Like many of you I had been looking for small, but comfortable trailerable trawler style boat for years. In my sixties with 35 years of sailing experience, it was time to make life easier. Such a search starts with the Nordic 26 tugboat, a direct competitor with the Ranger Tug and made in a factory just a few miles away from Ranger in Washington state. They make larger boats which are great, but none are trailerable and the factory has been in and out of near bankruptcy forever. I don't know about now, but at one time is was owned by the workers. The Nordic 26 is heavy and she seems underpowered with her 110hp diesel, and she shares the problem that almost all tug boat style trawlers have: when you leave the salon cabin you have to go up two steps to a separate helm room, and then you descend 5-6 steps into the front berth/bath, whereas the Rangers have the salon and helm area on the same level. You lose 1/3 of the space in the salon where you spend most of your time in port, as the helm room is fully separate. They advertise it as a private retreat, but that's what your V-berth area is for. And, that descent to the forward helm cabin to the bathroom and front berth is a long way down.
Notice in the picture above and the plan below how the Nordic 26 has a fully separate raised helmsman's cabin. This is nice when you are traveling, but on the hook or at dock you discover that one-third of your salon is taken up by helm space, leaving a tiny area for living/cooking/eating.
Now look at the Ranger R25's floor plan, which is a straight shot from the salon through the helmsman's area then down just two steps to the V-berth. Note, in the plan below, that even the bathroom is up in the salon, easily accessible from the deck, and it even has views through a giant aft window you can see in the picture below.:
Something I really, really like about larger trawler-style boats, and the Nordic 26, is a door by the helm; see the picture above of the Nordic. If you are single handing, that door makes it a breeze to step out to grab a mooring ball line, and then you walk the mooring line right up the deck to the front bow cleat to attach it. Same goes for anchor handling, and that door makes it much easier to go through locks on the ICW (there are dozens). You step out and easily wrap a short line around the vertical line attached to the wall of the lock, and cleat it off hold your boat tight to the wall as you go up or down. With the strong flow of water in a lock you'd be spinning around crashing into other boats unless you attach to a wall line, which is required. Most folks doing the ICW are couples for this one reason, and even two people can have a tough time with this if they are not nimble enough to climb all over the boat or strong enough to hang on to that line.
The one thing I miss in my Ranger R25 is a helmsman's door; however, she was designed with a large opening window by the helm through which I can reach out and grab a line at my 3''x10' float which is chained to my mooring. This is a poor man's dock, as it is a little platform out in the middle of the water, and moves around in the wind. The floating platform/float gives you walking space alongside the boat so you can tie off front and aft ends to the float. I configured a three-foot high PVC plastic tube gizmo on the edge of the float towards its middle. When I untie the boat to go out, I leave the front line dock line dangling from the top of the gizmo about 36" up in the air. When I return I use my thrusters to line the boat up parallel to the float and I just reach out the window and grab the dock line off the gizmo and tie it off on a cleat that Ranger conveniently placed directly below that big window, for this purpose. But, this is no help when trying to grab a mooring ball line that is floating in the water in Edgartown, MA. There, I have to approach the ball from down wind, pull up in front of it, put the transmission in neutral, and then run to the back cockpit of the boat and try to grab the mooring ball line as it passes by (as Alto is blown backwards by the wind). If I grab the line, then I scramble along the side of the boat with the line bringing it forward to the bow cleat to attach it. Normally this is not a big deal, but I may have to come around two or more times in strong wind to grab that mooring ball line. If you single hand a lot consider a trawler-style boat with a helm door–like the Ranger Tug 29' which is, IMHO, the perfect boat. Still trailerable, but it does cost some significant money.
You can also get a helm door in the Ranger 31 (big big bucks, $300k) which is not trailerable. Then there is the coming R 41 which is closing in on $1,000,000, but it comes with a built-in washer and dryer somehow installed under the dinette which folds up! It's all about space use. I mostly single hand and I manage without the door. The Nordic Tug is pretty cool, but that raised cabin where the wheel is takes up 1/3 of the salon and makes for like five steps down into the V-berth or to use the bath as I've explained.
