Kismet Slider

Ranger Tugs – A Serious Choice for Cruising the Great Loop Adventure

Looking for a Worthy Boat to Take On the Great Loop Adventure? We received a comment on our YouTube Page, asking us why most people planning on doing the Great Loop Boat Trip look for and buy, “Vintage, 20-30-year-old planing hull, fly-bridge boats.” “Why not buy modern, semi-displacement trawlers, that portray a serious dedication to seamanship?” This comment caused me to ask myself the question of why we became Ranger Tug owners many years ago. If those boats had been on our radar, would we have gone with a newer, smaller boat to do the "Loop?" Jim and I did…

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Idaho

Kismet’s Road Trip Comes to an End in Anacortes, Washington

We afforded ourselves a two-night break near the end of Kismet's road trip to visit friends, Patti and Eric, in Sand Point, Idaho. We camped in our boat at Travel America Park and visited our friends for an amazing dinner at their cabin on Lake Pend Oreille, only a few miles away. The next night they joined us at the campground for snacks, brats, and salad. When we left Sand Point the next morning, we drove from our campground to Tulalip, WA, and spent the last night on the boat, out of the water, in a parking lot at the Tulalip…

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Covid-19

Trailering Kismet Across Country During Covid-19

Jim is driving, and I am writing this blog post, the first one in quite a while. We are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, taking Route 2 west as we begin our trek to Washington State. We hope the Canadian border will open while we are out there so we can cruise up to British Columbia. Ideally, we’d like to explore more of the Broughton Islands. We missed going to Florida this year, as we were helping our son, Ross’ family move to Michigan from Portland, OR. Well worth staying home to spend five months with our daughter-in-law, Sarah, and our two…

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Jim and Lisa Favors

In Case You Missed It – As The Prop Turns

 Ranger Tugs' live webinar series, As the Prop Turns, is featuring special guest hosts, Jim and Lisa Favors. In this episode, Jim and Lisa will detail their top 5 cruising destinations in the U.S. and Canada. Stay tuned for the second in a two-part series (later this year) in which the Favors will talk about how and why they trailer their boat all over the country.

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As the Prop Turns

Ranger Tugs Live Webinar: AS THE PROP TURNS

Webinar Topic: TOP 5 TRAILERABLE TRAWLER DESTINATIONS Join Jim and Lisa Favors, of Trailer Trawler Life, for a presentation on their five favorite trailerable trawler destinations. Learn more about Jim and Lisa and their adventures onboard "Kismet" a Ranger Tug R-29 on their BLOG This is the first of two webinars we will present on AS THE PROP TURNS. The second one will focus on how we trailer our boat across the USA and Canada. We'll share tips and tricks on planning, boaterhoming, permit procedures/requirements, and storing trucks, and trailers, while cruising. Q & A session to follow the presentation.…

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Family

Family Boating – The Next Generation Takes the Helm

Boating Provided Great Memories for Our Family – When our three sons were barely teenagers, Jim and I bought our first boat together. The configurations and possibilities seemed endless when we started our search for a used boat for our family. I had one requirement, it had to have a v-berth for overnighters. It didn’t take long to settle on a used, red (of course), 21-ft. Four Winns Sundowner. We did a lot with that boat on Grand Traverse Bay; the boys loved to ski and swim behind the boat. We even did a few overnighters with them at local festivals. Jim…

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Trailering

Trailering Kismet North for Summer Cruising in Northern Michigan

On the Road Again! – We were dubious about trailering Kismet back home; it was already mid-April. The temperature should be okay, right? We kept a close eye on the weather as there were serious low digits on the horizon for our hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. Ideally, we'd like to not have to winterize the boat when leaving Florida. Not looking too good as our departure day inched closer. We even stayed a couple more days, hoping not to do this chore. However, as serious blizzard conditions headed for Traverse City, our outlook seemed glum. We couldn't wait much longer as we…

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Loading

Time to Go Home – Loading Kismet in Fort Lauderdale

Think we have the hang of loading the boat now! After six years of trailering our Ranger Tugs R27, we guessed that loading the bigger boat onto the trailer would be harder. The only other time we trailered the boat was in the Pacific Northwest last fall. We took delivery of her in August and cruised for several weeks before loading her again. The boatyard lifted the boat out of the water by a travel lift and placed it on the trailer. That's a good thing because we were a little intimidated by the whole OVERSIZE LOAD requirements, rules and regulations. We wondered how…

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snowboaters

Snowboaters Paradise – Kismet Featured in Southern Boating Magazine!

