Trailer Trawler Life Kismet Slider
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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

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EVERGLADES

EVERGLADES

Shark River

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RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS

Palm Island, Florida

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LOVERS LEAP

LOVERS LEAP

San Juan Islands – Stewart Island, WA

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SOUTH SOUND

SOUTH SOUND

Tacoma, Washington

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BLAKE ISLAND

BLAKE ISLAND

Puget Sound, Washington

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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

Ranger Tugs Rendezvous, Bremerton, Washington

2011 Ranger Tug Rendezvous

The Boats... They're Everywhere! Sixty-eight Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters in one place, at one time. They were many sizes, from 21 to 29 feet. If set end to end they would have measured 1,768 feet or one-third of a mile long. A rainbow of colors was represented – yellow, dark red, fire engine red, blue, green, tan, and white with owners from as far away as Maine and New York, on the east coast, Michigan, Texas, California, Montana, Colorado, and Oregon. Most were from Washington State, many hailed from British Columbia, Canada. With 68 boats present, Lisa and I had…

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Oak Harbor, Dragon Race Team

Unusual Encounters

Not long after we set the hook for a peaceful night at anchor in Oak Bay along comes this racing skull with mostly women aboard. I think we provided some amusement as they had a ton of questions about the "cute tug boat." We knew they were a friendly and happy group when they started to inquire about what sort of alcoholic beverage we might provide them for happy hour. Apparently, they were on an end-of-class outing and were not too serious about practicing. You wouldn't normally think you'd run into many social opportunities when anchored out for the night…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet blackberry pie

Island Blackberry Pie for Lunch with Friends on Lopez Island, San Juan Island, Washington

Nothing can be sweeter than a slice of homemade island blackberry pie unless it's being able to connect with good friends who live on Lopez Island. When we were making plans to revisit the PNW again this year we immediately let our friends Dave and Judy know we were coming. After several calls to negotiate where and when we'd all be able to meet while we were in the San Juans it all miraculously came together on Monday. We would leave Roche Harbor mid-morning and head right to Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island. We put something into the crockpot in…

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Roche Harbor, Washington

A Big Welcome to Roche Harbor

Success! After two nights on anchor in Garrison Bay we called Roche Harbor Marina early Sunday morning and were put on the waiting list. We only waited a half hour or so before they called us in. The busy harbor was in stark contrast to our previous night's surroundings. With the holiday weekend in full swing, we were pretty quick to pick up on the electric, party atmosphere. As were coming down the fairway, we spotted another Ranger Tug just a few slips down from where we soon docked. We had noticed their dinghy tied to the back of their…

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Roche Harbor Marina Customer Appreciation Party

Customer Appreciation Party

On our way to the Roche Harbor Customer Appreciation festivities. Apparently, if you are in Roche Harbor on this special day you are invited to this amazing party. Your choice of many fine wines, tasty seafood sandwiches, and a live band were the highlights of this party, all put on to thank the community, mostly boaters, for visiting Roche Harbor. We were only minutes tied up at the dock before marina personnel came to our boat to make sure we knew about the party. What a way to get in the party mood and join all the other boaters who…

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Garrison Bay, San Juan Islands, Washington

Peaceful Nights – Garrison Bay, San Juan Island

We left Friday Harbor this morning after a quick walk through town. We wanted to get into Roche Harbor today but knew it would be full for the Labor Day holiday weekend, so Jim looked up anchorages in this area on Active Captain and came up with Garrison Bay as a good choice since it is just around the corner from Roche Harbor – we could hang out here for a day or two and try to secure a slip at the marina on Sunday or Monday when the holiday traffic slows down a bit. Just minutes after anchoring, way…

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Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, Washington

Friday… in Friday Harbor

On our way into the San Juan Islands, we cruised by Olga, on Orca Island. So many people had recommended this little village as a great place to stop. If we have time we might return here and stay a night, but right now we're headed to one of our favorite ports in San Juan's, Friday Harbor. The last time we were here, three years ago, it was winter but as I remember not much colder than it was today. We arrived here just before the Labor Day weekend and we find a much busier harbor with only a few…

