OhCapMyCap
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My wife and I recently fell in love with the R23. We're trying to do our due diligence on them. We were looking to see if any owners had any experience or feedback?
Started looking at the R23
- Thread starter OhCapMyCap
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scross
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Welcome!
If would help if you could give us some idea of your intended use of the boat. Day trips? Fishing platform? Marina to marina cruising? Extended cruising at anchor? Each of those potential uses for the boat will elicit different feedback!
If would help if you could give us some idea of your intended use of the boat. Day trips? Fishing platform? Marina to marina cruising? Extended cruising at anchor? Each of those potential uses for the boat will elicit different feedback!
Besides you intended usage, you might wish to provide a background of your boat ownership and experience or perhaps this is a first boat situation. You will find a wealth of knowledge here no matter.......welcome aboard...
OhCapMyCap
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Thanks! We’re looking to use it primarily for cruising and day trips. We’re in Central Jersey, and we’d like to cruise some longer routes up like going to Block Island, Montauk, or down to the Chesapeake. We’d like to be able to fish on occasion. My in laws are big into fishing, so it would be nice to be able to take them out when they come up.
My wife has been around boats her whole life on the Gulf coast. Her folks have owned whalers, Grady whites, and currently own a 54 ft. Hatteras This would be my first power boat. My parents own a small sailboat, but never a power boat.
My wife has been around boats her whole life on the Gulf coast. Her folks have owned whalers, Grady whites, and currently own a 54 ft. Hatteras This would be my first power boat. My parents own a small sailboat, but never a power boat.
Ernie
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I’ve got an R23 waiting for me patiently on the dock. She’s been a very great boat. We spend quite a bit of time on the water in non plague years. She’s versatile, safe, comfortable. I believe the R23 can be a perfect boat for a couple to explore inland or protected coastal waterways
She’s nimble so it’s pretty easy to work around dynamic weather patterns
She’s got a pretty nice cockpit area for fishing and relaxing
We’ve been lucky in that we’ve been running her for three seasons and have zero defects or repairs
Have fun
She’s nimble so it’s pretty easy to work around dynamic weather patterns
She’s got a pretty nice cockpit area for fishing and relaxing
We’ve been lucky in that we’ve been running her for three seasons and have zero defects or repairs
Have fun
Cap:
I don't own a R23, but I too am shopping. I'm looking larger than the 23. But the 23 has always struck me as a lot of boat in 23 ft. and a lot of boat for the money.
You describe a desire to cruise down to the Chesapeake, and up to Block Island. To make those trips you will be in offshore conditions. I think you might find its easier to evaluate whether the creature comforts and ergonomics you want are there in the R23, than to evaluate whether the R23 is enough boat to handle offshore conditions.
But here's a sneak peek. You can view these videos as glass half-full or glass half-empty as you see fit. They are taken in an R23 in rough conditions. Half-full says the boat and crew came through fine. Half-empty says it wasn't a comfortable episode. You might want to watch with a close eye. Be prepared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5PHwaB ... &index=117
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioPGdg4 ... =117&t=15s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPrQUgLFDHA&t=4s
Ranger Tugs updates and redesigns its models periodically and I do not know whether these videos are representative of the boat currently in production.
Smaller boats have smaller tanks and the question of range comes into play. You might want to map out some trips and look at fuel burn.
https://www.navionics.com/usa/
Go to the Chart Viewer. Go into Route, put in the speed and fuel burn characteristics you want to model, and create a route with start and end points. Play with that and you can begin to get a feel for range.
Again, the R23 seems like a great boat. Is it enough boat for what you aim to do? I can't answer that. Some folks cross the Atlantic in very small sailboats.
I don't own a R23, but I too am shopping. I'm looking larger than the 23. But the 23 has always struck me as a lot of boat in 23 ft. and a lot of boat for the money.
You describe a desire to cruise down to the Chesapeake, and up to Block Island. To make those trips you will be in offshore conditions. I think you might find its easier to evaluate whether the creature comforts and ergonomics you want are there in the R23, than to evaluate whether the R23 is enough boat to handle offshore conditions.