Call us Snowboaters or Boaterhomers – Using Our Boat On Land And Water! – We're certain you've heard of the term "Snow Birds." Southern Boating just coined a new boating-related term for what the crew of Kismet has been doing for over seven years. "Snowboaters!" We also like to reference our over-land adventures by saying we are "Boaterhomers." Whatever the term you use to describe what we do regularly, as a lifestyle choice, it's working for us in a big way. Using our trailerable boat as both a land vehicle and a water vessel provides us with some amazing flexibility in…

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Cross-Country

Delving Into the Oversize Load Permit Process – DIY to Save Money!

We Decided to Secure the Oversize Load Permits Ourselves – There are many things in life I enjoy, two of those things are saving money and learning. In this spirit, I forged ahead with the Oversize Load permit process one has to go through when traveling on highways with an oversized load. I looked forward to learning how it works, as well as saving money by doing it myself.  If you are trailering a load, that is wider than 8 1/2 feet, you have to get an oversize/wide load permit from every state and each Canadian Provence you’ll be traveling…

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Loading Kismet

A Little Apprehension Loading Kismet for Her First Cross-Country Trek

Heading Back to Des Moines Where We Will Be Loading Kismet Onto its Trailer for the First Time. Apprehension is defined in Webster's Dictionary as "anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.” As our time in the Pacific Northwest was coming to an end, I was beginning to feel a little uneasy about trailering our new boat cross-country. The new Ranger Tug R29S is two feet longer, one and one-half feet wider, a little taller, and a couple of thousand pounds heavier than our previous R27. I've been known to worry a lot when faced with something new…

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packing

Insights Into Jim’s Packing Science

Packing for a Cross Country Trip is Like Preparing for a Marathon Getting ready for a cross-country trip requires some mental gymnastics! We’ve only got one shot to pack up the truck before we head west. Better to be well-organized from the start. We knew it was going to be tight, especially since we were taking a few containers of personal items to our son, Ross, and his family, who live in Portland, OR. We actually started the packing process back in April when we unloaded the contents, of our sold Ranger Tugs R27, from our truck into the garage.…

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Kismet on Sea Magazine

Nice Article on Crew of Kismet – Sea Magazine – August 2017

TRAILER BLAZING! Sea Magazine just did a fantastic article about the crew of Kismet in their August 2017 issue. Find out more about this amazing lifestyle choice. Go where you want to boat with fewer restrictions, fewer weather restraints, and more affordability. Use your boat as an RV when traveling to distant cruising grounds. For the best fun of all, get out on the water and meet up with other Ranger Tug owners, from all corners of the country, at Factory or owner-held rendezvous. Become part of the community! That new VolvoPenta Engine will be taking Kismet on some big adventures,…

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Boaterhoming Cross Country

Kismet is Heading East – Boaterhoming Cross Country

Boaterhoming Cross Country – Time to head home! – Our 2016 boating trip in the Pacific Northwest came to an end. What an adventure it was! We will be boaterhoming cross-country, back to our home state of Michigan. A slight delay on the first day of our road trip! After we dropped our grandson off at his parent's house, we started the trek home. Within minutes we were on I84 heading east along the Columbia River. If you notice in the photo (above), we are stopped on the shoulder of the highway. Unfortunately, we blew a tire on the trailer…

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Boaterhoming Cascade Locks

Boaterhoming Cascade Locks On the Columbia River with Silas

Boaterhoming Cascade Locks for the First Time! – Silas didn't hesitate to leave his Mom and dad, and his cozy home in Portland, Oregon to go boaterhoming Cascade Locks with his Papa and Ana. We're happy he feels comfortable enough to take off with us like that – Do you think he's inherited the adventure bug DNA? We didn't drive far, that wasn't the mission. Cascade Locks is a city in Hood River County, Oregon, about 25 miles from Portland. The name came from a historic set of locks built to improve navigation past the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia…

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Boaterhoming in Portland

Boaterhoming in Portland, Oregon

Getting a Good Night's Sleep While Boaterhoming in Portland, Oregon! – We didn't waste much time getting back to the states after our cruising adventure in the Broughton Islands (British Columbia, Canada). Our route was a fairly fast track back to the States to boaterhoming in Portland, OR. After an amazing rendezvous of Ranger Tug owners in Roche Harbor, Washington (San Juan Islands), our sights were set on trailering Kismet south, to Portland to visit our son, Ross, and his family, Sarah, Silas, and Hadley. Since we wouldn't have a lot of time to spend in Portland, we decided not to…

