Questions for training

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Robjen

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My wife and I have just purchased a new Ranger R29CB. We are heading back down to Florida on July 5th for our training and hope to take delivery soon. We have been boaters (houseboat and wakeboard boats) on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky for many years. I am pretty mechanically inclined, but the Tug and preparing for river crushing and the Great Loop (in a few years) is new to me.
What are some good questions or topics I need to make sure I cover in the training on the new boat?
Thanks for the help, and I really have enjoyed the forum!
 
First things first....welcome to the Ranger Tug family. Management of your electrical system...ie generator vs shore power vs solar panel, how they operate, what they'll run on the boat and how this coincides with your charging/invertor system. Becoming familiar with where your engine impeller is (main engine and generator) and how to change them, finding out where all your boats zincs are so you can check in on them periodically so you know when to change them are a few important items to get you started.

Enjoy your new Ranger Tug.

Jim F
 
Learn all you can about and make a set of notes on the things that you might be confronted with while on the water/away from home:

- electrical system(AC and DC): location of all breakers/fuses/switches, what operates off which batteries, how battery banks are set up, how charging system works(on charger and alternator), how generator/shore/solar function/interface

- plumbing: how the potable water system is plumbed, how the sanitary system is plumbed, where tanks and pumps are located, where their fuses are located

- engine: where/how to change fuel filters, pump impeller, belts

One thing I'd check right off the bat is whether the fuel fill/vent are plumbed properly and fuel filling is not a hassle. This seems to be one of the things that the factory continues to struggle with on QC.
 
One thing I've learned is to not spend too much time on how the Garmin Chartplotter setup(s) are all done. It's very tempting to focus on this unfortunately. This can be very time consuming at the expense of learning the more basic boat's operational aspects. It takes a lot of time to memorize all the Garmin chart plotter settings and what things it can display. Get the basic setup for navigating which should be already setup by default and spend the rest of your time learning and asking questions about other things. The learning for all the Garmin configurations can be learned later while referring to the Garmin documentation and getting help from this forum. If you have Autopilot then sure, learn about that, and make sure it works correctly - try autopilot heading and then change headings to ensure the boat navigates to correct headings each time.

How many days will you have ? IMO you'll need two days; one for going over all the boat's details and the other day should be on the water learning how the engine operates, docking techniques, use of thrusters, etc.

Make a list of ALL things you need doing to get the boat ready for leaving the dock.

Make a list of ALL things you need doing after you've returned from the water and docked and wanting to leave boat tied up and unattended.

Take note of any engine break in advice.

Take note of proper operation of the VHF radio.

If you're going to be anchoring, make sure you know how to deploy and retrieve anchor and line using the windless.

Note where all the hull and gunwale ports are; fuel filling, fresh water filling, the pump out.

Note how the bilge pumps work; check the bilge pump breaker switch(s) so you know how to operate the bilge pumps when necessary. They can be set to manual or automatic. The automatic is what you need all the time and use manual to ensure they work before leaving the dock.

Make sure all the leads/fuses at the batteries are identified clearly.

There's a LOT to learn at first (too much IMO even for two days), but over the months of doing things repetitively you will get better and better and more knowledgeable about how everything works.

Don't hesitate in asking your questions in this forum. There are many knowledgeable people in this forum that will help you.

If you have 1st mate with you, then delegate note taking while you concentrate on what's being said etc. Take photos as necessary to help you to remember things later.

Good luck..... and enjoy.

WELCOME to Tugnuts. 🙂
 
During your dealer check-out and familiarization, check every electrical, electronic and mechanical system for proper operation.

Then allow yourself a one or 2 day solo overnight trip to work out any bugs, and ask questions you might not have had yourself before heading home.
 
This is a good topic. My Tug is in Florida. The 2 best things for me was 1. Be on this forum. 2. Have the cell phone number of the dealer, salesman or dealers mechanic. This forum has a lot of good info. I have the cell phone number of the dealers 2nd in command Guy. He does all the training and some of the maintenance work. Get the cell phone number of the person that does your training and jot down when he can be called.

Second thing, no matter how many boats you've had and no matter how long you've been boating, you will find some things that are different. I've had my new R31-CB for 6 weeks now and I'm still learning. Even though I've had many other boats of different types I have found the Ranger Tugs to be a little different and the technology is newer. Be prepared to have to learn how it all works and don't assume something is wrong with the equipment when it's not intuitive. This one has been quite different for me.

Third, what we did was spend two weekends at the dealers Marina on the boat. This helped a lot and worked out some issues before we actually left with it, however, there will be some issues. We had a main shore power breaker go out, a fuse to the inverter was not connected firmly and it blew, a TV problem and a bilge pump float switch fuse that was blown. It will be difficult at best to check each and everything for proper operation until you actually start using the boat because there are so many systems. This company has really good support and my dealer has taken care of all my issues quickly and answered all my questions that have come up so far. Without this I would have been very frustrated at times.


Last, we are still getting used to our R31. It will take some time to become organized. Other boats seemed easier to transition to for us. We like our R31 and it gets a lot of attention. Be prepared for this. These boats are extremely unique. They ride is very good and with the thrusters are very maneuverable. 6 weeks in we know we still have a lot to learn. I have a bag full of remote controls to different things. I'm getting to them slowly....

You are going to love your Tug. Message me if I can help. Will your Tug be in Florida?

Brian Suggs
Disaster Relief
2017 Ranger Tugs R31-CB
Fort Walton Beach, FL
 
Thanks for all the advice. We will be on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky for a few months and then a few river cruises out of Louisville, KY. We are a few years from retirement and plan to take a few weeklong trips until we are retired.
I am so glad to be a part of this forum and the wealth of information here!
 
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