Space on a 27
- Thread starter Bfelker
- Start date
knotflying
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2010
- Messages
- 6,018
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-28
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2731J011
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- 25' Parker & 246 Robalo Cayman
- Vessel Name
- http://illusionsmikeandjess.blogspot.com
If it is just two of you, you can pack your entire house in here. The "cave" is great. We have 4 long under bed type storage boxes with snorkle eqipment, wet suit, spare fan, spare anchor, spare motor parts, Stationary etc. Then we have our barbeque grill, two folding bkes, a 4 draw storage chest for food and a printer. I can go on and on. It takes time to work things the way you want them. I too was concerned at first, but now I can't believe what we have on board.
walldog
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Messages
- 1,292
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-302 C
- Hull Identification Number
- R3136
- Vessel Name
- Willie's Tug (2014)
- MMSI Number
- 367606080
We took delivery of ours in Des Moines last year, and lived aboard for 4 months with our Golden Retriever Jake. Room for a sofa would be a nice addition, but we really had enough room. We removed the pad and chair from the cave and used the cave for storage with several clear boxes. The bimini with side curtains made the cockpit another room. We had a couple of impromptu happy hour gatherings with several people aboard. We did find that watching TV was awkward for us, missed my recliner. We watched a movie or two from the berth. But the reception for regular TV was lousy, so we quit turning it on after a day or so. I did read about 25 books last summer while aboard, mostly on my Kindle app for the iPad. Did not miss TV at all, it is really just an addiction our family can do without. Space is at a premium, but we felt we had enough for our comforts. I am sure we probably have more living space than a similarly sized sail boat. We did let Jake sleep in the cockpit after a few nights, one he preferred it, and it gave us walking room to the head at night as his space was on his pad in the passageway. He refused to sleep in the cave, besides we had it full of boxes.
We have two laptops that mostly live on the dinette. An air card from Verizon with a router makes the boat a floating hot spot. In order to keep our billboards rented, we need to stay connected to our clients. This works for us. We just have to remember to turn the router off when we get near Canada.
I spent twenty five years or so hauling heavy loads with a 33 foot trailer and a one ton truck. We were farming, building billboards and constructing houses. My bulldozer and backhoe weighed much more than Willie's Tug. Even so, I do not have a desire to haul a boat any larger than the 27. Many folks do this and consider it fun, and do it safely. Just my personal preference not to do it anymore. If we move to a larger boat, it will probably be one more near the size of our motor home. But that is not in our near future. To back up my opinion that there is enough room on the 27 for Willie, Jake and I to live comfortably, it is our plan to return to the San Juan Islands again this summer for over 4 months aboard.
You can check our blogs out, http://walldogsjourneys.blogspot.com/ and http://andwilliesaid.blogspot.com/ for an insight into how much we enjoy our time aboard Willie's Tug.
We have two laptops that mostly live on the dinette. An air card from Verizon with a router makes the boat a floating hot spot. In order to keep our billboards rented, we need to stay connected to our clients. This works for us. We just have to remember to turn the router off when we get near Canada.
I spent twenty five years or so hauling heavy loads with a 33 foot trailer and a one ton truck. We were farming, building billboards and constructing houses. My bulldozer and backhoe weighed much more than Willie's Tug. Even so, I do not have a desire to haul a boat any larger than the 27. Many folks do this and consider it fun, and do it safely. Just my personal preference not to do it anymore. If we move to a larger boat, it will probably be one more near the size of our motor home. But that is not in our near future. To back up my opinion that there is enough room on the 27 for Willie, Jake and I to live comfortably, it is our plan to return to the San Juan Islands again this summer for over 4 months aboard.
You can check our blogs out, http://walldogsjourneys.blogspot.com/ and http://andwilliesaid.blogspot.com/ for an insight into how much we enjoy our time aboard Willie's Tug.
walldog
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Messages
- 1,292
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-302 C
- Hull Identification Number
- R3136
- Vessel Name
- Willie's Tug (2014)
- MMSI Number
- 367606080
Just found out over on the C-Brats, that the 27 at the SBS is going home with a new owner. Not a conversion from a C-Dory, but from a Trophy.
commander bill
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2009
- Messages
- 292
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-248 C
- Vessel Name
- Lenabell
I believe the "cave" is used by most as a storage area rather than sleeping. There have been some excellent conversion projects by owners to provide organized storage. Being lazy myself I went to wallyworld and purchased several of the plastic storage tubs. They come in many sizes. You can use a marker and show the contents. A couple of shorter tubs will slide up forward in cave (under diner seating area) larger tubs fit in rear.
sportner
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
- Messages
- 203
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-24 C
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- 36’ Selene
- Vessel Name
- Lucky Girl
Toni and I spent six months on board during our first year. With modifications to the cave and v-berth we carried things we never got to use. We put a small cabinet in the cave that we used as a pantry. Two folding bikes and a small freezer took over the office space. We had two kayaks on the sport rack but next time we will put one or two car top carriers up there for more stuff. Shelves on both sides of the v-berth gave us room for lots of clothes and under the bed we stored a spare anchor with rode, spare paper towels, toilet paper, beer, and soda.
Like Herb said, we didn't watch a lot of TV and we had pretty good reception when we toured the east coast, we read more. We spent three months crossing from Washington state to the east coast, staying on the boat in RV Parks most of the way, we would take side trips in the truck. We cruised the San Juan islands in Washington before leaving and had water stops at Lake Powell in Arizona and Port Isabel, Texas. Then three weeks in the Florida Keys and three months on the east coast, from Florida to New York, it was fun. 380 hours on the boat in the first year and no major problems.
