Airstream – Riveted

Sun and Projects

Laura Domela — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 01:33:39 +0000

We’ve been at home working for the past few weeks and will be heading back to the boat in a day or two. I have had some photo shoots in the studio, and we’ve been trying to take care of errand-y stuff while we’re in town.

This morning, we took our Airstream to see our friend Brad Taylor down at Shiny Shacks for a couple of fixes and tweaks. We’ve got a small soft spot in the subfloor (probably due to a leak in a window), and on our last trip to the coast we discovered we have a leak in our fresh water tank. Off to the shop she goes!

Brad has a pretty great collection of vintage trailers. Example: in the center of this photo you’ll see a 1962 Airstream Flying Cloud. It is one of 8 known survivors of Wally Byam’s Caravan Around the World (1963-64). The trailer belonged to Airstream photographer Fran Hall during this historic trip around the world, and Brad’s got a photo of it in front of the Kremlin in 1964. The Kremlin. 1964.

Here’s a zoomed in crop so you can see the tour stops:

Impressive, isn’t it?

Anyway, not much else to report at the moment. We have some boat projects coming up (just regular maintenance stuff before we head to Alaska next month), and we have a new outboard to install (Zoooooom! Enough of the Torqeedo!) so we hope to have something fun to post soon!

Interior Living Space, Compared

Laura Domela — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 18:20:51 +0000

We’ve logged almost 700 nights in our Airstream since we purchased it in 2010 (a 2010 27’FB International), and almost 600 nights aboard Airship (2013 Nordic Tug 34) since it joined our family in 2014. We’ve returned to the Airstream for a week of camping on the Oregon Coast (OMG is it ever going to stop RAINING??), and we can’t help discussing the things we find different/better/worse between the interior living space of the two “vehicles”. We aren’t taking into account things like self-propulsion…this is just about the living space design and interior.

Airstream 27FB Plan

Airstream 27FB Plus Points

Airstream publishes a much better graphic of its interior layout than Nordic Tugs does
There is a LOT of storage.
Bigger fridge and freezer
Bigger, separate shower
Quite a bit more closet space
The Airstream’s Amana stove/oven kicks the butt of the Force 10 we have on Airship. Sure, it’s not as shiny, but we’ve got three full burners (rather than one fullish burner and one “sorta kinda keep warm” burner), and…a vent-a-hood!
The heater in the Airstream heats the interior in no time
Bigger bedroom/master stateroom, in all dimensions

Nordic Tug 34/Airship Plan

Nordic Tug/Airship Plus Points

Far better craftsmanship…lots of real wood (because weight is not much of an issue)
More windows
Built-in generator
Better fresh water system, variable speed pump and much higher capacity tank (100 gallons vs. 39 gallons)
Privacy of master stateroom from guest sleeping area is better and more separate

Overall though, the Airstream wins in the category of interior living space. If we moved up to a Nordic Tug 40 (with hydronic heat, a better oven/stove, and bigger fridge/freezer by default, we’d be even with the Airstream in terms of interior living space…well, probably we’d be ahead, since we’d gain a separate stateroom for guests.

Other Observations Not Related to Interior Living Space

Campgrounds are like marinas. You’re almost always too close to your neighbor with the yippy dogs. With a boat you have the option of anchoring out.

Airship anchored at Teakerne Arm, British Columbia

With an RV (and a lot of planning and local knowledge) you can boondock “away from it all” on public land, but it takes a lot more work to find a scenic, off-the-grid place to hang out. But, as with boating, if you camp in the off season, you can go to normally crowded places like this and not see another RV:

Airstreaming the Badlands, South Dakota

The boat has to bring its own outside space with it (upper deck, back cockpit, bow) but the Airstream gets to use the campground and surrounding area as its outdoor space.

Airstream at Athabasca Glacier, Alberta, Canada

However, if you’re camped somewhere and it’s just raining and raining and raining (like the past few days here at the Oregon Coast), then your outdoor space is a bit more limited.

Freedom from roads is a plus with a boat.

Airship in Melanie Cove, Desolation Sound, British Columbia

Showers, Rain, Drizzle, Cloudy with a Shower

Laura Domela — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:29:30 +0000

This is what our week sounds like, per Accuweather.

