We just returned from an eight week trip to SouthEast Alaska, and I thought I'd share my impressions.
We had a great time -- the boat handled the distance and time-in-use with no major issues. This is the first summer we've really heavily *used* our R31CB and I was quite impressed with how well thought out and executed she was.
This was my fourth trip up the Inside Passage. I've done it twice in a 53 foot Fleming, and once in a 43 foot Nordhavn. It was my wife's first trip up -- in the past, she'd meet me in Ketchikan. We were both a little nervous about spending so much time in a 31 foot boat. As it turned out, while it's a little cozy, there was more than enough room and really quite comfortable. The Webasto heat was great (in fact, sometimes too great -- we occasionally would forget to turn it down for the evening and the forward berth gets pretty toasty!).
We traveled with our nine year own miniature Schnauzer, so the selection of anchorages was constrained to those with potential "Zelda Beaches", so she could go ashore. We used the Ranger-supplied dinghy together with an electric Torquido outboard. This was Zelda's second visit to SE Alaska, and she hadn't forgotten her responsibilities when she reached shore!
The journey up was uneventful (but fun). We went from Seattle to Roche Harbor (a little luxury never hurts), and checked into Canada using Nexus at Bedwell Harbor. Then onto Nanaimo to fill the larder (and the wine cooler). We passed through Seymour Narrows and stayed at Brown Marina. The next night was our first of the trip at anchor. Then onto Quarterdeck Marina at Port Hardy, where it was time to do the laundry! Crossing Queen Charlotte Sound was a piece of cake, although the first third had a lot more swell than once we passed Pine Island. Neither my wife nor Zelda like rough water, so it was a good thing things smoothed out. We visited the old cannery at Namu and spent the night in the lagoon behind it. The cannery is all but destroyed now. Then on to Shearwater for fuel and the night at Bottleneck inlet. Lowe Inlet was deserted. The male crabs had left, too, only females were in the traps! We reached Prince Rupert and hit the Safeway. Spent a day fishing at Dundes Island (the flies are unbelievably hungry there), then another Nexus entry into Ketchikan, and we were into Alaska!
Everything was working perfectly on the boat. The Volvo purred when asked and growled on demand. Most of the trip at this point had been done at 11 or 12 knots. The mileage isn't great (1.1 nm / gal), but we weren't in the mood to travel at 6 or 7 knots (3 nm / gal), plus the boat handles choppy water more comfortably at the higher speed. It made days relatively short, which was good for the dog.
At this point, I had two sore points: the seat in the dingy kept coming loose (it just took a minor bump) and the extra carpet Ranger supplies by the door keeps slipping and bunching up, forming a tripping hazard. I tried using a non-skid carpet underlayment, but that didn't help much. It's a pretty relaxed trip when things are running so well. We were getting used to the boat and its size, and appreciating the many thoughtful features. Having 12V chargers for the phones, IPADs and outboard battery was a good move.
Crabbing this year in SouthEast was a disaster. The inner waters were dominated by the commercial crabbers, and the sea otters have multiplied prolifically, decimating the crab population in outer waters. Having the sea otters is pretty cool, but I was really put off by the proliferation of commercial pots. The state has reduced the out-of-state licensee to only 3 crabs, and it's hard to fill even this limit.
Shrimping/Prawning for spot prawns was the best I've ever seen. Maybe it's just I've learned where to fish and where not to. We had Ranger install the pads for downriggers, and have a pot puller that fits the pads.
Salmon fishing was late this year -- all the fish seemed to be almost a month late. But it was great when they finally arrived in the second half of July. Until then, it was just pink salmon, which aren't really great.
Others reported great halibut fishing. Enough said.
The boat is the best I've had for fishing, since I had a 20 foot Grady White that was a dedicated fishing boat. The combination of a big cockpit, downrigger mounts, pole holders, salt water washdown and swim platform made for a great fishing platform. We have the trolling option with the rear controls. It made it easy to troll for salmon, but it was just as easy to drift mooch. Easy to net the fish and bring them on board. I mounted a cleaning board on the swim platform's rails, which necessitated lowering the dinghy to use (bad), but made for a great work area (good).
We have the rear canvas (just a top, not the sides). Very glad to have it -- kept the rain off us, and made for a generally sheltered area. I have a couple of deck chairs from West Marine. We got them so four people could dine at the rear table. I wish I'd left them behind -- they were constantly in the way. We didn't use the rear table (it's too nice to get wet) and so could have made due with just the rear bench seat.
Conclusions:
- the boat doesn't like rear or rear quartering seas. Going north in Clarence Strait with a south wind on an ebb tide was uncomfortable. We found it more comfortable to go at higher speed in such conditions than at trawler speeds. It handles swells from the bow or front quarter quite nicely. Beam seas are a no-no. Avoid them.
- I tried very hard not to travel when winds exceeded 15 kts. 10 was more comfortable. The bigger boats I'm experienced in handle rougher conditions -- no surprise there. But it was not really very hard to find/wait for conditions conducive (and comfortable) for travel. There's only 3 or 4 times when we encountered conditions my wife and Schnauzer disapproved of.