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To Anacortes, Washington

Return to Anacortes, Three Years Later…

Smooth sailing today on the Sound and LaConner Pass. Returning to Cap Sante Marina for one night before we head over to the San Juan Islands. As we were approaching our slip we happened to see Herb and Willie on Willie's Tug, (above-left) we already feel like we know them because we've been corresponding with them on the Tug Nuts forum. They are also new owners of an R27 with a gorgeous yellow hull. Just after we tied up to the dock, we helped Jo into her slip next to us. She had just come from the Gulf Islands today, we…

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Map of Puget Sound Washington State

The Biggest Sound Around

Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the country. It was formed around 15,000 years ago by a massive glacier moving south across the area. This glacier was over 3,412 feet thick. As it moved south, it shaped the land like a giant bulldozer, carving out the basins that make up Puget Sound. Over fresh waters of 10,000 rivers and streams of the Seattle area flow into the Puget Sound creating the estuarine habitat that's so valuable for wildlife in the sound. Our first stop is Gig Harbor, a very unique boating destination. We'll be attending the PNW MTOA Rendezvous…

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Gig Harbor, Washington

Gig Harbor Encounters – Washington State

    Our son, Ross, who lives in Portland, OR, joined us for a few days. We explored Gig Harbor together, he helped us get to the store to stock up on groceries and we played a few games of Liverpool. Kismet, sitting pretty in Gig Harbor Captain Ross!             Christopher, (above-left) brother to Sarah, our soon-to-be daughter-in-law (fiancé to son Skyler), lives nearby, just south of Seattle so he made a special trip to Gig Harbor to have lunch with us on Sunday. It was nice to spend some time with Christopher and get to know him a…

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Ranger Tug Kismet

Ranger Tugs Factory in Kent, Washington

We saw the pictures, talked with the Ranger Tugs personnel, took tours at boat shows, and visited owner's forums, however, there isn’t anything like meeting the folks that make it all happen. In our case, I’m referring to everyone at the Ranger Tugs assembly facility in Kent, Washington where our Ranger Tug R27 was built. After our orientation day, we spent the next day at the plant loading and provisioning our boat for our initial solo launch, at Port Defiance, later that day. While at the Kent facility, Andrew (above) continued to educate us on the inner workings of our…

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MTOA Rendezvous, Gig Harbor, Washington

The PNW Chapter of MTOA Puts On a Mean Rendezvous.

Can't think of a better location than Gig Harbor, Washington for the PNW MTOA group of boaters to come together to laugh, share and learn. We never felt the "odd man out" (being from out of state) with this group of boaters, we got a big, warm welcome, right away, from everyone we met and the group is just small enough that it really was possible to spend time with almost everyone to hear boating stories and/or tips. We had so much fun, we think we'll have to come back in two years. Bill Stults hosted the rendezvous and worked…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet

Sea Trial Fun – Kent, Washington

The big day finally arrived, the day we saw the results of our long-planned transition into becoming owners of a Ranger Tugs R27 trailerable trawler. We were so excited to see our new boat, that we arrived an hour earlier than scheduled to start our new boat orientation and sea trial with Andrew. Andrew Custis, Ranger Tugs Customer Service Manager, is responsible for our new boat training and introduction. The better part of a day was spent on Lake Washington with Andrew going through the boat systems and answering our questions, the session finished after a sea trial – Andrew wanted…

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Gig Harbor

Off We Go…

Thursday afternoon, after we provisioned the boat, Andrew drove us down to the boat launch in Point Defiance, waved goodbye, and said to call him when we got back. We left the truck and trailer at the factory this time out. So, long story short, we're off on our own and FINALLY back on the water on a new Kismet. Gig Harbor, here we come.

