R43 Built for Alaska?

[H28]

If you ordered a Nordhavn 41 today, it is a 4 year wait to get it. And you won't know the final price for 3.5 years.

If you took delivery today, the price is now $856k, not $750k for a base model (pretty well equipped).

A deposit (refundable) today gets you a place on a list. 3.5 years from now you get a purchase contract with the actual price.

I went to the Fort Lauderdale boat show and these are facts directly from Nordhavn.

I know two people who have gone to Alaska on RT25's. I know of three who went in RT21's. And met a guy who went in a C-Dory 22.

According to the folks at Slowboat.com, who lead regular flotilla's, the longest stretch between fuel docks is 85 miles.

I plan on going in my RT29S. It is called "the inside passage" for a reason. One small stretch of open water, which I will respect, but will be less intimidating than crossing Lake Michigan with the wind out of the North/Northeast......

 

[NewMoon]

FWIW,

Inside Passage – Distance between fuel stops

We've wandered pretty much all over the Inside Passage in BC and SE Alaska, in all sorts of different directions. Sitka, Elfin Cove, Glacier Bay, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and most points south of there.

Distances are from tested routes in my chartplotter. They're in Nautical Miles. To convert NM to statute miles, multiply by 1.15.

You can get to most places you'd want to go in a small boat if you can COMFORTABLY (with a good reserve to handle weather changes etc) go 160 nautical miles on a tank. If you have 200-300 NM range you have a lot more flexibility in your routes, but I don't think there's anywhere much more than 140 NM from the next fuel stop. Many are a lot closer together than that.

One place which would take significantly longer range to get to is the fancy glaciers up at the end of the Tracy Arm, the entrance of which (assume at Tracy Arm Cove, the anchorage just inside Holkham Bay) is about 56 NM south from downtown Juneau, or 70 NM from Auke Bay. The run up to the glaciers from Tracy Arm Cove is 26 NM each way. So you'd need about 160-190 NM range, depending on where you start and end up.

Some of the other longest runs between fuel stops:

Petersburg-Juneau (downtown): 114 NM
Petersburg to Auke Bay: 124 NM

Petersburg-Sitka: 152 NM, but you could stop for fuel at Angoon (some days) or Tenakee Springs (by going out of your way)

Auke Bay-Sitka (via Peril Strait): 131 NM

Hoonah-Sitka (via Peril Strait): 126 NM

Glacier Bay, Bartlett Cove to Margerie Glacier and back: minimum about 120 NM, depending on where you anchor overnight.

Shearwater-Prince Rupert: 175 NM, but you could stop for fuel at Klemtu or Hartley Bay.

These routes could vary a few miles in length, depending on how directly you travel, and where you pull in to anchor overnight.

 

[FlyMeAway]

...

At 7.8 knots it has ~800 nautical miles of range, at nearly 5 nmi/gallon. At 22 knots it has 250 nmi of range at 1.5 nmi/gallon -- and those numbers include 10% reserves. It's truly one of the world's best expedition boats.

...

At this speed I'd consider 5mpg as much lower than I expect and see from my boat. On my R31S I'm routinely seeing ~10mpg when slow cruising ~1200-1250rpm which gives me ~7kts speed. And it's not a onetime fluke measurement, this is a persistent/benchmark metric and I do not remember seeing mpg going below 7mpg at those RPMs (maybe a bad weather or unfavorable current/tide will change it).
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21A ... 08&o=OneUp
With this fuel economy I can get from Roche Harbor to Alaska on a single tank. Even if an average would be the same 5mpg as Aspen, it still gives me the range of 900 miles incl. reserve. There are plenty of Ranger Tugs making Alaska passages every year on various lengths models... as one of Alaska gurus told me 'if you can get from Seattle to Friday Harbor, you will get from Seattle to Alaska'. Unless crossing The Gulf of Alaska is on the plans... than a much bigger boat is a must.

All of this is true, but comparing our R-31 to the Aspen C120 -- a 42 foot boat with two real cabins and a flybridge the larger than the R-31's cockpit -- is apples to oranges. The Aspen's living space is comparable to many 40'-45' boats, which get considerably lower fuel economy at speed.

The point I was making is that you can get R-31-ish fuel economy in a much larger boat -- we were comparing the 43, not the 31. The 43 eats twice as much gas at lower speeds than the C120.

 

[Fly-fish]

I went through all of the above thinking about buying a San Juan and Alaska boat, considered all of these as well as others.. I decided on the RT43, which is now in production. Having a boat made by Americans in the US with twin engines and the reputation of Ranger Tugs swayed my decision. Plus, given how Ranger Tugs has stood behind my prior two Ranger Tugs was a big factor. Hope to se ya’ll on the water!

 

[Angler]

We had a cutwater 302c that we absolutely loved and have now moved on to a Ranger 43 that we take delivery in February. We have grandkids and kids that we like to take boating and the bigger boat allows that . The biggest selling point was the Ranger family and the the support from the dealer and manufacturer. We have had so much fun at all the rendezvous and loved meeting all the people and have many good friends that there wasn’t a lot of decisions to make .


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[DanFitz1944]

Thank you all for the responses. We made the decision to place an order for the R43 after quite a bit of consideration. I think that if all we planned to do was go to Alaska and back we possibly would have made a different decision - most likely a slow boat with a protected prop. We decided that 90% of the usage with be in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands and that the R43 is ideal for us in those areas. There is likely a slow boat in our future after retirement and we still have young teenagers we worry will get bored of boating on a full displacement boat. While we are still working we will likely want the speed of the R43 to get us where we are going so we have more time to enjoy the destination. Once we have stopped working we can always slow down and enjoy the trip as well. In the meantime we hope the kids will be discovering the world of boating and explore the area with us.

The boat will be complete sometime in Q1 next year. Hope to see you on the water.

Dan

 

[dbsea]

I keep hearing rumors of a larger Cutwater as well, and i'd be the first to sign up. I love my C30-CB, but at 6'4, I have a lot of "head bangers" of which one almost warranted stitches, and I'd just like some more room to move around / store things, perhaps have a day head, and etc.

 

[DanFitz1944]

I keep hearing rumors of a larger Cutwater as well, and i'd be the first to sign up. I love my C30-CB, but at 6'4, I have a lot of "head bangers" of which one almost warranted stitches, and I'd just like some more room to move around / store things, perhaps have a day head, and etc.

Has anyone heard anymore about these rumors? I haven't heard anything about upcoming new boats from RT or Cutwater recently.

 

[srhawk454]

Has anyone heard anymore about these rumors? I haven't heard anything about upcoming new boats from RT or Cutwater recently.

I hope at some point RT/CW will deliver mid-30th boat, but in current economy with massive logistical problems it won't surprise me if they postpone R&D on such boat. What they build is selling fast so the bigger task for the factory is to keep up with demand while sustaining quality. I hope to be wrong, and they have something cool in R&D...

 

[dbsea]

Has anyone heard anymore about these rumors? I haven't heard anything about upcoming new boats from RT or Cutwater recently.

I hope at some point RT/CW will deliver mid-30th boat, but in current economy with massive logistical problems it won't surprise me if they postpone R&D on such boat. What they build is selling fast so the bigger task for the factory is to keep up with demand while sustaining quality. I hope to be wrong, and they have something cool in R&D...

Agree. I’m still hitting my head, albeit less now that I’m used to the boat. 🙂