It rained most of the day yesterday, but we got a short break and braved our way to the beach for a walk. This is what our campsite area looked like when we left:

The beach was quiet and beautiful and we had a good walk.

There were all these weird finger-shaped (and sized) things that had washed up on the shore:

I got close and they were definitely organic (but no bones, so…not fingers).

My first thought was starfish legs, but upon closer inspection we decided they were probably small sea cucumbers.

However, once back at the Airstream (and internet) we discovered they were not in fact sea cucumbers, by pyrosomes. They are bioluminescent (when alive) and can get as large as 60 feet long. Each one is actually a colony of cloned creatures called “salps” about 1 cm long each, connected together by tissue to form what looks like a rubbery, plastic tube. Winter storms have caused many of them to wash ashore and they’re apparently all over the Oregon Coast right now. [Source]

Bird-shaped driftwood:

Same driftwood, different angle:

Not many people on the beach today:

Heading over the dunes and back to camp:

When we got back to camp, our moat had mostly disappeared, but I’m thinking we need some Xtratufs for the Airstream as well as the boat!

We went to dinner last night in Manzanita…a restaurant called Blackbird.

For starters we shared a radicchio caesar salad and some bacon-wrapped apricots (stuffed with goat cheese and marcona almond). Both starters were fantastic. For our main course we shared some Ricotta Gnocchi (with lamb bacon, shaved fennel, basil and tarragon pesto, maitake mushroom, parmesan), and a delicious prawn dish , but I don’t have all the ingredients for that one because it wasn’t on the online menu. I’m not sure which entree we liked the best. The portions were perfect, too…perfect enough that we got to share a chocolate pot du creme with sea salt on top for dessert.

It rained like crazy all night last night, and early this morning the wind really kicked up. We slept in a bit, made some late breakfast, and are having a lovely anniversary day at the coast.

More Fun in Wine Country

Laura Domela — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 15:42:20 +0000

Spots 11 and 12 at Willamette Wine Country RV. That's us on the right:

Yesterday we did some work in the morning here and then met up with our friends Lisa and George. They arrived early in the afternoon and the four of us headed first for Seufert Winery and then over to the Dominio IV winery to pick up our wine club shipments (we had about a year's worth!).

Dominio IV:

We met back up with the Hardersens when we returned to the RV park and everyone got together for a fun group dinner. The weather was beautiful and the moon was big and bright. (We also got to ride our bikes around a bit!)

The clouds moved in later in the evening while we were all still out visiting and then suddenly the rain came with those big fat raindrops so we quickly cleared the tables and moved inside. Fun evening!

It rained off and on all night, and this morning it's more of the same. We were going to go home today, but figured we'd get a bunch of work done here instead, cozy and out of the rain, and go home tomorrow.

Airstreamin’ in Wine Country

Laura Domela — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 14:49:27 +0000

We dusted off the Airstream on Thursday morning and headed down to the Willamette Valley wine country (only a little over an hour from our house in Portland) to meet up with some friends for the weekend.

When we got to our RV storage unit, everything was just as we'd left it and there were no big issues. Pretty good after sitting for a year in storage! The tires needed a little air, the clocks needed new batteries, and the fridge light needs a new bulb, but other than that everything was ready to go.

We are camping at the Willamette Wine Country RV Resort and so far, we have mostly remembered how to do everything. Campgrounds are definitely noisier than anchorages and mooring buoys, but it's still fun to be out in the trailer. (And there are no ferry wakes tossing you awake at 7am!)

Kevin and I had a reservation for dinner on Thursday night at the Joel Palmer House (thank you to Kevin's mom for the sweet gift card!)

The Joel Palmer House, in Dayton, Oregon:

Our table:

Because this is truffle country, we did the Mushroom Madness tasting menu, and because we're in pinot noir country, we shared a bottle of Methven Family Vineyards Pinot Noir. All was delicious and it was a nice evening.

In the morning, we met up with our friend Kathy Hardersen and her son Kyle. (Kyle just bought a new Airstream International 25' and is parked right next to us, and Kathy left her Airstream at home and is staying here in one of The Vintages.) We had breakfast at our trailer, and then went over to Sokol Blosser for some wine tasting on the patio.

Sokol Blosser has a gorgeous tasting room and patio, and we couldn't ask for better mid-October weather!