- There's more fridge space than I thought. Between the galley fridge and the beverage fridge, it wasn't hard to make due. It would be nice to have a "pantry" -- we used a plastic bin from the Container Store, down the steps on the floor before the Cave. We also have the portable 12V freezer. Vital for saving fish!
- two people are very comfortable (ok, two people and a Schnauzer) onboard. Three would be pushing it. We had a lot of stuff in the Cave. When my wife left in Sitka, I rearranged stuff so when I was joined by a friend for the trip back, he could use the Cave. It wasn't too hard, but if she'd still been on board, it would have been tight. In past boats, we've had a couple join us for a week or two. Four people on the boat would have been difficult.
- we used the top deck for storage (crab pots, shrimp pots, and later, plastic containers with spare parts (under the dash). Never drove from there (I think my upper Garmin is mad at me from disuse -- although I used it when dropping shrimp pots).
- the Volvo was very reliable. It had a problem with a fluctuating temperature gauge on the way back, but this seemed to be cleared up by power cycling the ECU (turning the battery switch off). It'll need to be checked by the dealer. Otherwise, it was flawless. I changed the oil once in SE, and it's almost due again (we put about 350 hours on).
- the Onan generator worked great.
- I was nervous about the 80 gal water supply, so had purchased a Rainman portable water maker. It worked out great, and made life more convenient, but we could have done the trip without it. In retrospect, I probably would not have gotten it.
- I like the shower in the head, but my wife finds the water flow too low to get the soap out of her hair. She used showers on shore whenever then were available. We never had issues, running out of hot water.
- I had replaced the Ranger-supplied anchor with an Ultra anchor (and Ultra swivel). So we had 50 feet of chain and 160 feet of rope rode. (In the past, I've had heavy anchors with 400 feet of chain.) I was a little nervous about anchoring in SE Alaska, because it can be pretty deep. We had no issues -- we never dragged anchor, and were able to set it under power in every case. We frequently used all the rode. Sometimes I had to spend a while searching an anchorage to find a suitable location to drop on. I used one of the mooring lines as a snubber, from the cleat in back of the windless, through a chock, attaching using a rolling hitch. I did this to relieve the windless from the load. I really like that anchor!
We had a great summer. I'm in shell-shock, however, with the 80 degree weather, now that I'm back in Seattle. The most we saw in SE Alaska was lower 70s!
Our Ranger 31CB isa great boat to visit SE Alaska in.
Jeff
We had a great time -- the boat handled the distance and time-in-use with no major issues. This is the first summer we've really heavily *used* our R31CB and I was quite impressed with how well thought out and executed she was.
This was my fourth trip up the Inside Passage. I've done it twice in a 53 foot Fleming, and once in a 43 foot Nordhavn. It was my wife's first trip up -- in the past, she'd meet me in Ketchikan. We were both a little nervous about spending so much time in a 31 foot boat. As it turned out, while it's a little cozy, there was more than enough room and really quite comfortable. The Webasto heat was great (in fact, sometimes too great -- we occasionally would forget to turn it down for the evening and the forward berth gets pretty toasty!).
We traveled with our nine year own miniature Schnauzer, so the selection of anchorages was constrained to those with potential "Zelda Beaches", so she could go ashore. We used the Ranger-supplied dinghy together with an electric Torquido outboard. This was Zelda's second visit to SE Alaska, and she hadn't forgotten her responsibilities when she reached shore!
The journey up was uneventful (but fun). We went from Seattle to Roche Harbor (a little luxury never hurts), and checked into Canada using Nexus at Bedwell Harbor. Then onto Nanaimo to fill the larder (and the wine cooler). We passed through Seymour Narrows and stayed at Brown Marina. The next night was our first of the trip at anchor. Then onto Quarterdeck Marina at Port Hardy, where it was time to do the laundry! Crossing Queen Charlotte Sound was a piece of cake, although the first third had a lot more swell than once we passed Pine Island. Neither my wife nor Zelda like rough water, so it was a good thing things smoothed out. We visited the old cannery at Namu and spent the night in the lagoon behind it. The cannery is all but destroyed now. Then on to Shearwater for fuel and the night at Bottleneck inlet. Lowe Inlet was deserted. The male crabs had left, too, only females were in the traps! We reached Prince Rupert and hit the Safeway. Spent a day fishing at Dundes Island (the flies are unbelievably hungry there), then another Nexus entry into Ketchikan, and we were into Alaska!
Everything was working perfectly on the boat. The Volvo purred when asked and growled on demand. Most of the trip at this point had been done at 11 or 12 knots. The mileage isn't great (1.1 nm / gal), but we weren't in the mood to travel at 6 or 7 knots (3 nm / gal), plus the boat handles choppy water more comfortably at the higher speed. It made days relatively short, which was good for the dog.
