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Old 10-25-2019, 06:09 PM   #1
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Hi all. We are new boaters

We just bought a Ranger Tug R25. We fell in love with the little boat—Feisty. This is our first boat ever.

We are looking forward to taking short trips around our home in Jupiter, Florida, Eventually, we want to spend a year or so cruising the Great Loop. We are trying to figure out how to do it and still work.

In the meantime, the learning curve has been steep. Our shaker cruise from St. Augustine area to Jupiter took 4 days of cruising, 10 days of time and 2 years off our life. We ended the cruise with a tow to our marina. Fabulous and terrifying all at the same time. So far the boaters we have met have been some of the greatest people ever.

We are very excited about our next chapter and looking forward to meeting all of you folks.
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:21 PM   #2
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Congrats and welcome!
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:22 PM   #3
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Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Tow insurance is a good investment and it's not just for newbies.
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:22 PM   #4
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Welcome aboard. Congrats on your new boat.
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:32 PM   #5
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One of the boats I consider perfect for coastal Washington, British Columbia and South Eastern Alaska cruising. One day you could trailer it up here and cruise these waters.
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:36 PM   #6
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Jeeves,
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new Ranger, and your first boat!
Tow insurance is a good idea, as you never know when a "breakdown" could happen. Enjoy, post photos, and ask questions. That's how we all learn.
Tom
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Old 10-26-2019, 06:36 AM   #7
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Welcome aboard TF and congrats on the "new" Ranger
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Old 10-26-2019, 10:01 PM   #8
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Jeeves, congrats on the new boat. Either you did a lot of homework before you bought her, or you lucked out spectacularly. That is one STOUT little boat you bought.
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Old 10-27-2019, 10:30 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeeves View Post
We just bought a Ranger Tug R25. We fell in love with the little boat—Feisty. This is our first boat ever.

We are looking forward to taking short trips around our home in Jupiter, Florida, Eventually, we want to spend a year or so cruising the Great Loop. We are trying to figure out how to do it and still work.

In the meantime, the learning curve has been steep. Our shaker cruise from St. Augustine area to Jupiter took 4 days of cruising, 10 days of time and 2 years off our life. We ended the cruise with a tow to our marina. Fabulous and terrifying all at the same time. So far the boaters we have met have been some of the greatest people ever.

We are very excited about our next chapter and looking forward to meeting all of you folks.
Welcome to T.F. and glad you choose a 'trailer trawler', a smart move for your first boat as you can take her ANYWHERE !!
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Old 10-27-2019, 12:41 PM   #10
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welcome! You'll learn a lot on this forum. Best of luck in your new adventures
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Old 10-27-2019, 01:07 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsn48 View Post
One of the boats I consider perfect for coastal Washington, British Columbia and South Eastern Alaska cruising. One day you could trailer it up here and cruise these waters.
Welcome. Your choice of boat is very popular up in the PNW and they have get-togethers during the summer months. We pass various Rangers on every trip.
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Old 10-28-2019, 10:38 PM   #12
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Welcome to T.F. and glad you choose a 'trailer trawler', a smart move for your first boat as you can take her ANYWHERE !!
Maybe even cross a continent
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Sea the swells out on the ocean
All a-movin' in a rhythm, If I didn't have to be here
I would surely be-ee there with them
song-'bali waters' from film-'morning of the earth'
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Old 10-28-2019, 11:20 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bogranjac1 View Post
Maybe even cross a continent
Crikey! That's one loooong dusty portage!!
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Old 10-29-2019, 09:29 AM   #14
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Welcome the asylum. I do hope, the reason for the tow was not expensive to fix.
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Old 10-31-2019, 01:56 PM   #15
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Smile The Tow

Thanks for all of the well wishes. This is a great forum.

As to our tow, we were told that every shaker cruise ends in a TOW. We bought tow insurance and we used it. Thank goodness we had it.

As to the reason for the tow, I will try to keep it short.

About 3 hours into our first day of cruising, the engine just shut off. It started up immediately, no problem. On the 2nd day of cruising, the engine shut off at least 4 times. On the 4th time, it took about 5 minutes for it to restart but it did.

We had a mechanic look at the boat and the only thing that he saw was some loose battery terminals and tiny bit of corrosion which he fixed.

The 3rd day of cruising there were no problems. On the 4th day, the engine stopped after running about 6-7 hours and would not start again.

Every mechanic and boater we talked to (several worked on it) thought it was an electrical problem. We were looking at the ECU and other electronics--getting pretty complicated.

One day at the boat dock while the boat was plugged in, one of the batteries showed "all but dead" on the voltage meter. We found out that the batteries had not been replaced for FIVE years. Florida is not nice to batteries. We replaced all 4 batteries. That was all it was. No one even suggested that solution. It was just too easy.

That is the short story
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Old 10-31-2019, 03:41 PM   #16
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Four batts, huh? What type and are they arranged with two banks or in one big one. If the former, was the parallel switch on the whole time draining them all? You won't find a better group of know-it-alls (meant in a kind way) about batteries and their associated complexities than right here.
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Old 10-31-2019, 04:33 PM   #17
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Welcome. If you don't already have one get a navigation App for your smart device. I have navionics and the Garmin app both with active captain. You will need it if you come to the low country on the ICW. Kept me from running aground several times since I am fairly new to this as well.
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Old 10-31-2019, 04:36 PM   #18
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Welcome aboard! Be prepared, you're gonna have a lot of fun!
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Old 10-31-2019, 05:28 PM   #19
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Welcome Aboard!! Rangers are excellent boats for new boaters, very forgiving. From your description of the problem and the fix, I assume you have a gasser, nothing wrong with that for a smaller boat.

Tell us a little more about the boat and engine. year, hours, features, plans and pictures.

pete
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Old 11-01-2019, 11:23 AM   #20
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Welcome!!! As stated a great boat for SE Alaska.

Suggestion: Take a GOOD boating course to help you become familiar with the rules of the road and how to navigate.
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