We were there for a couple hours just visiting and playing cards and tasting wine. Kathy is a wine club member at Sokol Blosser, so we got a nice complimentary charcuterie tray during our card game:

We brought back a deck of cards from the Trickster Company in Juneau, Alaska. This is the Tlingit language edition, and they're fabulous to play with!

We had some lunch at the Red Hills Market, then went to Penner-Ash Wine Cellars for another tasting (and met up with more of Kathy's family). I didn't take any photos at Penner-Ash, but they too have a gorgeous place up on the hill with a fantastic view of the valley. We really enjoyed several of their wines, and left with four bottles: a 2013 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, a 2014 Viognier (served at the White House State Dinner a few weeks ago), a 2013 Oregon Syrah, and a 2013 Rubeo (70% pinot noir, 30% syrah).

We decided to finally let Kyle have something HE wanted drink, so we stopped at Deception Brewing for a bit. (Kevin and I didn't try any of their beer though…next time!)

Dinner last night with the entire Hardersen family (table for 9) was at Ruddick/Wood in Newberg and was a blast. We always have so much fun with these guys. So. Much. Laughing!!

We started with a Honey Badger and a Whiskey Sour, and shared the duck confit hushpuppies (the winner) and a grilled octopus salad for starters, and the Fishermen's Stew and the Chicken Roulade (the winner) for entrees.

Today, we've got some more friends (Lisa and George, in their Argosy motorhome) joining us here and we'll probably visit two more wineries today…maybe ride our bikes around a bit, and just spend more time visiting and catching up.

It's definitely nice to be back in the Airstream, but I miss the boat and the water a little bit (and the rocking!). I think we're going to need to revisit the boondocking side of RV travel a bit more next time we set out for a longer trip…get away from the traffic noise and the leaf blowers and lawn mowers.

The PowerStove™

Laura Domela — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 16:31:45 +0000

New addition to Airship's crab cooking capabilities (to go with our new large stock pot): The PowerStove.

The PowerStove folds up pretty small and has a nice sturdy bag to hold everything (and it all fits inside the large stock pot):

The PowerStove comes highly recommended by other boaters and crab cookers (it's made in Woodinville, WA!), and I think it'll be great for the Airstream as well! We'll let you know what we think after we get it in use!

(We got ours here at Fisheries Supply in Seattle, WA.)

We are in full-on provisioning mode right now for our multi-month trip to Alaska. Kevin's got two briskets on the Traeger, and we've got 8 one-pound servings of pulled pork already frozen and ready for the deck-top freezer. We did a Costco run and stocked up on organic frozen vegetables, and I froze a bunch of fresh pesto in small serving sizes. We'll head up to Airship in the next day or so to do a bunch of packing and stock-taking.

So! Excited!

A Few Nordic Tug Details that We Think Airstream Should Adopt

Laura Domela — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:08:03 +0000

Now that we've spent about a hundred days/nights in our Nordic Tug (since the end of September 2014! Can you believe that??), there are a few details in Nordic Tugs that we think Airstreams should have.

1. Locking cabinet/drawer pulls

Obviously, the real wood (sapele) cabinetry in the Nordic Tug is great but not an option for the standard Airstream, due to cost (and weight), but these locking drawer and cabinet pulls are SO much better than the 5lb/10lb RV latches on the cupboards in the Airstream.

They're essentially a push button style pull. When pushed in, the hardware is flush with the cabinet and the cabinet or drawer is locked.

To unlock, just push in and the pull pops out for easy use as a handle.

When you're ready to get on the road (or sea) again, a quick push in and the cupboard is locked.

The problem with the latches in the Airstream is that they're supposed to be strong enough to keep the doors and drawers closed while under way, but they aren't and they don't. In both Airstreams we've owned we've had drawers come completely out during travel (denting the floor, spilling the contents, breaking the drawer) as well as cupboards opening during travel (spilling/breaking dishes all over the floor, covering the interior with walnut oil, truffle salt, and Sriracha). We are NOT the only ones this has happened to. At all.

We've replaced a couple of the 5lb latches with 10lb latches, and that helps, but it's a little annoying to have to yank so hard on the cupboard to open it during normal everyday use.

This push button locking option would be a great solution to the clunky issues surrounding the Airstream cabinet and drawer hardware.