When on the hook, in port and/or living aboard you will spend the majority of your time on the deck or in the salon area, and you will want maximum use of all your salon space where you will retreat at night or in bad or buggy weather. Again, it sure is nice having the bathroom right up where you hang out. Rangers are clever in making the salon maximally useable, and they actually had to fake the exterior look of a tug boat (which traditionally has a high, raised steering station) using paint lines and elevating the helmsman's area roofline (where the front windows are) a couple of inches to give you the visual effect of a separate helm cabin:
While I'm on the subject, aside from salty looks, trawler-style boats differ from the more common "express" cabin cruiser like a Sea Ray in another important way. In an express cruiser, all your living space (kitchen, salon, bath and beds) are down deep in the hull in front of the helm, thus you usually have a few long skinny port lights (see the two tiny ovals on the cabin on the Sea Ray 27 Sundance below. They usually have a couple big hatches above to let in light through the ceiling, but you are not going to see anything through those tiny port lights or hatches while sitting in a beautiful harbor like Edgartown. In contrast, I spend most of my time sitting at our dinette typing on my computer or puttering around in the kitchen looking out giant surrounding windows at everything happening in the harbor around me. In a trawler only your V-berth is below, where you don't want light coming in while you sleep. In my R25 even the head is up in the cabin area with a huge window, as I've mentioned ad nauseam.
In a Sea Ray style express boat you hang out on the expansive deck, fitted with lounges, to see what's going on, but that is all open area. Rangers and other tugs allow living space that is bug free, air conditioned and heated which is useful for long stays or for liveaboards. This is a huge advantage to a trawler or cruiser style boat, over an express style streamlined boat designed to go fast. BTW, the in-board or out-board gas engine express model boats go fast, but it can cost you $100 in gas to get from Cotuit on Cape Cod, MA to Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard in half an hour. I've seen people spend over $200 each way to go the six miles in 15 minutes. Alto takes two hours, and costs about $6 in diesel fuel to make the same trip. Need I say more.
You'll also be looking at the Caledon 25 & 27, Rosborough 25, Seaway 25, Osprey Pilothouse 26, Albin 27, and Chinese-made North Pacific 28. For fun, check out the Great Harbour Yacht 37 which starts at $400,000. That's cheap for a 37' foot boat, but looks weird because it is designed for interior space and is powered by two tiny Yanmar 54 hp diesels. These boats are light, but extremely economical and funky (ugly?) to boot!
My favorites included the Nimble Wanderer 32 which comes in a sailboat or trawler configuration. The mast steps down "fairly"easily. Also very cool is the Nimble Kodiak 25 (Nimble Boats) which is also available in both configurations. It only goes up to about 6-7 knots under power which killed it for me. Com-Pac is making some great little boats, like their trailerable 23 Pilothouse, too: Com-Pac Yachts: Trailerable Cat Boats, Trailerable Cruisers, and Cruising Sailboats. Then you, like all of us dreamers/planners, will look at all manner of houseboats, trimarans, etc. Unless you are at sea most of the time, catamaran and trimarans won't make much sense, although they are wonderfully roomy on the dock if you can find a wide enough berth you can afford. There is the "mast problem" if you do the loop or ICW which makes you beholden to when the dozens of bridges open. On the other hand you can buy catamaran cruisers with diesel engines. You'll go nuts for sure with the options, but it is a happy way to spend time dreaming.
For small power boats, invariably such a search leads one to the C-Dory website (C-Dory fuel efficient boats) for well-built outboard engine boats that are trailerable, and their owners' web site forum The C-Brats. I spent many happy hours reading owner blogs I discovered on C-Brats of amazing trips that couples took in these little boats, often spending months aboard. One day the C-Brats forum was talking about a cool new boat in 2007 being introduced by their friends at Ranger Tug, which got me to the Ranger. C-Dory was associated with Ranger as their factories are both located in Washington state (not China) and I found my way to the TugNuts website. I "lurked" on the TugNuts site for months learning everything I could before deciding I had to figure out how to buy one of their boats before I was too old to enjoy it. After going to see the boats at the 2010 Newport Boat Show and meeting Mark Mansfield, their Sales Manager, he kindly informed me of left-over Rangers still on the market and led me to an affordable purchase at Turner Marine. BTW I also met our local New England dealer, Peter Haywood of Winter Island Yacht Yard in Salem, MA. I would not hesitate to buy a boat from this easy to talk with knowledgeable fellow who always has models available at his yard: Ranger at Winter Island yachts in Salem, MA. Best service in the northeast too, and he is a diesel mechanic.
All About the Ranger Tug R25
Well after years of obsessing, I settle on the Ranger 25' "classic" model as best for my needs. I tell you why even though ever case is different, but maybe I'll strike some common chords with your interests.
