Positioning ourselves at the Hope Island anchorage to transit through Deception Pass in the Morning.

Leaving the dock at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, I saw our fuel gauge flashing a bright red “low fuel” light, setting my mind into a bit of a panic. Idling to the fuel dock, I was hoping we’d make it before running completely out. How embarrassing would that have been? I haven’t run out of fuel since I was in High School. The good news is we made it to the fuel dock without conking out in the harbor.

Confidently fueled up, we headed through LaConner and up into Skagit Bay, where we caught a mooring ball off Hope Island. We were positioning ourselves to transit through Deception Pass the next morning. The plan was to cruise down the open waters of Rosario Strait to Port Townsend – our first-ever visit by boat. 

Dinner on board Kismet came together without a hitch after we got settled in. A beautiful evening to enjoy on our back deck, along with a yummy feast using up some of the fresh produce we had acquired in Anacortes.

The next morning we woke up to a thick blanket of fog.

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One of the ancillary benefits of boating is the many social opportunities present. Everywhere we anchor or dock we’ll either run into old friends or we’ll end up meeting some very interesting people. We can’t think of a better place to do this than at the 2013 Ranger Tugs / Cutwater Rendezvous. The event was held this year at Cap Santé Marina in Anacortes, Washington.

Because we’d been cruising in British Columbia for an extended period of time, our calendar allowed us to arrive a few days early. We would use the time to catch up on the usual boat chores. These chores included a thorough cleaning of the boat, inside and out, washing clothes, and picking up a batch of mail. In the midst of our getting settled and organized, Ranger Tug owners, and residents of Anacortes, Bob, and Nita (below), on Nellie Too, approached us and said they were trying to put together a group to head up to Anthony’s for the early bird special. So, with a sprinkling of familiar faces and a few new mixed in, we had an unofficial kick-off to the rendezvous.

We’d met Bob and Nita (above) during our first 2011 Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Rendezvous in Bremerton, WA. soon after we took possession of our Ranger Tug R27. Nita and Bob are so much fun, we wish we could just take them home with us.

Before the rendezvous started, we had time to walk downtown on our way to visit the farmer’s market and have lunch at the Croatian Restaurant our fellow tug nut, Tym told us about.

The next day boats started showing up in droves to the 2013 Ranger Tugs / Cutwater Rendezvous

Although most of the folks were from Washington State and British Columbia, Canada, there was representation from Texas, California, Oregon, Michigan, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and more. We tug owners attend these valuable rendezvous to learn more about our boats. We like to see what upgrades others have done to their vessels, attend seminars, eat, drink, celebrate our time together and share our boating pursuits as Ranger Tug or Cutwater owners. The conversation includes where we’ve cruised, if we trailer or not, and more often than not, we share maintenance tips and tricks. Jim gave a PowerPoint presentation about our cruising time on Lake Powell.

73 boats in attendance, 150 people including owners and Factory Personnel

The Anacortes Rendezvous was our third as Ranger Tug owners. We’d have to say the event is more like a fun family picnic or large reunion. Except most of us are not related. Boating, with our Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters, is the common denominator and basis for a likely friendship. The family part comes into play because Jeff, John, Andrew, Kenny, Ivan, Linda, and others representing the factory, bring their own families to the three-day event and have a grand time alongside the owners’ group during the three-day event.

Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats Foster a Community Feel Among Their Owner Group

One of the things we admire about Fluid Motion as a company (builders of both the Ranger Tugs and Cutwater boats) is how hands-on they are with their owners’ group. We get the distinct impression that one of the company’s main goals and objectives is to help people get out on the water to the boat. This thinking is supported by how they actively engage their owners’ group in boating activities, how thoughtfully they build their boats, with ease of use in mind, and take care of their owners. It goes without saying that such a philosophy is beneficial to both owners and factory alike.

Herb, on Willie’s Tug (above), was getting help with something on his boat.

Harmony (above) was responsible for organizing the event, and her two little pups helped.

Rich and Cheryll, on Roam (above) just returned from a trip to Alaska on their Ranger Tug. Gill and Barry, on Laxey (below)

There was a rumor going around that Jim (below) kissed Bob while he was kiddingly sitting on his lap. Somehow we didn’t get that shot. Maybe next time.

A few of the many participants at this year’s rendezvous. Georgene and Colin (above), Willie and Herb, on Willie’s Tug (above), Vicki and Bruce, on Moondance (below-left), and Tym and June, on Circle T (below-right).

Bob (above) and Nita (below) are always in charge of making margaritas for the rendezvous. We call him “Margarita Bob,” As you can see, they’ve got this chore down to a science. I caught Nita downing the last batch of the mix just before we wrapped up happy hour to begin feasting on dinner.