2. Better LED fixtures

The LED fixtures on the Nordic Tug are great and the light from the LED bulbs in them is so nice you'd never know they were LED. I kept asking Steve (our Nordic Tug dealer) when we were first looking at this boat "These are LED? Really?" and then thinking he must have been mistaken when he said "yes" … even the third time. It took me a few times touching them after they'd been on for hours to really believe it. (Sorry I doubted you, Steve!)

I think the LED fixtures in Airstreams are the original halogen fixtures, but retrofitted for LED "bulbs." The frosted glass shows the little square-gridded "bulb" right through, and doesn't soften the light enough. If you have warm LEDs in the bedroom, for instance, and a white bedspread, you'll see yellow splotches of light on that bedspread when the lights are on, which is…um…not awesome. If you have the cool LED "bulbs" the whole inside of the trailer takes on a lovely "operating room" vibe. Anyway, we think these LED fixtures by Imtra Marine are KILLER. (I'm not sure of the exact model we have, but here's one example from the Imtra Marine website.)

3. Flooring

We LOVE the flooring in our Nordic Tug:

You might think this flooring is WAY too heavy and expensive for an Airstream, but hold on there. It looks like the traditional boaty wood floors, but it's a product called Amtico, and it's a synthetic flooring that's pretty much indestructible, and simulates teak & holly, cherry & holly, or mahogany & holly, depending on your wood preference). Seems like it would be perfect for Airstream's "land yacht" concept. Here are two links: Link 1 and Link 2 to sites with some photos and info about it. I couldn't find it, specifically, on the Amtico website.

Anyway, it's gorgeous, it looks and feels like wood (even when you're down on the floor cleaning up that spilled glass of red wine), AND it's not going to dent or be affected by moisture like real wood floors.

If we ever decided to build/design an Airstream from scratch, I would definitely borrow all three of these things from our Nordic Tug.

Why do you guys move around so much?

Laura Domela — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:35:48 +0000

After following out boating adventures for a couple months, one of our friends (a friend who travels frequently in an Airstream) asked us that question. It's a good question. From the perspective of RV travel it probably seems like a lot of moving. When we're on the road with the Airstream our goal is usually to travel to a great spot, set up camp and enjoy that new place for a while. Driving from campsite to campsite is not really the best part of road travel. Sure, it can be scenic and pretty, but I believe that the majority of our enjoyment on the road is getting to set up camp and stay put for a few days, exploring the new place by foot or bike or car while our cozy little home awaits in the pretty spot we found for it.

With the boat, so much of the enjoyment is moving and being on the water. I'd even say it is often the best part. Yes, finding the cool anchorage or quaint marina and exploring the harbor or hiking the hills is also great, but…well….whales, and seals, and eagles, and the sound of the water swishing past as we navigate to the next place, the motion of the boat and the smells of the sea…it makes the place-to-place travel SO enjoyable. We love it. (Can you tell?)

Also, while under way by boat we aren't 100 percent captive at the helm as we travel, like we are at the wheel of the truck. The autopilot on the boat reduces the second-to-second workload, and we can walk around, make a cappuccino or some lunch, go to the head, etc. It's easier in to be traveling for longer periods of time by boat than it is in the truck towing the Airstream, so it's easier to be moving more often. (Don't worry, one of us is always at the helm watching out though.)

Here is every place we've stopped or stayed overnight since we got our boat at the end of September (several places more than once):

1. Fidalgo Island (Anacortes, home base)
2. San Juan Island (Roche Harbor, Friday Harbor, Griffin Bay)
3. Orcas Island (Deer Harbor, Rosario Resort, West Beach Resort, Massacre Bay, Skull Island)
4. Patos Island (Active Cove)
5. Sucia Island (Fossil Bay)
6. Matia Island (Rolfe Cove)
7. James Island
8. Shaw Island (Blind Bay, Blind Island)
9. Jones Island
10. Lopez Island (Fisherman Bay, Spencer Spit State Park)
11. Stuart Island (Prevost Harbor)
12. Whidbey Island (Coupeville, Langley)
13. Port Townsend
14. LaConner

There are so many more places we want to go!

