R-25SC Sea Trial / Baby on Board?

[spierp]

Hello all,
My first post here. I've been tooling around the tugnuts forum for a couple weeks now and I must say it appears to be a quality bunch of people.

We are very excited to be going for a spin on Lake Washington with Andrew this Thursday. Does anyone have any tips or specific things to pay attention to during the trial? We've read a fair amount about the boat and watched a lot of youtube but there may be some real world experience and advice that would help us be more discerning.

For a little background, we're somewhat new parents with a 4 month old and cruising on a boat will have it's concerns, some of them maybe not immediately apparent. That said, both us grew up boating and loved it, albeit mostly concentrated east on Lake Roosevelt, Pend Oreille, and Priest. The plan now would be to explore some salt water, with home base on Lake Union as we live in Seattle.

Is all of this a bad idea!? 🙂
What should we pay attention to on the trial?

 

[Jake]

Can't say if it's a good or bad idea since I've never had the experience. 😀 But I would say it sounds like a dream come true to me. 😀 Good luck.

Jake

 

[tlkenyon]

Mary and I are going to do sea trials with Kenny on our new 25sc late this month (February). I am very interested in any answers the OP.

 

[down stream]

Listen to Andrew ! he knows what he is doing. You can trust him with you life.
Andrew, Kenny, & Jeff are all great people and will treat you right. I have purchase
two boats from them and have always been very happen.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Bringing children up in and on the water is a great life experience, go for it if this is your families dream. As far as safety make sure whatever boat you decide on that you also get a dependable dinghy and outboard, life jackets for you and your child and good portable VHF radios.

Your sea trail will give you some answers but in all likelihood more questions. With that said come back to the forum after your sea trail with your yet unthought of questions and we'll all be glad to help you out.

Jim F

 

[Bruce Moore]

Since we started boating 8 years ago, on our first Ranger Tug - an R-25 Classic, we've had the pleasure of seeing lots of kids, of all ages, on boats. With all the boating we've done with the Pacific NW Tugnuts community, rendezvous's, cruises north, small get togethers, we've also had the opportunity to watch many of them grow up. It's a wonderful family lifestyle, and we a regularly impressed with how kids adapt, learn, and participate in the routines of boating.

As for the sea trial, Andrew (a new father himself) will do a great job introducing you to R-25SC and it's capabilities.There are too many systems to cover in a relatively short time, but I'd make a point of discussing safety features and handling. Running up through the RPM sweet spots, noting when you get on plane, how the boat turns at speed, how it takes it's own wake (if it's a calm sea), etc. Have him show you how to use the thrusters to steer when backing, as well as docking. And have him show you how effectively you can push the stern around with the rudder and short feathered bursts of the engine. These things were key to our understanding the boat.

Another thought. When we started, with no boating experience, we knew we wanted to learn to boat in tidal saltwater. We purposely chose moorage (Elliott Bay Marina) outside the locks for that reason. We believed the friction of locking through would have slowed down our progress. A day or overnight trip to Blake Island or Poulsbo is much easier when you're already in the salt, especially on a weekend. Worked for us - something to consider.

Have a great time on the water next week!

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[spierp]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful response, this is great.

We will be sure to discuss safety features and handling during the sea trial and great point about the portable VHF radios.

With regard to having a dependable dinghy and outboard, we are currently signed up for the factory dinghy which I believe is 8’ in length, hypalon tubes and fiberglass bottom. I'm intrigued by the Torqeedo 1003, cost is obviously a negative but otherwise seems like a really neat alternative to combustion. Would a Torqeedo qualify as dependable in an emergency? Maybe debatable due to limited range?

Great point about moorage outside vs. inside the locks, we have been debating about this for awhile now and still on the fence. The main force steering us inside is close proximity to our house and easy access to warmer waters in the summer. On the other hand locks do look precarious and time consuming.

thanks again!

 

[downey]

A couple of things come to mind, 1st my R27 does not back up and turn without the use of the thrusters, Bruce mentioned short bursts of speed to help with this. I've tried with little success, so a lesson from Andrew maybe needed for myself as well.
2. If your getting the auto pilot which I strongly recommend, be sure Andrew shows you the difference between "heading hold" and the auto pilot actually following the trail.
For a while when we first got ours I was convinced the auto pilot was not working, because every time I hit "standby" then "engage" it defaulted to "heading hold". Which is a great feature but not exactly what I was trying to do.
It's very easy to correct, just a couple more buttons to hit.
As mentioned earlier there is so much to learn you will have more questions after the sea trial, I find with this forum and reading the manuals I get a long just fine.

Congrats on the purchase!

 

[bradcarolR29S]

I think what Bruce was referring to was alternating between forward and reverse while applying rudder control in the appropriate direction. To spin to starboard, turn full right rudder, tap momentarily to forward, back to neutral for a second or two and then into reverse long enough to hold position. Repeat this process until you achieve the desired course. Ranger tugs do not respond to rudder control in reverse. Steerage is done by short bursts of power in forward to swing the stern in the right direction. Absent wind/ current it is possible to spin the boat in place, no thrusters necessary.
Brad

 

[Bruce Moore]

What Brad said. 🙂

 

[ray]

I think what Bruce was referring to was alternating between forward and reverse while applying rudder control in the appropriate direction. To spin to starboard, turn full right rudder, tap momentarily to forward, back to neutral for a second or two and then into reverse long enough to hold position. Repeat this process until you achieve the desired course. Ranger tugs do not respond to rudder control in reverse. Steerage is done by short bursts of power in forward to swing the stern in the right direction. Absent wind/ current it is possible to spin the boat in place, no thrusters necessary.

Google "back and fill". There are even some videos available.

Ray

 

[Longbranch Louie]

Take your I pad or a notebook. Each of you take notes. If a question comes to mind write it down and ask Andrew. The first thing we "forgot" was everything related to electrical. Where switches are located, how to hook up shore power. What to turn off and leave on at departure and how to change settings on the garmin.

For this first outing I would make sure you have a sitter. You will be crawling around looking at where things are, taking notes and getting comfortable yourself with how to handle lines, board, dock etc. It will give you a chance to assess what you will need on board for your little ones comfort and safety.
As your child gets mobile, you may wish to add a safety latch higher up on the cabin door. Little ones love all those switches. My grandchildren can reset an entire electric panel in 3.5 seconds. The cabin door sill takes some getting used to for them too.
If using an infant carrier keep it on the floor or where it cant fall. Things can go from calm to rocking and rolling in a hurry.
Bring a 12v bottle warmer and some extra diapers as you will use half of them as fuel spill rags ha.
Don't forget your camera. You will be making many wonderful family memories while boating together. Have a great time!