Seattle Boat Show in Full Swing – 2016

Lots to see at the 2016 Seattle Boat Show!

As luck would have it, we would still be in Washington State during the beginning of the Seattle Boat Show. Anacortes is about 80 miles from Seattle, so it was a nice road trip for the day. Ranger Tugs/Cutwater had a huge presence at the show and a very nice display of all their Ranger Tugs and Cutwater lines.

We haven’t been to a boat show in quite a while. The last one we were at in Seattle was in 2008 when we spent the winter in town waiting and watching our Fathom 40 be built. We feel going to a boat show can be a little dangerous as you never know what you might leave with after seeing all those shiny, innovative boats and yachts. We were lucky this time, we left with only a couple of bags full of giveaway stuff.

We still love our Ranger Tugs R27, it’s the perfect boat for us. We did want to come to the Seattle Boat Show specifically to see the new Ranger Tugs R23 just introduced this year. As we expected, the R23 is a beauty and fills in the 2-ft. gap between the R21 and the R25. Ranger Tugs’ current line includes 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 31.

The display (above) shows what zebra mussels can look like when you haven’t had your bottom cleaned in a while. Yes, depending on where you boat (in saltwater), it can accumulate fast – faster in some cruising locations than others. Jim was all over the “Win a FREE Bottom job” giveaway signup.

One of the special perks of attending the Seattle Boat Show was being able to reconnect with not only some boater friends we’ve had the pleasure of forming relationships with during our time boating in the Pacific Northwest, but reconnecting with the Ranger Tugs personnel and factory staff. During our interactions with John, Jeff, Andrew, Kenny, Ivan, Linda, and Ronnie, over the last five years, we feel like a welcome part of the Ranger Tugs/Cutwater family. We know a lot of owners feel the same way and they were out in force at the Boat Show to see what’s new – many are looking to move up a boat size or two. We stayed for the wine party and made a dinner out of the spread provided by Ranger Tugs/Cutwater. We used a swim platform on the R21 as a table and kinda felt like we were tailgating.

While most of the Ranger Tugs staff was busy with new and old customers, we were happy to be able to catch up with Ivan (below) during the wine party. Ivan (with us below) embodies the positive attitude and sense of being part of a big family of boaters, a vision that is clearly established by the leaders of Ranger Tugs/Cutwater.

Here are a couple of photos of the new Ranger Tugs R23, a beautiful addition to the line.