Would we have been more comfortable on a larger boat? Yes. But the Ranger 27 tows easily without permits and is the right fit for us now. We may move up to a larger boat later but we will never forget the magical feelings and experiences we have enjoyed on Traveler.
Like Herb said, we didn't watch a lot of TV and we had pretty good reception when we toured the east coast, we read more. We spent three months crossing from Washington state to the east coast, staying on the boat in RV Parks most of the way, we would take side trips in the truck. We cruised the San Juan islands in Washington before leaving and had water stops at Lake Powell in Arizona and Port Isabel, Texas. Then three weeks in the Florida Keys and three months on the east coast, from Florida to New York, it was fun. 380 hours on the boat in the first year and no major problems.
Would we have been more comfortable on a larger boat? Yes. But the Ranger 27 tows easily without permits and is the right fit for us now. We may move up to a larger boat later but we will never forget the magical feelings and experiences we have enjoyed on Traveler.
Bay Ranger
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 4, 2009
- Messages
- 87
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-28
- Vessel Name
- (2012) Bay Ranger
We owned an Island Packet 29 sailboat before buying an R-25. We took the IP down the ICW from Maryland to Florida for the winter spending 6 months onboard. We loved doing the ICW but didn't want the hassle of waiting for scheduled bridges to open and dealing with shoaling inlets and other shallow water sections of the waterway. We also found out that even with the sailboat, we were motoring or motorsailing 75% of the time on this route. We wanted to repeat the trip every couple of years, so that's when we moved to the R-25.
In planning our first trip down the ICW for the winter in the R-25, I was very concerned that we would not be able to accommodate all the "stuff" we took south on the IP. When time came to load the R-25, we first moved everything we wanted to take to the garage and started to load the boat. We loaded by priority - the most important things first. We figured we would get all the essentials onboard and could leave the luxuries behind if necessary. Surprisingly, we were able to load everything on the R-25 that we had taken on the IP-29.
As others have said, the 'cave' holds a ton of stuff. We too use plastic storage bins to organize the 'stuff'. We also built a shelf across the v-berth (see Bay Ranger's Album) which holds all or our day-to-day clothes. From my experience I think at some point, whether it be a house,garage, barn, or boat, it becomes an issue of the more space you have the more stuff you things you think you need to store!
The 'living space' wasn't a spacious as the sailboat, but the trade off for us was that our living space was light and airy. We love sitting at the dinette, drinking a cup of coffee, and having a great view of the world around us. No more standing up to look out the small portholes to see what's happening outside.
We have since purchased an R-27 which doesn't net us addtional storage space but does give us more cockpit space. We are currently in the Florida Keys enjoying our third trip down the ICW. The R-27 is perfect for us.
In planning our first trip down the ICW for the winter in the R-25, I was very concerned that we would not be able to accommodate all the "stuff" we took south on the IP. When time came to load the R-25, we first moved everything we wanted to take to the garage and started to load the boat. We loaded by priority - the most important things first. We figured we would get all the essentials onboard and could leave the luxuries behind if necessary. Surprisingly, we were able to load everything on the R-25 that we had taken on the IP-29.
As others have said, the 'cave' holds a ton of stuff. We too use plastic storage bins to organize the 'stuff'. We also built a shelf across the v-berth (see Bay Ranger's Album) which holds all or our day-to-day clothes. From my experience I think at some point, whether it be a house,garage, barn, or boat, it becomes an issue of the more space you have the more stuff you things you think you need to store!
The 'living space' wasn't a spacious as the sailboat, but the trade off for us was that our living space was light and airy. We love sitting at the dinette, drinking a cup of coffee, and having a great view of the world around us. No more standing up to look out the small portholes to see what's happening outside.
We have since purchased an R-27 which doesn't net us addtional storage space but does give us more cockpit space. We are currently in the Florida Keys enjoying our third trip down the ICW. The R-27 is perfect for us.
JerryE
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2010
- Messages
- 229
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-302 SC
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2551C909
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- R-25 Classic
- Vessel Name
- Alto
- MMSI Number
- 338070506
Ed's R27 Bay Ranger's cave is filled with neatly organized stuff. I can attest that the rest of the boat is open, roomy and comfortable with no appearance of being cluttered. On my classic R25 we use a long plastic storage container (from Walmart) on wheels that holds the bimini side curtains (both screens and plastic windows) and other canvas. I sit on the engine step and lean in to roll the container back to stow it under the dinette's floor. It goes where the your legs would be if your slept in the cave. There is additional room for a large three drawer plastic bureau to hold towels and clothing. Four spare full-size life vests, shoes, a ton of hanging clothing and various canvas bags of toiletries, etc. all fit in there with easy access.
When I have a buddy with me who sleeps in the cave, I pull out the plastic bureau and store it in my rental car. The rolling container fits perfectly over the V-berth entrance on top of the "dashboards" during the night to make room for my cave dweller. During the day, I stick it back in the cave.
Tons of additional space can be gained by building a shelf in the V-berth which Ed Henn did for his R25 and the shelf fit perfectly in his new R27:
With his help and plans, I built a similar shelf in my R25. Viewing the modifications shown in pictures in many TugNutters photo albums (see the camera icon next to their info) will help you with storage solutions.
When I have a buddy with me who sleeps in the cave, I pull out the plastic bureau and store it in my rental car. The rolling container fits perfectly over the V-berth entrance on top of the "dashboards" during the night to make room for my cave dweller. During the day, I stick it back in the cave.
Tons of additional space can be gained by building a shelf in the V-berth which Ed Henn did for his R25 and the shelf fit perfectly in his new R27:
With his help and plans, I built a similar shelf in my R25. Viewing the modifications shown in pictures in many TugNutters photo albums (see the camera icon next to their info) will help you with storage solutions.