Final Decision is Made in the U.S.A.

One of Our Top Priorities was to Buy a Boat that was Made in the U.S.A.

Over the last several months, we’ve learned more about trailerable trawlers, towing, and tow trucks than we ever could have imagined. This knowledge has come from Internet searches, talking with manufacturers of trawlers, boat shows, marina visits, and owner forums. However, the most important source was often from boating friends and sometimes from people we didn’t know who reached out to us to share their experiences and why they bought the boat they did.

We heard from a couple who, like us, had downsized their boating lifestyle; they shared their reasons for buying a C-Dory, a boat they bought for its known durability. When they traded for a larger boat they bought a Rosborough because they heard it was unsinkable and that the boat’s layout was generously divided into a 1/3 for the stateroom, 1/3 saloon/galley, and 1/3 for the cockpit. The couple we ran into at a grocery store in Marathon, Florida used to own a 26-ft. Nordic Tug that they could only say good things about including great reliability, good resale value, and a comfortable ride. In Tampa, FL, we met a couple who own a North Pacific, they really liked the raised pilothouse, especially the sliding doors on both starboard and port sides. We had to go all the way to Florida to run into, by chance, a couple from Ohio who had previously bought a 25-ft. Ranger Tug in our own hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. We met on a new demo Ranger Tug R27 at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.

We were just two couples poking around, they were thinking of trading up from their current 25-ft tug and we were there to see different trawlers in person. They went on and on about how they loved their tug, how well it handled, how dependable it was, and the ease they’ve had when needing assistance from the factory folks, and because they were only thinking of upsizing they were still only interested in the Ranger. My point in all this is… if there is a boat on the market that fits most of your needs and desires, has a factory with a good reputation that will stand behind their product and fits your budget, and if it’s just the perfect boat for you… buy it!

After all of our research, conversations, correspondence, and negotiations we’ve decided on the perfect trailerable trawler for us. This type of boat meets OUR personal needs, budget, standard and optional equipment, layout, cockpit size, storage space, inboard diesel configuration, fit and finish, and personal eye appeal; it’s built by a company that has a long track record of building boats with many up-to-date innovations. Our future Kismet will be a red-hulled Ranger Tugs R27 and it will be Made in the U.S.A.

In the next post we’ll share with you the heavy-duty truck
we’ve chosen to tow our new Ranger Tug.