During our trailering boat trips, over the last 11 years, along with many owner rendezvous’ on the West Coast, the Great Lakes, and Florida, I have met a lot of women Ranger Tugs owners. There are a lot of them.

I have never seen this phenomenon in the boating community. So many women owners cruising with partners, or solo on Ranger Tugs. I think it has something to do with the well-thought-out design, by Dave Livingston, founder of Fluid Motion. Women like the fit and finish on the Ranger Tugs. They have the attributes of having a pleasant ride while giving the necessary amenities to provide comfort and shelter while out exploring. They are easy to handle, maintain, fix, and captain.

In addition, there is a growing community of Ranger Tugs owners. We can interact with each other on the water, on the active owner’s forum, TugNuts website, and Facebook group, and on a private Facebook group, Ranger Tugettes. After we bought our first tug, we realized that not only are Ranger Tugs well-made, but the community that comes with that boat purchase is invaluable to a boater. This boating community is a big plus for women boaters.

Sharing my knowledge of boating has been enjoyable; however, I have always thought multiple perspectives are better than one. I hope our efforts to share will inspire more women to try boating. It really is something not to be missed.

The post EPUB-Women On Ranger Tugs appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

Reflections on America’s Great Loop Boating Adventure

A few months into their first Great Loop trip Traverse City residents, Jim and Lisa Favors thought that a book by a group of boaters who were willing to share their personal perspectives about their own “Loop” would be a valuable tool for those either considering this trip or just plain curious about it. This book (edited and published by the Favors), When the Water Calls… We Follow, is a good read for anyone considering leaving the comforts of home to take off on an adventure of any kind.

The entertaining stories shared within this book would be of great interest to anyone who has ever pondered a radical lifestyle change whether it is on a boat, RV, or other means of transportation. This is a useful vehicle for people either considering this trip or just curious about it, to have a better sense of what a journey like this can entail in an untouchable sense. In the Favors’ opinion, the Great Loop Adventure is more about the day-to-day journey, relationships, and communing with nature, and most definitely not about the final destination or even the itinerary. If embarked upon, this trip would enhance and enrich the lives of anyone who has a taste for adventure, and a heart ripe for surprises, both large and small.

“We asked other boaters we met to share their varied and insightful experiences with us while keeping their responses more philosophical in nature with little stories that were still fresh in their minds, ones that had made their trip valuable to them,” noted Jim and Lisa in the forward of their book.

The Favors did not want a book on itineraries, destinations, facts, or figures. They wanted the reader to get a sense of what a “Looper” might experience, how they overcame obstacles, what they enjoyed, how they got along with their crew for such a long time in a small space and, in a number of cases, how some Loopers accomplished the 6,000-mile trip mostly, or completely, by themselves. Even more importantly, they wanted to show why people left the familiarity of their long-time lifestyle to tackle a trip like this, and what they ultimately gained in return.

QUOTE LIFT – Jim & Lisa Favors: “People asked us, ‘Did the boat get a little small during your Great Loop boat trip?’ It was their way of asking if we got along in the confines of the boat. Well, I can’t honestly say that it was a piece of cake all the time, but after the first month and a half, we finally worked out some issues of space and togetherness. I guess we looked at it as a small hurdle in front of something even greater, and since this trip was so desired by both of us, we made a real effort to adjust.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Favors are members of AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) and MTOA (Marine Trawler Owners’ Association), two popular national boating clubs. They served on AGLCA’s Advisory Council for six years and have been writers for BoatU.S. Cruising Logs for five years. They have authored two other books on boating, Upside of Downsizing to a Trailerable Trawler (about trailerable trawling), and Women On Board Cruising (25 women share their experiences of long-distance cruising).

The post PB-When The Water Calls-We Follow appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

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Living the Dream
By Milt Baker

Reading this e-book, I couldn’t help but wonder how many cruisers might be tempted to follow the example set by Jim and Lisa Favors, a couple with thousands of miles of Great Loop cruising experience who, after five years of full-time living aboard, gave up their comfortable 40-foot trawler for a trailerable 27-foot Ranger Tugs.

Like many other PassageMaker readers, I’ve gone aboard boats like this at boat shows, asking myself whether my wife and I might someday want to downsize and try to squeeze into a smaller boat. A trawler yacht that can be towed over the highway and cruised in many different areas each year, avoiding long passages over water. After all, it’s a whole lot faster and cheaper to cover the distance between, say, Ft. Lauderdale and Halifax or San Diego and Seattle at 60mph, compared to displacement speeds. “One of the beauties of this plan,” the Favors wrote as they were planning their move, “is that we’d be able to cut out a lot of long boat travel days by driving to the heart of a spot and dropping the boat into the water.”

If the idea of a trailerable trawler has appeal and you’d like to know more, the Favors’ e-book is a great place for answers. While making the case for trading a larger boat for a smaller, trailerable one, Upside of Downsizing to a Trailerable Trawler walks readers through the most important considerations, including what kind of trailerable trawlers make the most sense (and why), a look at highway height and width restrictions for trailering, and what kind of towing vehicle is needed to handle a liveaboard trailerable trawler.

The Favors see their new boat offering them flexibility, mobility, and economy in much larger measures. “Being able to trailer our boat across the country would give us the kind of mobility we didn’t have with our 40-foot trawler,” they write.

They’re honest about the downsides. They realized living aboard would be more like camping, for example. “We were surprised and happy to find some nicely appointed interiors that offered a level of comfort we could live with and felt would be more than adequate for the shorter-term trips we planned to do in the future.”