Moovbox – Our New Favorite Mobile Internet Solution

Kevin Morris — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:27:52 +0000

We depend completely on being connected when we are on the road and on the water. Because we run a virtual company which is an internet business, we can (and do) enjoy traveling extensively – even while working full time. While our blog posts focus on the adventure side of our travels, what you don’t see are the long days sitting at our laptops, running a complex company remotely from the road. Without reliable, high-performance internet, there would be no adventures. Our blog posts would be “Woke up at home this morning, made coffee, went for a hike, worked all day in the office, had dinner, watched TV, went to bed.” That’s not what we want to do (or write) and we’re pretty sure it’s not what you want to read, either.

For years, we’ve struggled with the technology to keep us connected and working while we travel in the Airstream. We’ve tried just about every option available, and we’ve had friends and traveling companions who have tried just as many. We have learned a lot from their experience, as well as from our own. Since I’m an electronic engineer, a journalist and an analyst covering electronics technology, I figure I’m more qualified than the average Joe to locate the best way for us to stay online during our adventures. However, it’s been an ongoing challenge – even for me.

We have tried everything from the obvious to the exotic – (and we have written about our experiences before)… Campground (and marina) WiFi is notoriously unreliable and slow, and it is a rare occasion indeed when we get a stable, fast connection that will allow us to work productively using the WiFi at a campground, RV park, or marina. Of course, we have tried USB modems, and portable 3G/4G/LTE devices such as Mi-Fi. Those are by far the simplest, most affordable, and easiest-to-use solutions. Their limitations are coverage (particularly inside an RV or boat), speed, and data plan limits.

We have also tried portable satellite internet… No. Just no. (See Option 3 – Satellite Internet, in this post.)

When outfitting our new Nordic Tug “Airship” – we wanted something that would be flexible, trouble-free, fast, and reliable. We wanted something that would give us far greater range of coverage than we could get with consumer-grade devices. Since this is our business, we wanted a business-class solution. That’s what led us to Moovbox. We bought ours from SinglePoint Communications (the same company we bought our WiFi-in-Motion setup from several years ago).

So far, we have been extremely pleased.

Moovbox is a commercial-grade mobile router. It is designed for applications like providing public WiFi on mass-transit – busses, trains, etc. It uses cellular data modems – similar to the one inside your smartphone – to connect to the internet. It then creates a private, secure Wi-Fi network for you using that connection. Picture an industrial-strength MiFi powerful enough to be used by a bus-load of people all at once. It is ruggedly built and is made to withstand the rigors of the road – vibration, temperature, etc. It is also scalable – the M340 model we got can handle up to four modems with two SIM cards each – for a total of eight SIM cards. Obviously we don’t need that many, but we did want at least two modems – one for Verizon and one for AT&T, so we’d have coverage wherever either of those networks reached.

With multiple modems, Moovbox can automatically switch between them – or it can “load share” where it distributes your internet traffic between the two connections when both are live. This can effectively double your bandwidth if more than one person/process is using your internet connection at the same time. Speaking of bandwidth, the Moovbox modems are fast – MUCH faster than what we’ve seen with consumer-grade devices. We get better LTE speed with a single modem in Moovbox than we’ve ever seen with our conventional devices. Check this out:

To get long-range reception, you need an external high-gain antenna. Check. Moovbox comes with a matched external antenna (with built-in GPS) that can handle two separate LTE/4G/3G modems. We had ours mounted on top of Airship’s electronics mast where it would have the best, unobstructed line-of-sight view to cell towers.

We mounted the Moovbox unit itself inside the electronics bay in the top of the pilothouse (behind the boaty instruments). Moovbox is made to be hidden away and forgotten. There are no controls on the outside, and it will be a rare day when you need to think about or look at the status LEDs on the front.

There is a web-based interface used for initial configuration – setting up your WiFi network name, your password, and so forth. It’s all pretty simple and straightforward, and the technical and product support from SinglePoint Communications is top notch. Singlepoint installs the modems and SIM cards in the unit at the factory, and sends the whole thing out ready to install. You mount the antenna, hook up the antenna wires and 12V power, configure your network name, password, and preferences, and you’re done.

It just works.