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Glacier National Park

A Few Stops On the Way

We arrived at Glacier National Park early Saturday, with plenty of time to drive around the park and take a hike before we settled in our little mountain cabin at Rising Sun Motor Inn. We spent Sunday on a Red Bus Tour, a thrilling ride up the Going to the Sun Road. A perfect day spent with a busload of people and a very knowledgeable "Jammer" bus driver. We learned about the glaciers and how they will soon cease to exist (estimated to disappear by 2030), hard to believe. We learned that it will be the fifth time the glaciers…

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Mississippi Divide

Road Trip

Where did the summer go? It seemed to fly by for us as we quickly organized and packed up all our boating paraphernalia, clothes, and a multitude of personal luxury items. The boat is finished now and recently passed the sea trial and as the Ranger Tugs Custom Service Manager said in his recent email message to us, "It floated!" So, on Tuesday, we hit the road running with our thoughts focused forward to the new adventure ahead of us. We'll take possession of the boat in Kent, Washington, and get situated and familiar with her before we head to…

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Ranger Tugs R27 Kismet

Final Touches

As you can see from the photos, Kismet is nearing completion. There are some interesting features on this boat that we'll be talking about in the near future. One of my personal favorites, and the most innovative I believe, is the iPod docking station. You don't want to store a lot of CDs on a smaller boat – this way we'll have our whole collection of music at the ready without it taking up a lot of valuable storage space. Something we'll need to be more aware of while boating on a trailerable boat.

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Ranger Tugs Factory Red Hull

Building Kismet — Light at the End of the Tunnel

As I write this blog, our dream of becoming owners of a Ranger Tugs R27 is only weeks away. The transition from being liveaboards for five years to joining the trailerable trawler world has taken 1.5 years so we’re very anxious and excited to be getting back on the water. As you can see from the photos, our new boat's hull is fire engine red, a mighty fine-looking color I might add, one Lisa's wanted for a long time. We'll begin our road trip west to take delivery of Kismet in late August, in Kent, Washington. We’re looking forward to writing…

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Ranger Tugs Rendezvous

Itching to Get Back on the Water

Above are photos of a Ranger Tug Rendezvous, courtesy of Herb Stark. When I was a child, our family would drive to Lake Chemung (Howell, Michigan) to spend summer weekends, a family event I always enjoyed. Like many things children look forward to, like getting to the lake, it never seemed to happen soon enough. If I said it once I’d bet I said it a hundred times, “Are we there yet?” and I’m beginning to feel the same way about heading out west to get back to boating. This time with our Ranger Tug R27 trailerable trawler. Later this…

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Ranger Tugs R27

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…

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Favors's GMC Sierra Pickup Truck

Also Made in the U.S.A.

Now that we’ll be towing our trailerable Ranger Tugs R27 cross country, down south, or anywhere in between, we wanted a truck that could do the job effortlessly and dependably. We chose the GMC Sierra 2500 and equipped her with a Duramax Diesel engine, 4WD, trailering towing package and a few creature comforts to make our travel days more relaxing. Besides the 11-year dependable track record of the Duramax, we liked the fully boxed frame, diesel exhaust brake, automatic locking rear differential, and the StabiliTrak that came with the GMC. To read more about these features check out the more…

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Cutwater Salon

Another Trailerable Boat from Ranger Tugs

We recently heard about this new model trailerable boat built by Ranger Tugs. We haven't been on one yet but we'd Therefore to get back your stamina this drug can be bought from any internet or local pharmacy at discounted prices. Looks like a comfortable, well-built boat. For more photos and information visit their website:  http://www.cutwaterboats.com

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Jim fueling up

Ouch!!!!!

With the price of fuel spiking up to as high as $5.64 gal on the water in Miami, Florida, it’s no wonder there’s so much chatter about not boating as much this summer season. For those planning long cruises or embarking on the Great Loop, I have a couple of thoughts on how to have your cake and eat it too. Several Internet sites provide daily updated fuel prices, the two I use are waterwayguide.com and cruisersnet.net. In checking prices as I was writing this article I found fuel prices to range (eastern Florida) from as low as $3.60-gal to…

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Nimble Nomad

Have You Heard About Either of These Trailerable Trawlers?

We recently learned of two trailerable trawlers that we had not known about when we began our search for our new Kismet. If you are looking for something different check out these two new looks. The Nimble Nomad (left) is made in Tampa Florida, have been built since 1990; they also produce models called Wanderer and Kodiak. The Nomad version is a 25-ft. trawler built to accommodate a small outboard engine (up to 50 hp). I was able to download their brochure right from the website for additional information. Besides the 25-ft. model there will be a new 29-ft. Nomad was…

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