But here's a sneak peek. You can view these videos as glass half-full or glass half-empty as you see fit. They are taken in an R23 in rough conditions. Half-full says the boat and crew came through fine. Half-empty says it wasn't a comfortable episode. You might want to watch with a close eye. Be prepared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5PHwaB ... &index=117
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioPGdg4 ... =117&t=15s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPrQUgLFDHA&t=4s
Ranger Tugs updates and redesigns its models periodically and I do not know whether these videos are representative of the boat currently in production.
Smaller boats have smaller tanks and the question of range comes into play. You might want to map out some trips and look at fuel burn.
https://www.navionics.com/usa/
Go to the Chart Viewer. Go into Route, put in the speed and fuel burn characteristics you want to model, and create a route with start and end points. Play with that and you can begin to get a feel for range.
Again, the R23 seems like a great boat. Is it enough boat for what you aim to do? I can't answer that. Some folks cross the Atlantic in very small sailboats.
scross
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- 367719470
I can only compare the R-23 to our R-25 Classic. The cockpit seems bigger on the R-23 but I don’t know the exact measurements. That’s good for fishing and outside entertaining. Because the cockpit seems bigger, the cabin seems quite a bit smaller. I know the R-23 can go anywhere we go cruising in our R-25.
The main difference between the two boats from a cruising standpoint seems to be the size of the black water holding tank. On the R-23 it is small. Without using the macerator and pumping raw sewage overboard I’m not sure how you could go more than a couple of days without stopping to pump out. If you go marina to marina and use onshore facilities this is less of an issue. If there are lots of pump out facilities where you plan to do longer trips with anchoring out this could be a non-issue.
The other issue is the easy access to a dinghy. If you want to anchor out and need to get to shore you need a dinghy. Several R-23 owners have figured out how to keep a RIB dinghy in the swim platform wedged between the outboard, transom and rails. Others use inflatables.
Mods like the bi-fold door on the head make use easier.
Like all boats, everything in the design is a compromise. As long as the R-23 will meet your well defined needs for at least a few years then go for it! It can get really expensive to change boats every 2 years! My term of ownership for my last 3 boats is about 13 years because I tend to do lots of research before buying.
The main difference between the two boats from a cruising standpoint seems to be the size of the black water holding tank. On the R-23 it is small. Without using the macerator and pumping raw sewage overboard I’m not sure how you could go more than a couple of days without stopping to pump out. If you go marina to marina and use onshore facilities this is less of an issue. If there are lots of pump out facilities where you plan to do longer trips with anchoring out this could be a non-issue.
The other issue is the easy access to a dinghy. If you want to anchor out and need to get to shore you need a dinghy. Several R-23 owners have figured out how to keep a RIB dinghy in the swim platform wedged between the outboard, transom and rails. Others use inflatables.
Mods like the bi-fold door on the head make use easier.
Like all boats, everything in the design is a compromise. As long as the R-23 will meet your well defined needs for at least a few years then go for it! It can get really expensive to change boats every 2 years! My term of ownership for my last 3 boats is about 13 years because I tend to do lots of research before buying.
tjiann
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Ernie":2mgwsa3u said:
I'm with Ernie on this one. My wife and I have a 2017 R23, going into our 3rd year with it, and love it. We cruise the Chesapeake Bay mostly for weekend trips, but are planning some longer excursions in the future. A lot of boat for the money. We always say they engineered it to maximize use of every bit of space.
My wife and I took possession of a new r23 in November. I had two years of 18' runabout experience beforehand. Big systems learning curve! We keep the boat in covered moorage and live 5 mins away so we have been using it quite a bit. It is perfect, all be it a little tight for two. Very well designed and factory support has been really great. We have done several day trips and one overnight so far. We bought an Achilles dingy which we can put on the roof rack. It weighs 39 pounds. It is small but allows us to get to shore from several South Puget Sound moorages. Basically the boat is everything as advertised. Good build with plenty of creature comforts. I can see two or three consecutive nights on the hook but a trip to a marina would be next which is perfectly fine with us. We went out yesterday for the day and honestly cannot wait to go out again.