When we go in and out of coverage for Verizon and AT&T, it magically and seamlessly maintains the connection with whichever is available. The range is FAR longer than we get with our phones or our old USB datacards on our laptops. So far, in the first month, we have been all over the farthest reaches of the San Juan Islands – to the booniest of the boonies like the rock-walled Active Bay on Patos Island in the uppity-tip-top corner of the US – almost surrounded by connection-cash-sucking Canada and miles from any US towns or infrastructure, and we had good, solid connections the whole time.

SinglePoint also can provide a nice, one-source data plan they call “SinglePlan.” (See a theme here?) You can bring your own data plan as well, but we opted for theirs because it lets us get one, auto-pay bill that spans both our Verizon and AT&T SIM cards. The pricing is comparable to what we were getting with our previous plans directly from Verizon and AT&T. We haven’t gotten our first bill yet, so we’ll let you know how the rest of that process goes as we get more experience.

Regarding our decision to use BOTH Verizon and AT&T – traveling all over the US, we’ve carried THREE data cards in the Airstream for use with the homebrew Franken-system we installed there (third-party external antennas, multiple antenna boosters, Cradlepoint 3G/4G/LTE router, and three carrier-supplied USB modems.) What we’ve found in many years on the road covering most of the remote areas of the US is:

Verizon has the best coverage by far – many places where there’s no AT&T.
AT&T has coverage many places where Verizon does not.
When Verizon and AT&T BOTH have coverage, AT&T is usually faster.
Sprint has coverage almost nowhere except in cities where Verizon and AT&T also have great signal.
T-mobile is weak but still better than Sprint.

That led us to the notion that to get the best possible coverage/speed combination possible, we wanted both Verizon and AT&T service.

In the Airstream, making that happen is a nightmare gordian knot of antennas, cables, modems, boosters, router – all jumbled up together in the upper cabinet in the rear of the trailer. Each time we arrive at a destination, I’m juggling cables to find out which modem works where we are, checking signal strengths and connection speeds, and fiddling around until we finally get what seems like the best connection for the location. When we move, the whole process starts over again. It takes from five minutes to thirty minutes each time we settle down in a remote area for me to get an internet connection I’m happy with.

With Moovbox, we just have internet. No fiddling or futzing or juggling cables. It’s fast, easy, stable, and omnipresent.

The next step is to get Moovbox set up for Wi-Fi as WAN. That means when we’re at a marina (or in the case of the Airstream it would be an RV park), we’d like to use the Wi-Fi there (if available) as the internet connection for Moovbox. Then, all our devices can stay connected to our secure Moovbox Wi-Fi network, but we can use the marina/campground Wi-Fi as the internet connection from there so we don’t use up the data on our plan. We’ll report on that step once we have it working.

Moovbox also has the capability to automatically switch to a Canada SIM card (if you have one installed with an activated plan) so that you can seamlessly travel to and from Canada without breaking the bank. So far, we don’t have a Canada data plan because we don’t spend enough time there to rate an entire dedicated account and monthly bill. But, it’s nice to know we could easily add that down the road.

How much does it all cost?

Well, if you consider it a business expense, it’s really pretty affordable. For the system, you’ll pay probably about what you’d pay for a decent laptop. That means it’s likely to be a four-digit number. The base-level system with only a single modem (we’d recommend Verizon in that case) costs only about half of the price of the super-expandable 4-modem, 8-SIM-card-capable unit that we bought. We like the idea of the future-proofing that it provides. If a new better technology comes out, they can just drop in a new modem. If we decide we want to start providing pay-Wi-Fi for the whole marina or campground wherever we go, it can support that as well.

Given our experience so far, I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting one of these for the Airstream also.

Why a Nordic Tug?

Laura Domela — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 17:57:14 +0000

Some of you have asked us about our boat-buying decision, and specifically about how we ended up choosing a tug. (Note that these tugs are tugs in style only…they don't actually tug stuff.) We might have written about bits of this before, but here it is, all together!

You may remember when we first spotted the cute little Ranger Tugs up in Port Townsend, WA and then again up in Comox, BC when we were on our Airstream trip up to Vancouver Island back in July.

