Thread: Ranger R29
View Single Post
Old 09-08-2011, 06:48 PM   #35
denny-o
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 3
RE: Ranger R29

As a Ranger Tug owner I noted this thread with interest...

It is true these tugs do not have the fuel range needed for passagemaking and are neither designed as such nor marketed as such...
Mine holds 75 gallons... At 6 knots I burn 1 gallon per hour making my economy range some 400+ miles... It will do some 19 knots, though the range certainly goes down at those speeds...
It is intended to be trailered and mine is, having been to New York, down to Virginia, down to Florida and back to Virginia, then North to Michigan, down to Ohio, back to Florida and back to Michigan... Here in Michigan it has been on Lakes Huron and Superior the past two summers...

I see an opinion that the boat is too light to be trusted more than a couple miles offshore... That opinion does not match my experience out in the Gulf Of Mexico and especially in the Detour Passage between Superior and Huron... There we spent nearly three hours bashing into a measured (by electronic buoys) 35 knot wind against the current coming off Lake Superior, pushing up 7 footer absolutely vertical waves on a 7 second period... Now, I know you salt sailors will scoff at 7 foot claiming that is a dead calm on the ocean... Those of you who have sailed the Great Lakes will recognize that this steep a water wall on a 7 second cycle will beat you to death pitching the boat in well excess of 45 degrees twice every 7 seconds... The Tug absolutely could not have cared less.. The diesel hummed along at 1200 rpm and never varied in either the tach reading or the sound of the engine as every item in the boat was ejected from cabinets in a thunderous clatter (yes, the cabinet doors are not up to blue water status) the bedding ejected from the forward cabin and scrambled knee deep in the companion way, leaving our dog in hysterics and my wife folded over and a deep shade of green... I on the other hand was thrilled at the solid feel and response to the wheel that gave me confidence... While I would never go out on Gitche Gumee in the storms of November I have confidence that if caught in a blow like we were that day I have a good chance of reaching port...

There are a few things I would change on our tug (isn't there always) but Ranger has done an admirable job of crafting a boat that fills a niche for folks who want to travel with their boat and still have a craft that will handle reasonable wave and wind... Surely I would like a boat built as stout as a Nordhaven, with a big slow turning mechanical diesel, huge fuel tanks, etc. but then it would be impractical to trailer it... This is a high quality pocket cruiser that meets the needs of a niche group of sailors... While I admire your big, heavy, blue water cruisers I chose a pocket trawler that follows me to new waters at the drop of a hat...

cheers,
denny-o in Michigan (until the crops are off, then look out baby here we go again)
denny-o is offline   Reply With Quote