Shipping cross country

[Arctic Knight]

How should I prepare my R29 for long distance shipping? I know the mast comes down but should it have some type of padding or extra support? How about fuel tank level? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[knotflying]

Are you towing it or are you having it shipped. It was not clear to me.

For towing, reduce weight as much as possible so if you can have minimum fuel and water as well as supplies. Make sure you strap down the stern. I use a strap across the cockpit and down to the trailer I-beam on each side. I also use a strap at the bow eye don to the trailer to prevent bouncing. remove bimini, lines, fenders etc. Make sure bearings are good, packed and greased, check tire pressure, check that lights on trailer are working. R-29 is wide load so get your permits.

 

[daveo]

When we purchased our Tug, the seller had it shrink wrapped.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

If you have cockpit canvas take this off, fold the support hardware together and zip tie them together. Lock all cabin drawers and cabinet doors and stow everything you can so you get no surprises. Latch the refrigerator doors and lock the oven door.

Jim F

 

[Scottfree]

We towed our R29 Classic from British Columbia to Sault Ste Marie in August and are now on the Loop. Currently at Turtle Bay Marina Grand Rivers KY. We did all the above mentioned things except we left water on board for camping along the way. We stayed in Wal Mart parking lots and family driveways along the way. I did NOT wrap or cover the boat other than extra protection on the front windows. I wish I had because the bugs on the front of the boat were a pain to clean and left stains in the gel coat. All good advice above especially anything to do with securing the boat and its contents. We towed at highway speeds. Boat on trailer was 14,100 pounds while connected to truck. About half my trucks towing capacity.

Be prepared for lots of curious questions and visitors in the parking lots. Along the way I got asked about the bugs on the boat and told the poor fellow our boat went so fast we always had dead bugs to deal with! He was impressed.

Enjoy the Loop. Awesome adventure.

 

[Lummisailor]

We made our first trip towing Synergy our 2008 Ranger 25 from Bellingham Wa. to Tacoma as a test for trailer and truck. I had the rig weighed and it came in at 9620 lbs. with 1/4 tank fuel and full tank water. The tongue weight was only 820 lbs. so I moved the 65 pound rolled up inflatable into the bow which brought it up to 885 lbs. The truck is a 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 5.7 L hemi. yea I know, I have diesel envy but the price difference will by a lot of gas. The truck has all the tow extras like transmission towhaul setting, 13000lbs rating. Fuel mileage averaged 10-12 mpg. All went well until about forty miles out of Tacoma the electric over hydraulic brakes quite working. I was able to get to Point Defiance launch ramp with out incident and after splashing the boat I found a trailer repair shop were they found the fuse in the truck blown that is the power supply from the truck to the controller on the trailer. The short was found at the trailer controller and rewired, problem solved. As I mentioned this was a test run and it proved valuable as I would not have liked the brake issue to have occurred in the middle of nowhere , as we plan on towing to San Pedro California this winter and spend a few months boating out of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club LA harbor our yacht club we belong to and were we lived aboard our Pearson 36 sail boat for many years before going to the dark side with a power boat. In closing a howdy to all the great people we met at the Ranger/Cutwater rendezvous at Roche Harbor. What a great job the Ranger folks did on the event.
Pura Vida Larry and Joanie

 

[knotflying]

We towed our R29 Classic from British Columbia to Sault Ste Marie in August and are now on the Loop. Currently at Turtle Bay Marina Grand Rivers KY. We did all the above mentioned things except we left water on board for camping along the way. We stayed in Wal Mart parking lots and family driveways along the way. I did NOT wrap or cover the boat other than extra protection on the front windows. I wish I had because the bugs on the front of the boat were a pain to clean and left stains in the gel coat. All good advice above especially anything to do with securing the boat and its contents. We towed at highway speeds. Boat on trailer was 14,100 pounds while connected to truck. About half my trucks towing capacity.

Be prepared for lots of curious questions and visitors in the parking lots. Along the way I got asked about the bugs on the boat and told the poor fellow our boat went so fast we always had dead bugs to deal with! He was impressed.

Enjoy the Loop. Awesome adventure.

I make it a habit to rinse down the front windows and bow every evening if we are in a campground that allows cleaning. I also heard (never did it myself) that applying some liquid detergent prior to towing really helps with cleaning those little buggers off. I guess if you go through rain a trail of suds follows you. 😀
Another thing I recommend is to hose off your radiator and transmission cooler occasionally. It is amazing how many bugs can clog them up. I know of one Tugger that started having cooling issues because of the clogged vanes. I usually spray from the inside out initially to try and dislodge them from the direction they came rather then possibly pushing them in further.

 

[Irish Mist]

We are just now towing from Ontario to Anacorties. Left Ontario in 80 degree heat. Great forecast when we left.. we are currently in a snow storm in Calgary. My point if there is a chance of it getting cold you may want to winterize. I have light bulbs in the engine room and a heater on in the cabin. It is supposed to get better tomorrow so we are saying put today at a relatives house.. Like boating don't have a hard schedule as you don't want to have to travel in bad weather.
We have a portable generator we use every night ( we stay in truck stops ) The generator gives us 110 power when needed and keeps our batteries topped up. I chain it to the back of the boat when I am using it... Also get what you need to adapt to RV power in case you camp in an RV park..
We keep the water 1/2 full for the toilet and have on occasion had a shower on the road.
We try to travel on the top 1/2 of our fuel and check brakes and trailer wheel heat at each stop. We travel under 60 MPH as I feel it is easier on the equipment and it reduces the screaming from my co pilot. As mentioned you need permits and that requires stopping at every truck scale that is open. Most are closed and usually they just let you go through .. the odd one takes the time to check your rig. We only had one open in Ontario and had to stop in one in Calgary for a water craft inspection ( they check for invasive species stuck to or inside your boat ) and it opened during our inspection so we went through it.
50% of us ( me ) enjoying towing the boat and camping along the way. Make sure your boat is well secured and your equipment all works properly and it is an enjoyable experience .. Living full time on the boat we always know we have all our stuff with us 🙂
Keep asking questions as you have a great team here eager to help you and others with all your questions. Great site and fantastic boats

Best
Mark