We were working at the dinette at Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend, and we'd been eyeing these little boats for a couple days. There were four or five of them in the marina…same brand, different models and colors…and they were cute! This shot has three of them, on the left of the image:

One day we noticed they were all gearing up to leave and we decided we should run down there and find out what kind of boats they were before they were gone. We went back to the Airstream and started doing a little internet research. Ranger Tugs came in a variety of sizes (21, 25, 27, 29, and 31 foot) and hang on! They're made in Kent, WA, and they're trailerable! The more we learned, the more interested we became. We sent a note to the sales guy to find out if we could come by on our way back to Portland in a few weeks and get a factory tour to see some boats.

Several days later we got a note from the sales guy that he wouldn't be back in the office for about a month, because he was on the yearly Ranger Rendezvous up to Desolation Sound (basically, a rally on the water). They were leaving Anacortes in the morning and would be in Ladysmith, BC tomorrow. By the time he wrote back to us, we were camped out in Nanaimo, BC — only 10 miles from Ladysmith, so he invited us to come by and see some boats! We did, and then we did again on their next stop in Comox where they had about 100 Ranger Tugs now all heading for Desolation Sound. The Ranger Tug owners LOVE their boats, and they love the company and its service. A lot.

The Ranger Tug 31 (the flybridge collapses down for trailering):

There was much to like about the Ranger Tugs. Compact, stylish, clever design…a lot like an Airstream. Hey! We could really get used to life on the water. We thought about how much we love the bustle and atmosphere of marina campgrounds…how we both grew up sailing and being around boats…and the more we thought about it, the more it made sense that we should see about owning a boat. We took the Ranger Tug factory tour, talked to other Ranger owners, spent a lot of time working out finances, mocking up what color we'd get if we got one, where we'd keep it, etc.

And then we decided we should do our due diligence and actually look at a couple other kinds of boats. After all, it had only been a few weeks of Ranger-love and we'd never even considered anything else. We noticed that in a lot of reviews of Rangers (and the "pocket trawler" or "pocket yacht" category in general) the mention of American Tugs and Nordic Tugs (also built locally, in La Conner, WA and Burlington, WA, respectively). Since we seemed to be gravitating toward this tug/trawler style (it's so cute, and so livable), we made appointments to go up and see some boats!

Both the Nordics and the Americans were wider than the Ranger (and therefore, not as easily trailerable). The Ranger has a beam (width) of 10', the Nordic is 11'4" and the American is 13'3".

To be trailered/hauled the Nordics and the Americans would need a wide load permit AND a pilot car, which can get expensive. The Pacific Northwest is such a fantastic area for boating, but I doubt we'd want to keep a boat on the Columbia River all year and not take advantage of the whole Puget Sound and Gulf Islands (and, you know, Alaska!) But did we need trailerable? We decided we didn't. Twice a year (to and from) we could (1) have the boat hauled from Portland to Olympia (people do it all the time) or (2) once we had enough experience, we could take her ourselves via the Columbia River to Astoria, across the Columbia Bar, up the Washington Coast and into the Puget Sound for the summer.

And so the comparison spreadsheets began. Ranger 31. Nordic 32/34. American 34/365. We even added a few more into the mix, just to be thorough…the Beneteau Swift 34 and the Helmsman 37/38.

After being aboard these other larger boats, we ultimately decided we wanted more room than the Ranger offered. The floor space in the Ranger is basically the "walkway" running from the aft cockpit door to the helm and front stateroom, with the dinette on one side and the kitchen on the other. It's efficient, but it's tight. In the Nordics and the Americans, there's room to move around a bit more in the salon (room to do yoga, even!) The Beneteau we looked at was a sexy boat, but suffered from the Ikea fit and finish of the interior materials. It looked good, but it really didn't seem like it would age well. The Helmsman was cool, but way too "nautically styled" for our taste…too much wood (even the blinds were wood). Hard to explain, but here's a pic:

The Helmsman had something we totally loved though…another smaller dinette/settee up in the pilothouse. One person could be drivin' the boat, the other one could be publishing articles!

We pretty quickly found ourselves narrowing it down and comparing between a few used Nordic Tugs and a few used American Tugs (same size range), but kept coming back to the sleeker, lower-to-the-water hull shape of the Nordic Tug. We liked the straighter pilothouse windows (over the slanted slightly out windows on the American Tug). The Nordic Tug was more efficient. Its smaller hull lets it go faster with a 260hp engine than the American can with a 380hp engine. At sightseeing speeds, the Nordic uses about half the fuel than the American does. For us, having a boat is not about getting anywhere quickly. It's about being on the water, watching sea life, enjoying the the fresh air. If we only had weekends, I could see wanting something faster to go further in less time, but we plan to use this boat just like we use the Airstream (exploring, working, cooking, etc.)