From there we look over their shoulders as they work their way up the learning curve and master loading, towing, and launching, then operating the new boat on the water. “We wanted to trailer the boat without great restraints and restrictions,” they wrote. “This decision limited us to a width (without special permits) of 8.5 feet and a length of 29 feet or less.”

While a good editor might have helped focus the book, it’s nonetheless an excellent resource for anyone thinking about the possibility of a trailerable trawler. Upside of Downsizing to a Trailerable Trawler by Jim and Lisa Favors, $9.99 (Kindle edition) at www.amazon.com

“Trailerable boating is the wave of the future in boating and a choice more boaters will be making in years to come as it is a far more economical and flexible way to explore the myriad of divergent waterways in the United States and Canada.”  – Jim and Lisa Favors

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Favors are members of AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) and MTOA (Marine Trawler Owners’ Association), two popular national boating clubs. They served on AGLCA’s Advisory Council for six years and have been writers for BoatU.S. Cruising Logs for five years. They have authored two other books on boating When the Water Calls… We Follow (about the Great Loop boating adventure), and Women On Board Cruising (25 women share their experiences of long-distance cruising).

The post EPUB-Upside Of Downsizing To A Trailerable Trawler appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

A few months into their first Great Loop trip Traverse City residents, Jim and Lisa Favors thought that a book by a group of boaters who were willing to share their personal perspectives about their own “Loop” would be a valuable tool for those either considering this trip or just plain curious about it. This book (edited and published by the Favors), When the Water Calls… We Follow, is a good read for anyone considering leaving the comforts of home to take off on an adventure of any kind.

The entertaining stories shared within this book would be of great interest to anyone who has ever pondered a radical lifestyle change whether it is on a boat, RV, or other means of transportation. This is a useful vehicle for people either considering this trip or just curious about it, to have a better sense of what a journey like this can entail in an untouchable sense. In the Favors’ opinion, the Great Loop Adventure is more about the day-to-day journey, relationships, and communing with nature, and most definitely not about the final destination or even the itinerary. If embarked upon, this trip would enhance and enrich the lives of anyone who has a taste for adventure, and a heart ripe for surprises, both large and small.

“We asked other boaters we met to share their varied and insightful experiences with us while keeping their responses more philosophical in nature with little stories that were still fresh in their minds, ones that had made their trip valuable to them,” noted Jim and Lisa in the forward of their book.

The Favors did not want a book on itineraries, destinations, facts, or figures. They wanted the reader to get a sense of what a “Looper” might experience, how they overcame obstacles, what they enjoyed, how they got along with their crew for such a long time in a small space, and, in a number of cases, how some Loopers accomplished the 6,000-mile trip mostly, or completely, by themselves. Even more importantly, they wanted to show why people left the familiarity of their long-time lifestyle to tackle a trip like this, and what they ultimately gained in return.

QUOTE LIFT – Jim & Lisa Favors: “People asked us, ‘Did the boat get a little small during your Great Loop boat trip?’ It was their way of asking if we got along in the confines of the boat. Well, I can’t honestly say that it was a piece of cake all the time, but after the first month and a half, we finally worked out some issues of space and togetherness. I guess we looked at it as a small hurdle in front of something even greater, and since this trip was so desired by both of us, we made a real effort to adjust.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Favors are members of AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) and MTOA (Marine Trawler Owners’ Association), two popular national boating clubs. They served on AGLCA’s Advisory Council for six years and have been writers for BoatU.S. Cruising Logs for five years. They have authored two other books on boating, Upside of Downsizing to a Trailerable Trawler (about trailerable trawling), and Women On Board Cruising (25 women share their experiences of long-distance cruising).

The post EPUB-When The Water Calls-We Follow appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

While I recognize it’s not always the woman who’s anxious about the unknowns in undertaking a long-distance cruise, from what I’ve heard, it’s more typically true. I think many women who were initially hesitant before heading out on the water were amazed at how much they liked the whole experience and actually hated to see it come to an end. Then there are those who’ve had a hard time getting over their initial fear of the unknown, and due to that apprehension, may never venture off the dock. Over the years, Jim and I have also met a lot of gung-ho male boaters who want us to talk to their partners and help get them “on board.” Sometimes the men just don’t understand what kind of insight the women in their lives are looking for.

I quickly began to see what a good opportunity this would be to bring these two groups of women together; women who have actual long-distance cruising experience and women who have some reservations, fears or just a curiosity about this lifestyle. My hope was that we could help women to overcome some of the anxiety they may hold and give them an opportunity to think outside of their comfort zones by getting inside the stories shared by the contributors of this book. I also felt this book would be a good reference tool for a woman who eagerly wants to join a partner in doing some long-distance cruising (or she might be interested in a solo trip) but just wants to do some research beforehand. 

I believe this format, from many different perspectives, was the right approach for either group of readers. (It may even provide some understanding for the men who have a great desire to get their women on board.) This is NOT a book on blog/log entries or trip itineraries. The contributors were not required to have completed their trips to submit a chapter for inclusion in the book. Any type (sail or power) female boater with long-distance cruising experience, of any kind, was invited to participate. I asked a large part of the cruising community I knew personally, (a few were referred to me by some of the other contributors) to share their personal experiences on long-distance cruising with those less informed. And share they did!

Long-distance cruising is a life-changing event. I would hate for any potential woman boater to miss an opportunity for this type of adventure due to a lack of information or a fear of the unknown.

The post EPUB-Women On Board Cruising appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.