed to us a great deal for the cruising ventures we have in the PNW waters.

Andrew is telling me we might have our R-27 in out hot little hands sometime in the Jul/Aug timeframe. 😀

Geting to your question about how to accommodate a dinghy for the R-23 and in my case the R-27..... My inclination is to focus on a decent inflatable that can be packed into a bag of sufficient size that can be stowed in the center cockpit locker, in the Cave area or even pushed under the dinette table alongside starboard wall. I would use an electric air pump to allow the inflatable to be pressurized quickly and possibly in around 5 mins. Depending on the inflatable's weight I guess it could be installed on top of the cabin also.

One other aspect which I'm looking into is to see if the inflatable inside its bag could in fact sit on the outboard's platform on port side... but having ordered the optional kicker motor this may not be possible.

Well done and enjoy your new R-23. 🙂

 

[baz]

The other aspect for having a dinghy onboard is whether or not it's required for an intended day outing or a longer cruise. If I had no intentions for using of a dinghy I'd simply leave it on shore and save the hassle of its storage. I already have a cheap inflatable that holds maybe two kids easily/safely and packs down into a box of little size. This could easily be stowed in a small space onboard somewhere as a pre-caution.

I really do think that the 'inflatable option' is the best approach/solution for the R-23/R-27 outboards so long as there's no requirement for something more substantial/bigger/sturdier etc. In addition, the weight of an inflatable will in most cases be much less than for a larger/sturdier rigid hull type of dinghy and this will reduce onboard weight and provide for better performance and fuel economy.

Remember, more weight (especially on the stern) will slow you down and cause more fuel to be burned.

As an aside, The R-27 outboard model has a 150 gallon fuel tank. When full this will add some 6.3 x 150 = 945 lbs to the boats weight. For me, I'm likely to keep the tank at 1/2 full to save some 470 lbs when just tooling about and only fill up to the 150 gallons for an extended cruise.

 

[Agua viva]

Congratulations on your impending deliveries! We've had our 23 for a few weeks now, and have spent a few nights on board, tested out the downriggers, trolling feature, inverter, diesel heater, and generally spent some quality time getting to know her - nothing short of amazing. Lovely surprises so far are how quiet she is under power (with the exception of the a) water pump, and b) bow thruster, which wakes up the marina when we try to make a stealth departure from a tight spot); and the surprising amount of storage space - nooks to tuck spares kits, etc.

I will take delivery of a red 14' Saturn Kaboat on Wednesday (58 lbs, 3 person capacity, 750 lb load). We plan to mount it on the roof with Malone folding J racks, and I'll post pictures once we're all sorted. Long, narrow, and light - I'm hoping that, from the stern, I can lift and get the nose up onto the roof, then walk it onto the racks (might be interesting in the wind). There will definitely be a bit of method development happening over the weekend. We may switch to the adjustable Rhino rack, as it has a wider range of angle. Tough decision on the tender, not sure if it's the right one, but... I think it will work for now. We have a Yamaha 2hp with some sentimental value that needed to be part of the picture, and an 11 year old that will spend time bombing around as 11 year old boys are apt to do.

I'm interested to see how other Rangers with outboards are addressing the tender issue.

 

[wildbrian1]

As a potential R23 owner myself, is there anything you wished you ordered differently from the factory?

 

[jagizzi]

I am happy with the way the boat was outfitted. We got the autopilot, radar, downrigger mounts and plugs, rear swim step railing, solar panel and some other things, can't remember. Really, the only options we did not get were the AC, the AIS and kicker.

Of these, the only one that I still think might be useful is the AIS, although I haven't had the need yet.

I feel like folding side seats would be a good addition but only to move around the cockpit to avoid the sun. You can't have folks sit in all of the seating spots as the side seats and rear seat positions conflict with each other.

I would love to have a grill option on the back rail and a propane locker on the swim step.

While wishing, I wish there was a clear cut dinghy option. I like the KaBoat but they are out of any colors that I would want for this year so we are still looking.

We love the boat, are living with the obvious limitations given its size but can trailer it with our existing F-150, so a worthwhile tradeoff for us.

 

[baz]

Get the SeaEagle 385ft FastTrack inflatable kayak. It can be stowed in its bag, stowed on rear platform or in cockpit corner. Can be manually inflated or use 12v electric pump which in my case inflate the three sections in 5 mins. It weighs a mere 33 lbs.

I do recommend the AIS 300 or 600 as a future add on, especially in Puget Sound on foggy or limited visibility conditions.

On our R-27/OB the aft and side dual seats can be folded out with conflicts.... and what can I say about the transom grill and propane locker ..... :roll: :lol:

The R-23 is a well equipped boat IMO.... add a few options and you're good to go.

Have fun.... 🙂

 

[olygirl]

Hi guys,

We have had our R23 for about a month now and absolutely LOVE it! We put a 53 pound Zodiac dinghy up on the rails on the top of the boat (didn't get a solar panel) and it is working well for us. Easy to slide off and on while at a dock. We are planning to try putting it on the swim platform when the engine is down in the water to transport on short distances while on a mooring buoy but haven't tried this yet. We think this is the best and easiest option for having a dinghy on an R23.