All these versions have a Yanmar diesel inboard engine. Our boat's cabin is very comfortable for two people to liveaboard, even for weeks or months at a time. Note the counterspace increases even more when the helmsman's seat is tilted further when you are in port. There is a large refrigerator/freezer which is electric and can be fully powered off our batteries which charge with twin 120 watt solar panels when we're on the hook, meaning we don't have to run the generator at all. Our boat, unlike the R25sc, has two opening brass port holes as the larger cabin allows more space between the two large windows on either side of the cabin.
In fact, our classic model has 18" more counter space, and that extra 18" of cabin length allows for much better access into the mid-ship cabin for guests which we call the "cave." It's big enough for one person to have privacy as there is a chart table that folds down over the top and a canvas curtain can be attached. The V-berth is very comfortable when you add a three inch custom memory foam topper covered in waterproof fabric (Sunbrella) as we have. Of course, the dinette lowers to form an additional double berth when needed. Another curtain provides privacy for the V-berth.
Did I mention the front and rear thrusters? See the thruster above the large bronze propeller, which BTW is fully protected by a skeg. The draft is 24" so you can go anywhere in this boat. Yes, there are after hydraulic stabilizers (trim tabs) as this semi-displacment hull can reach 16+ knots on a plane with the 150 hp diesel.
Standard options common to both the R25 classic and sports model are a full head with hot shower, powerful winch with room on the forward deck to maneuver when anchoring (you can drop and raise the anchor remotely from the helm), an ice well under the removable aft cockpit seat, and a large swim platform we all use to carry dinghies. The helm features Garmin electronics with touch screen utility, radar which overlays directly on the Garmin's screen chart display (no looking back and forth between separate radar and chart screens, and all electronic controls for the engine with real time monitoring of all functions. You can get a peak at that big opening window at the helm I've talked previously about using for reaching out to fix lines to docks and things, like my float's gizmo.
Notice the SS racks above on exterior pictures for mounting kayaks and bikes; Alto has two big solar panels up there powering her four group 28 batteries. The AC unit reverses to produce heat, and of course there is forced hot air available and hot water when the engine is running. There are heavy duty stainless steel hand rails everywhere with built in steps on both sides for easy entry when on docks.
The above picture shows how the straight-through cabin design offers space when the helm seats are folded up. That's the bathroom aft to starboard, which has a skylight and a giant window in it. Everything you need is "up" (not down, deep in the hull) with big windows to enjoy looking out. When outside I sit with binoculars and just watch the boats, board paddlers, birds all going by. No TV needed. You can do the same from inside, or close the curtains and watch a move when the sun sets.
One nice thing about the R-25sc models is that the engine is entirely out of the cabin and under the cockpit sole. However, our classic model boat has better access to the front of the engine by removing the front of the step down into the cabin (see it under the door above), and thus the engine protrudes a bit under the living space and is accessible to change out the impeller or oil from the inside. We have the largest, 150hp Yanmar Diesel, they install in these 25 foot boats. Ranger experimented with different sizes, as small as a 75hp to 125hp Cummins in the past, but they finally settled on a Yanmar 150.
The Yanmar 150 was a brand new engine, and they discovered that the tiny external metal oil pipe from the engine to the engine oil pressure sensor fatigued with vibration and could break. A few did, Alto's among them, resulting in loss of oil and damage to the engine. Yanmar later issued a recall to fix this problem, but it was too late for our boat. So I towed her her to the Yanmar factory distribution site for New England where Yanmar technicians replaced the engine at no cost to us, so now we have a newer engine with hardly any hours on it. I learned in the process that we have sophisticated bilge pumps in these boats that detect the difference between engine or diesel oil and water, and they won't pump oil overboard.
My oil pipe blew in the Keys a year after writing this blog, in the middle of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. You would have heard about Alto on the national news if her bilge pumps had discharged engine oil into the Largo Sound, one of the most protected places in the US. Instead I wound up with several quarts of oil in the bilge, which I pumped out before bringing her to the distributor where the factory technicians steam cleaned out the engine compartment when they changed out the engine. Of course, the Ranger factory staff (Andy) monitored every step of this to make sure Yanmar honored its warrantee, which they did, but I did lose a few weeks of boating in the Keys. Shortly after my experience they issued a recall and replaced that little metal pipe on all Yammers and Ranger had no problems with them, since as you can see on the TugNuts site where all this stuff gets reported in detail.
One of the best reasons to buy a Ranger Tug is the incredible support from the factory and the community of tug owners who all come together on their shared bulletin board: TugNuts. Well, enough about Rangers, lets go boating! Move on to the next blog.
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