Route 66 by Tugboat

F

Favunclerich

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
203
Fluid Motion Model
C-248 C
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2542G708
Vessel Name
Roam (2008 #42)
Hi All,

My wife Cheryll and I just trailered our newly purchased 2008 R-25 from San Diego to our home in Michigan. Along the way we roughly followed Route 66 with stops at Lake Mead, Lake Mojave and Lake of the Ozarks. You can read the story of our trip and see pictures at;

http://www.odendahls.com/Route66.pdf

Many thanks to several Tugnutters for help in putting this together. John Gray accompanied me on the survey and answered so many questions as we became acquainted with the boat. Also thanx to Denny O who took me for a ride and gave me a lesson in launching and retrieving. David and Maureen Baker provided valuable advice on cruising Lakes Mead and Mojave. My brother David lent me his boat in Washington last September so that we could crash the Bremerton Rendezvous and feel so very welcome in spite of the fact that we came on a sailboat.

Rich Odendahl
rich@odendahls.com
 
Hey Rich, great report... Now you are the expert at traveling with a boat "that's so cuuute."
I am envious of your lake stops on the trip... I am not envious of pushing along in 100 degree weather... Even with the air on, the heat radiation beats you up on a long drive...
Looking forward to doing a day cruise with you; red and blue Rangers in tandem - now all we need is a white one to join us to make it a patriotic display...


cheers
denny-o
 
Rich,
Glad you and Cheryll took our advise and visited Lake Mead and Mohave. The folks at the marinas must have thought Solitude (our previous R-25) was back as she is the same colors as yours!

Now, hook her back up to the truck and go west my young man, go west...... the PNW is calling you......

Have fun, be safe,
David and Maureen
 
Enjoyed reading of your trip! Wonderful! We have 2006 white RC-21 in Grand Rapids, MI. Maybe we can be the white in the red/white/blue.
 
I still say it's a Cult.
 
Vee haf vays to make you join, comrade!
 
Denny, Dave and Genny,

A red, white and blue Michigan rendezvous sounds like great fun. I wonder if we can enter next year's Detroit River tugboat races?

David and Maureen,

We're probably not going to bring the boat back to the Pacific Northwest this year but are thinking of taking it up the Inside Passage next year. If we can make the gathering in Bremerton in September, it will be via Boeing 757 and my brother's sailboat. That's why I have to be nice to him, in spite of his insolent comments in this thread. I appreciate your understanding.

Rich
 
I think you should DEFINITELY enter the tugboat race. The Seattle people should too.

Your Insolent Brother
 
Great story about an unprecedented road trip. It's so nice, after meeting you at the Rendezvous, to see you found your Ranger and made your dream come true. Thanks for sharing the Route 66 ride home. We just returned from a visit to the Upper Peninsula visiting Vicki's brother at his Deer Park Lodge. Every glimpse of any lake, large or small, and we could imagine a Ranger Tug underway.

Happy cruising, and good adventure in Nepal.

Cheers,

Bruce & Vicki
 
what a great transition to retirement. But, looking at your web pages, it looks like you have not deprived yourselves of travel opportunities. Great life. These are amazing boats and we hope you enjoy yours for many years. Ours finally arrived at our home marina today and we are delighted. We were parted from it for about two weeks and, gotta tell ya, we missed it.

Allan and Yvonne
 
What an amazing trip. Loved reading of your adventure and seeing the pictures. ENJOY!

Cheers

Kathy & Keith
 
Enjoyed your posting ... and I wish you all the best in your retirement. I know what it's like to have boat that turns heads. we've made lots of new friends! - Steve
 
Great story Rich and Cheryll!! The second best thing to do (when not onboard my Ranger-the 1st best) is reading the stories and blogs of other Ranger owners or nearby relatives like C-Dory owners. I've spent many winter hours reading Jim & Lisa Favors' adventures on Kismet, their Fathom 40' trawler: http://www.favorsgreatloopblog.com/, who are soon to be Ranger R27 owners. As I've said before, wouldn't it be great if there was a spot on TugNuts for a list of Ranger (and Cutwater) blogs? How come I have to search them out on Google, and I'm sure I've missed most of them! The Great Harbour Trawlers (odd-ball interesting vessels that Ranger Tug folks could appreciate) factory website has a menu item of Cruising Stories right on its factory website: http://www.greatharbourtrawlers.com/owners.html. I suspect those stories help sell their boats.

A few folks have posted stories of trips in their Tugs on TugNuts (e.g., the riveting tales of CaptD, Bay Ranger's story, etc.), but most would do so on a blog external to TugNuts which, after all, is a forum not set up for continuous blogging. Until I/we can convince the TugNuts administrators to establish a spot on the Home page or elsewhere for links to blogs, here are are the two I've found:

John (a frequent contributor to TugNuts) and Laurie Gray have a wonderful blog filled with advice and lessons for would be live-aboard cruisers. Their stories and pictures of their cruises are mesmerizing: http://www.laurieann-ranger25.com/index.html

My own feeble attempt which exposes my inexorable search for a cheap deal: http://altosadventures.blogspot.com/ Tomorrow I'm off (from Cape Cod, Mass) to the Florida Keys to search for the (impossible) $200-$300/month dock for my floating R25 condo to spend at least part of next winter. I'll put all the gory details into a blog update on Alto's Adventures for other cheapskates. I've already learned that docks get more expensive from Key Largo to Key West (Duh!) and range, for a 25' boat, from $315 +electric per month to $350/day + a resort fee!

If ANYONE ELSE knows of Ranger blogs, trip descriptions, adventure stories, etc. (other than the few old ones on C-Brats) PLEASE post a link to them here. I need more reading material in between trips on Alto...
 
Jerry: One place you might check on for monthly dock space is in Jacksonville, Florida, is the Ortega Landing Marina. We stayed for a month 2 years ago and it seems the rate was $350.00 for a 40 foot boat. Located on the St Johns River, it's a great place to call home for a month, especially if your plans including exploring the wilds of the St Johns River.
 
Jerry asked for those of us that have or will have blogs about our Ranger Tugs travels to identify the sight. Our new blog address is http://www.trailertrawlerlife.com and although we do not take possession of our R-27 until August we've been blogging about our planning process. We're looking forward to getting back onto the water and write about our Ranger Tug adventures, beginning in late August. For those that would like additional reading about boating you might be interested in the articles we've written for the BoatUS online web sight, which we are just transitioning to our new trailerable boating. That web address is http://www.boatus.com/cruising/kismet/article.asp
 
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