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Staging Storing in Portland, Oregon

Staging Storing Whenever we plan a major trip, usually once a year if we can manage, it usually involves what we like to call "Staging Storing." We often need to stage our boat somewhere near our intended future cruising area well before we actually start cruising. Whether it be storage or docking somewhere nearby to avoid weather restrictions, to avoid higher costs, or we think we'd like to take in some interesting activity short of our final destination – making plans to stage and store the boat is an important element of trip planning. Our cruising plans for the next year will be focused…

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Coeur ď Alene, Idaho – Last Stop on the Road for Kismet

Having never stopped in Coeur ď Alene before, during our travels across the northern part of the U.S.A., we decided it was high time we stayed at least a night near town and had a look-see. It is so much fun driving through parts of Montana and Idaho. The mountainous vistas and open skies are inspiring and entertaining, perking up the weary bodies near the end of our cross-country trip. Mid-afternoon, our RV Park app directed us to a park on Blackwell Island, located just across the Spokane River from Coeur ď Alene. Nice looking RV park with a great location near the downtown area. With…

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Montana RV Park Stops – On the Way to Portland, Oregon

Miles City and Cardwell – Our Montana RV Park Stops Miles City, Montana RV Park was our next stop while driving to Portland, Oregon. In this part of the country, while driving west on I-90, we look on one of our RV apps to see what place is closest to the Interstate. We don't need to drive way off our route to get to an RV park. We aren't necessarily looking for a primo park, our requirements are very simple. We like a pull-through if possible, our rig is a total of about 55 feet (35 feet for just the boat and…

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park – Medora, South Dakota

Taking a Break at Theodore Roosevelt National Park Well before we take off on a cross-country trip, Jim always does some research and tries to line up something fun to do. It breaks up the monotony of sitting in the truck day after day. Usually, it's a visit to a national or state park. This trip was no different, he picked Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. He timed our travel days to get to an RV park just outside of Medora. That way, we could get up in the morning and get to the park early. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, named…

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Shower Facilities at RV Parks Can Sometimes Be a Hit or Miss

Sometimes we just have to forgo a daily shower for a day. Not our favorite thing to do, but sometimes circumstances pop up that preclude us from our regular bathing routine. Our choices for boaterhoming, while driving across the country, are sometimes limited to what's available off the Interstate. Our first night on this trip found us in Oconto, WI, at Holtwood RV Park. When registering, we were told that the showers were coin operated and while that would have been doable (we’ve experienced coin-operated showers all over the country while boating, especially in Canada), after further inspection of the facility, we…

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Off to Portland Oregon, with Kismet in Tow

First North, then West to Portland Oregon After months of packing, planning, and organizing, we finally headed out this morning. First to 131, driving north to the Mackinaw Bridge. After we crossed the bridge, Kismet's bow was turned west towards our final destination of Portland Oregon. Not only will we get the boat out to the west coast before the snow flies, but we plan to spend time with our son, Ross, and his family, in Portland for several weeks before flying home for the holidays. This is just the beginning of a year-long adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Because of the…

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change, Jim and Lisa Favors Kismet

“Change is the Only Constant in Life” – Heraclitus

Change is Good! The phrase, "Change is the only constant in life,” was written by a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus of Ephesos (around 500 BC). I’m sure when he wrote these now famous words he was not thinking about the cruising travel plans of Kismet (a Turkish word that stands for "fate" or "meant to be"). Lisa and I have made a complete overhaul of our 2015/2016 fall and winter cruising plans, it must be "kismet." Our original plans, of cruising the Rideau Canal this fall, then heading to Florida for the winter, have changed dramatically. We’ve decided to trailer Kismet west, across the country.…

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Boaterhoming Homosassa Springs

Spaghetti Dinner and Poker Night – Homosassa Springs, Florida

Boaterhoming Homosassa Springs – Florida Nature's Camp Grounds provided an "Old Florida" experience and a spot to ready the boat for launching in Tarpon Springs. We used the laundry facilities and enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and poker in the activities room at the campground. We liked the spaghetti but really stunk at the poker game. Boaterhoming while traveling to cruising destinations has become one of our favorite activities, second to boating of course. Being able to use our boat as an RV while on the road has opened up a whole new world to us. The boat is very comfortable for living and sleeping…

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