Ivan (above), from the factory, came to our boat to install a Bluetooth module to our Fusion stereo unit. This is a job that would have taken us a few hours and took Ivan only a few minutes.

On the last night of the rendezvous, the sky was on fire.

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Peaceful Night On the Hook in Prevost Harbor

From Anacortes, we headed straight to the northern end of the San Juan Islands to spend one night on the hook in Prevost Harbor before we checked in at customs in Bedwell Harbour, British Columbia. Stuart Island was just south of  Boundary Pass and Bedwell Harbor and just short of a heavy fog bank that just seemed to hang around the western edge of Stuart Island.

As we arrived in the harbor, we immediately spotted this Fathom 40 trawler (below – just like our previous boat, same color too), we cruised by to say hi to the owners, thinking maybe we’d know them, but we didn’t. Fathom yachts are beautiful boats and easy to handle. We loved ours, but find we can do even more cruising with our trailerable Ranger Tug. We can cruise as we did before on a bigger boat, but also a trailer and launch her in many desirable inland lakes, such as Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

This pair of eagles were perched near our boat all evening. It appeared they were keeping an eye on the activity in the harbor.

When I began to take stock of what items we might have on the boat that would not fly during our check-in to Canadian customs, I got the bright idea to make potato salad with all the potatoes we had on hand. Potatoes were on the NoGo list we checked, but cooked items would be fine. We also had tomatoes to eat, some limes, and cherries. It made for an interesting dinner. We had potato salad for lunch for many days after.

Love nights on the hook when the water is glassy and reflects everything it touches. Prevost Harbor was picture-perfect for our one-night stay.

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There were several Ranger Tug owners we wanted to connect with while we were at Cap Sante Marina.

We’d been to Anacortes, Washington, the gateway to the San Juans Islands, several times in the past 15 years so it felt a little like a home away from home for us. After launching the boat and stowing the trailer and truck it was time to get organized for some serious PNW cruising. We needed to stock up and collect our thoughts a little. Guess the week we spent on the road took its toll. Lisa kept saying maybe we need another day to get organized so we’d not feel so rushed, plus there were several Ranger Tug owners we wanted to connect with while we were at Cap Sante Marina.

We spent a couple of days provisioning at the local Safeway, setting the dinghy up, unloading the truck, and correcting a hydro lock I created in my 4-stroke outboard. Apparently, I did not set the outboard up properly while we had it stored in the bed of our truck, which was not good for it while crossing the country. Engine oil was able to seep above the cylinder head which created the lock and therefore I could not get it started. After draining the oil from the spark plug hole, and cleaning the plug the engine fired right up, a huge sigh of relief as we plan to use it a lot on our Desolation Sound trip.

Herb and Willie, on Willie’s Tug (http://andwilliesaid.blogspot.ca) are Ranger Tug owners from Texas, we met them in 2011. We knew ahead of time they’d be docked at Cap Sante Marina and after getting semi-settled in a little, we invited them over for dinner. After enjoying the wonderful dinner Lisa prepared we spent the evening getting caught up on our boating activities since we last saw them in Bremerton Washington at a Ranger Tug Rendezvous in 2011. The time was also spent reviewing our mutual cruising plans up to Canada’s Golf Islands, Desolation Sound and beyond with a large group of Ranger Tug owners… it never gets old talking about new boating adventures with other boaters.

The day before we left Anacortes we made a trip over to the pump outstation near the entrance to the harbor. Good spot for it.

I got a tour of this boat (above). A one-of-a-kind hand-made yacht. The boat’s interior woodwork was amazing.

The evening before we left was spent getting to know the other Ranger Tug owners, Tym, on Circle T, and Ray, currently in Anacortes at an impromptu dockside happy hour. Ray and Jocelyn, on Nudibranch, organized the party, along with Herb and Willie, on Willie’s Tug, on the dock near their boats, Ray and Jocelyn cooked us some delicious salmon and halibut. Other boaters, Bob and Nita, on Nellie Too, ran down the dock earlier that day with a chart for us, they thought we could use it for our trip, we were headed out to test our autopilot but returned to the dock when we spotted them, such thoughtful people. You could meet people all day long and not meet a friendlier group than we met at Cap Sante during our stay.

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After spending this past winter holed up at home in northern Michigan remodeling our kitchen, we feel we’re more than ready for some new cruising adventure. We are preparing, planning, and packing to head west soon to begin another fun boating season. First, we’ll visit the Flaming Gorge  Reservoir on the Green River in Northeast Utah/Southern Wyoming. Then we’ll continue on to Puget Sound in Washington State, there we’ll put in at Anacortes and cruise north into Canada’s Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, and more. Check back often, the fun is soon to start.

The post Preparing, Packing and Planning for Our Trip West appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.