Here's the American Tug 365 (previously called the 34) shown with and without flybridge option:

The Nordic 34 (previously called the 32):

They are both fantastic, well-made boats and I'm sure we'd have been happy with any of them (even the Ranger).

All of the previously owned American Tugs we found were older, all had carpet (which we'd definitely want to remove and replace with teak/holly or Amtico…not a minor expense), and the previously owned Nordic Tug we found had great floors, was a color we liked (both exterior and interior), and was much newer. The Nordics and the Americans both have a separate shower in the head, and not a wet bath like in the Ranger (also like we had in our first Airstream).

When we moved from a 22' Airstream to a 27' Airstream (and have now spent almost 700 nights in our 27'), the two upgrades we REALLY appreciated in the 27' were a separate shower and a larger capacity fridge (well, and a couch). The Nordic has a fridge closer to the size we had in the 22' Airstream, and the American has a larger fridge and separate freezer like we have in the 27' Airstream. This was a little problematic (because produce takes a lot of room, and the freezer on the Nordic is tiny), but we solved the issue by adding a decktop fridge/freezer to the Nordic (which will double as a bench, with a padded seat top).

Some Spec Comparison Between the Nordic 34 and the 27' Airstream

The fresh water capacity in the Airstream is 39 gallons. The Nordic 34 holds 100 gallons.

The black water tank in the Airstream is 39 gallons. The black water tank in the Nordic holds 30 gallons (but it's SO much easier to empty).

The gray water tank in the Airstream holds 37 gallons, and on the Nordic…26 gallons. Smaller, yes, but the thing that's different about gray water on the Nordic is that it automatically pumps out when it gets full enough to trip the pump. You use biodegradable products (as we normally do anyway) and you never have to fuss with it. The water from the sink drains directly overboard and never enters the tank. Sweet!

Water heater capacity on the Nordic is the same as in the Airstream: 6 gallons. The water heater in the Airstream is electric when you're on shore power, and propane when you're not. The water heater in the boat is electric when you're on shore power or running the generator, and is also heated by the engine when you're underway…no propane for the water heater on the boat.

The stove/oven on the Nordic works off of propane. There's only one propane bottle and it holds 5 gallons, but the only thing that uses that 5 gallons of propane on the boat is the stove/oven (not like in the Airstream, where it's the fridge, water heater, stove, and heater). Also, here's a pic of our new stove/oven that just went in yesterday:

The boat has three (!!!) built-in heaters. One is like a car heater that works off the engine heat when we're underway. Another is a built-in electric heater that works when we're plugged into shore power or running the generator. The third is a diesel heater that gets its diesel supply from the boat's main fuel tank (for use when we're anchored or moored somewhere without power and not running the generator).

Power

The Airstream gets its power from two places: (1) shore power when we're plugged in, and (2) solar power all the time (when there's sun), so we have a LOT of battery in the Airstream (900 amp hours total).

The boat (once the upgrades are finished) will only have about half that battery capacity (440 amp hours), but the boat batteries get charged four ways: (1) shore power when we're plugged in, (2) solar, like the Airstream (the boat will have two 140-watt solar panels on top of the pilothouse), (3) by the engine when we're under way (the Airstream does this a tiny bit too from the tow vehicle, but at such a trickle it really has no effect), and (4) the boat has a 5kw diesel generator that runs off the boat's main diesel tank that we can run pretty much any time we want. So power will not be an issue with the boat.

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Overall, the living amenities in the Nordic Tug 34 are very comparable to what we know we enjoy and can live and work comfortably in over long periods of time in the Airstream. We wanted to take what we'd learned from our experience Airstreaming and apply it to how we shopped for a boat.

The styling and design of the boat is something we thought about, as well as size. Our goal was to get the smallest boat we could live and work in for long periods of time. We wanted the boat equivalent of our Airstream, not the boat equivalent of a huge fifth wheel or motorhome with 5 slideouts…something comfortably livable yet stylish and efficient. I think we found it!