At this point, I had two sore points: the seat in the dingy kept coming loose (it just took a minor bump) and the extra carpet Ranger supplies by the door keeps slipping and bunching up, forming a tripping hazard. I tried using a non-skid carpet underlayment, but that didn't help much. It's a pretty relaxed trip when things are running so well. We were getting used to the boat and its size, and appreciating the many thoughtful features. Having 12V chargers for the phones, IPADs and outboard battery was a good move.
Crabbing this year in SouthEast was a disaster. The inner waters were dominated by the commercial crabbers, and the sea otters have multiplied prolifically, decimating the crab population in outer waters. Having the sea otters is pretty cool, but I was really put off by the proliferation of commercial pots. The state has reduced the out-of-state licensee to only 3 crabs, and it's hard to fill even this limit.
Shrimping/Prawning for spot prawns was the best I've ever seen. Maybe it's just I've learned where to fish and where not to. We had Ranger install the pads for downriggers, and have a pot puller that fits the pads.
Salmon fishing was late this year -- all the fish seemed to be almost a month late. But it was great when they finally arrived in the second half of July. Until then, it was just pink salmon, which aren't really great.
Others reported great halibut fishing. Enough said.
The boat is the best I've had for fishing, since I had a 20 foot Grady White that was a dedicated fishing boat. The combination of a big cockpit, downrigger mounts, pole holders, salt water washdown and swim platform made for a great fishing platform. We have the trolling option with the rear controls. It made it easy to troll for salmon, but it was just as easy to drift mooch. Easy to net the fish and bring them on board. I mounted a cleaning board on the swim platform's rails, which necessitated lowering the dinghy to use (bad), but made for a great work area (good).
We have the rear canvas (just a top, not the sides). Very glad to have it -- kept the rain off us, and made for a generally sheltered area. I have a couple of deck chairs from West Marine. We got them so four people could dine at the rear table. I wish I'd left them behind -- they were constantly in the way. We didn't use the rear table (it's too nice to get wet) and so could have made due with just the rear bench seat.
Conclusions:
- the boat doesn't like rear or rear quartering seas. Going north in Clarence Strait with a south wind on an ebb tide was uncomfortable. We found it more comfortable to go at higher speed in such conditions than at trawler speeds. It handles swells from the bow or front quarter quite nicely. Beam seas are a no-no. Avoid them.
- I tried very hard not to travel when winds exceeded 15 kts. 10 was more comfortable. The bigger boats I'm experienced in handle rougher conditions -- no surprise there. But it was not really very hard to find/wait for conditions conducive (and comfortable) for travel. There's only 3 or 4 times when we encountered conditions my wife and Schnauzer disapproved of.
- There's more fridge space than I thought. Between the galley fridge and the beverage fridge, it wasn't hard to make due. It would be nice to have a "pantry" -- we used a plastic bin from the Container Store, down the steps on the floor before the Cave. We also have the portable 12V freezer. Vital for saving fish!
- two people are very comfortable (ok, two people and a Schnauzer) onboard. Three would be pushing it. We had a lot of stuff in the Cave. When my wife left in Sitka, I rearranged stuff so when I was joined by a friend for the trip back, he could use the Cave. It wasn't too hard, but if she'd still been on board, it would have been tight. In past boats, we've had a couple join us for a week or two. Four people on the boat would have been difficult.
- we used the top deck for storage (crab pots, shrimp pots, and later, plastic containers with spare parts (under the dash). Never drove from there (I think my upper Garmin is mad at me from disuse -- although I used it when dropping shrimp pots).
- the Volvo was very reliable. It had a problem with a fluctuating temperature gauge on the way back, but this seemed to be cleared up by power cycling the ECU (turning the battery switch off). It'll need to be checked by the dealer. Otherwise, it was flawless. I changed the oil once in SE, and it's almost due again (we put about 350 hours on).
- the Onan generator worked great.
- I was nervous about the 80 gal water supply, so had purchased a Rainman portable water maker. It worked out great, and made life more convenient, but we could have done the trip without it. In retrospect, I probably would not have gotten it.
- I like the shower in the head, but my wife finds the water flow too low to get the soap out of her hair. She used showers on shore whenever then were available. We never had issues, running out of hot water.
- I had replaced the Ranger-supplied anchor with an Ultra anchor (and Ultra swivel). So we had 50 feet of chain and 160 feet of rope rode. (In the past, I've had heavy anchors with 400 feet of chain.) I was a little nervous about anchoring in SE Alaska, because it can be pretty deep. We had no issues -- we never dragged anchor, and were able to set it under power in every case. We frequently used all the rode. Sometimes I had to spend a while searching an anchorage to find a suitable location to drop on. I used one of the mooring lines as a snubber, from the cleat in back of the windless, through a chock, attaching using a rolling hitch. I did this to relieve the windless from the load. I really like that anchor!
We had a great summer. I'm in shell-shock, however, with the 80 degree weather, now that I'm back in Seattle. The most we saw in SE Alaska was lower 70s!
Our Ranger 31CB isa great boat to visit SE Alaska in.
Jeff