 

[tpfahy]

Welcome to the family!
here is my steep learning curve in rigging our R23 out for fun and adventure!
We have had Charlie Rock since May 24. This weekend will be night 35-38 for me so far and about 25 for my wife. We got everything absent the solar panels. The AC and Heat has been awesome in a crazy year of weather. Makes my wife very happy and that is REALLY important in boating! The generator makes the panels less relevant for us. I have US Boat Tow insurance (nearby in Kenosha) so no kicker. Some insights and suggestions: privacy panels. are outside except for the cabin door. Take it to a canvas maker and switch the velcro to the other side and put is outside. privacy AND the door is usable without removing. Ditch the cushion in the quarter berth under the dinette seats. This happens to be perfect storage for 8 stacking rectangular tubs from Home Depot. You can get a lot of stuff in 8 tubs, plus a taller one right in front of the electrical panel, tool bag, rechargable compressor (for the paddleboards). i added a 6" by 8.5' PVC tube, with locking contractors caps up on the sport rack. just inboard of paddle holders, and i can store 6 spinning/baitcast rods and reels in the tube. no hauling back and forth, no ugly mounts on the ceiling. Add extra 12v powerplus. i added one by the co-pilots seat along with a RAM mount for an Ipad w/cellular. This is my weather station and with Garmin Helm, any co-pilot can follow along with navigation and the autopilot. I also added one for a phone.ipod next to the cave entrance and connect by 6" usb to the stereo. Speaking of auto pilot. I have about 800 miles on her this summer in Lake Michigan. I really like the auto pilot, as it does a better job keeping us true on course without the hand driven oscillation. i used gorilla tape/3m auto tape (means no holes in the boat from me) to afix "command hooks with wire hooks (also Home Depot) and then Sgt Rock Shock cord with shock cord eyes at the front edge of each shelf. NOTHING Falls off, despite some rough seas (for a lake). i did the same in front of the sink. I added a Wifi attenuator antenna to on the roof (on the mast would have blocked the front nav light() to juice our local marina and guest marina wifi. (i work from the boat alot). I have found that an Igloo Marine 75 Qt cooler with lid seat pad is just as good as side folding seats and probable a thousand cheaper. A cockpit enclosure for the rear. Mostly isenglass, with 3 screen panels each "door".
This is a life saver for space or guests when buggy, rain or cold. flip the window open the door and heat/cool with the AC system. i could still probably use screen panels in black for the cabin door and flip up window. Fenders and more fendors, lots dock and spring lines. custom make a nice mooring bridle/anchor snubber with stainless snaplink, i leave it hooked to the bow cleat, around and under the windess and tucked back into a forward locker. a nice dyneema plus snaplink anchor safety line (and i flip the circuit until needed). that portable compress (amazon about 60 bucks. Does trailer / truck tires on one side and float toys and paddleboards with the other. fill and extract both important for storage. They sell a converter for AC (it comes only with a lighter 12v adapter, that i plug into the outlets. i also picked up several 45w multi USB power adapters along with cord holders. runs from the under dinette outlet (or same for multi 12v adapter) and thru the cord stays which are glued / adhesive to the edge of the dinette table. stay in place even under the pad that makes the bed up. i have a set along with braided bright red cords for our phones, tablets guests etc and they never go home. when you have the cockpit enclosure made, have them also make inserts for the skylights in the cabin and cave. i did those myself. there are 6. same for the porthole, 2 side lights/windows in the cave and the one in the head. (Head gets locked with valve closed and bowl empty when cruising. check it every time, trust me!). you need sunbrella fabric and a couple of the reflective windscreen covers for a car. double it up. much darker for sleeping. A 3 inch memory foam (one piece not 3 pieces ) makes sheets and blankets easy. You will have to have the small cushion in the cave modified to address the head door swing. There is a thread here in tugnuts. good tool kit (nice Allens are key) along with square drivers, small wire snips, scissors, bosuns knife for knots). Spare dyneema and line, watch some splicing videos, a rope cutting/heat sealing tool, heat whipping, some bag chairs and a rollup camping table (stow in lockers next to generator in Cockpit) a mini Diaper Genie, spare bags and dog poop bags in the head (all amazon) for paper etc in the head. Rainx or alternative (tugnuts forums has the name - cannot remember) windshield wipers kind of weak, a good waxing really helps. Terrorx Spray and some kind of pump for spiders, 4 tubs minus lids to hold all your galley stuff, easier to pull out a tub in cabinets under sink than rummage around. a couple of blow up floats as loungers on the bow for sunning. Kayak/Paddleboard Taxi or bunkbed for sport rack. An Amazon black net/storage hammock. for inside the "biminette" . i zipped tied at corners and middle, nicely holds 4 life vests which are also accessible (i use a Mustang PFD auto inflate when out alone - on my person) I also zipped tied a small camping / backpacking light, with lantern and downlight features to the biminete support bar. in additional to the side / dock lights its great for using the cockpit at night. Most of these are probably no brainers for actual boaters, but we are newbies and this has been a crash course for us. We absolutely love this boat!

 

[jagizzi]

Wow tpfahy, that is a great post. It will take me a while to digest it but the quick read through gave me some ideas for ours, thanks!