Ranger Tug – Riveted

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!

We Bought a Boat!

Laura Domela — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Back in July when we were staying at the Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend. That's when we caught the bug. It's remarkable that we hadn't caught it before, honestly. We both grew up sailing and boating with our families, and as you've no doubt noticed, we LOVE the marina campgrounds when traveling by Airstream. And still, it never occurred to us until recently that we might want to own a boat.

It started with the small fleet of Ranger Tugs we first saw in Port Townsend. Modern, compact, trailerable, and built in nearby Kent, Washington, the Ranger Tug seemed like it might be the one for us: a boat we could live comfortably in while exploring the waterways of the Pacific Northwest. It was like an Airstream on the water!

We researched every Ranger model online and studied all of the floor plans. We took the factory tour. We talked about options and colors and interior fabrics and everything. But after much more research and experience being on several different boats, we decided that the Ranger might be too much like our first Airstream: wonderful, but a little tight on space for the amount of time we know we'll end up spending in it.

After quite a bit more research, we finally narrowed things down to two models: Nordic Tug 32/34 and the American Tug 34/365. Both builders are in Washington (Nordic in Burlington near Anacortes, and American in LaConner) so it was not too much trouble to make the trip up (several times) to look at boats, take the factory tours, and get out on the water in both models to get a feel for what we liked best. Both the American and the Nordic tugs are very well made and have the classic tug-trawler design we seemed to be gravitating toward.

One of the very first boats we looked at was a used Nordic Tug 34 that had been part of a fractional ownership program. It was nicely outfitted, only a year and a half old, and most importantly, did not have carpet. (Kidding, but only kind of…because almost every single used boat we saw had carpet, and not the nice teak and holly floors that most of the new models were putting in). After being in this particular Nordic 34 (wood floors, "whiskey" Ultraleather interior), we couldn't help comparing every other boat we saw to that early favorite. You know how sometimes, something just FEELS right and you can already picture it in your life every day? It was like that when we bought our house in 1996. From the very beginning, it FELT like our home (even before it was). (It was actually like that for me from the first time I met Kevin, too, but I didn't need to go through all the comparison shopping.) It was the same with this Nordic 34. I've been calling it "our boat" since, well, since way too early to start summoning the jinxing powers that be.

We made an offer, our offer was accepted, and on Friday we went back up to Anacortes for the boat's inspection (which went very well). We should be closing next week and then we'll go up and hang out on the boat, get a few days of training on it from a captain in the area who does on-the-water training (navigation, mechanical systems, boat handling, etc.). We're having the shop add a couple of 160watt solar panels to the top of the pilot house, a 2800watt inverter, a bigger stove/oven (it's got a two burner propane stove top with a small microwave/convection oven, and we're switching that out for an all-in-one Force 10 two burner stove with oven). We're also adding a deck-top fridge/freezer (one that also doubles as a bench seat with a cushion) because this boat has the small 4.3 liter fridge like our first Airstream had (which we already know is too small for the amount of produce and frozen seafood we typically like to be able to have with us).

After all our training and a little toolin' around in the San Juans, we'll be bringing the boat down to Portland (on the water to Olympia, and then via truck/hauling to Portland). We'll do all of our initial cruising on the Columbia River. Then probably next spring/summer we'll take it back up to the Puget Sound and do some cruising in the San Juan Islands, up into Canada (and eventually, Alaska!) We're SO excited!

No, we won't be selling the Airstream…and yes, time on the boat will likely eat into our Airstream time, but we hope you'll still enjoy following along with ALL of our transportation-related adventures!

Here's a funny story for you: If you've known us for a while, you'll know we're not namers (or numberers). We call our Airstream "the Airstream" and we don't have any red numbers on it. Never have, never will. We call it an "it" and not a "her" and we don't (very often) make fun of any of you who like to anthropomorphize your piece of Aluminum but it's just not for us.

We were walking through the marina in Nanaimo, B.C., contemplating boat ownership, when we had this exchange:

Me: "If we get a boat, we're going to have to name it."

Kevin: "Crap. We can't get a boat then. I'm out."

We eventually decided on a name for our boat that seems to fit, is not a pun, and isn't too cutesy. We'll call "it" (still can't bring myself to call it "her" even though I know it's tradition for boats): Airship. It fits perfectly with our transportation them: Airplane, Airstream…Airship. Fleet complete!

Here is our Airship, in the air (for its hull inspection):

In the front of the boat there's a nice stateroom (bedroom) with a queen-size walk around bunk (bed — a lot like the one in the Airstream, also a funky shape). There's a hanging locker (closet) on the port side (the left) and a shelf closet on the starboard side (the right), plus two drawers underneath the foot of the bed, as well as some open shelves on either side of the bed. There's also a hatch/skylight that opens up (no Fantastic Fan though) and a couple of porthole windows that open.

Adjacent to the stateroom, is the head (bathroom). The head's got a standard marine toilet, sink with mirror and storage cabinets, and a separate shower with its own porthole and a shower curtain. It's small, but it's not a wet bath like in our first Airstream.

Moving to the middle of the boat (up a few stairs from the front stateroom) is the pilot house (the place you drive from). There are two two-person "Whiskey" Ultraleather bench seats with tons of great visibility (notice how the pilothouse is raised from the rest of the boat), doors and plenty of windows that open on either side, and a great suite of navigation electronics (including radar, sonar, and autopilot).

Next (a few steps back down from the pilot house) is the salon (living/dining area) with a nice kitchen (lots of counter space), plenty of storage, an L-shaped settee (dinette) with more Whiskey Ultraleather that converts into a double bed, another hanging locker (closet) next to the aft (back) entrance, and a hidden tv inside a teak cabinet that pulls down from the ceiling. Outside the salon there's a small cockpit (the back deck, despite the fact that "cockpit" sounds like the place you'd drive from). It's big enough for a couple of deck chairs and a cocktail table for sure (or, to fish for salmon!), and has a propane grill attached to the port side rail. There's a ladder just to the left of the back door that leads to the top deck (also big enough for a few chairs and a cocktail table…you sense a theme here, don't you?)

The boat comes with a dinghy (an inflatable Zodiac with a hard bottom) and a 6HP outboard motor, for when we anchor or moor somewhere offshore and want to row/motor to land or go exploring in something smaller. It's attached to the swimstep on the back of the boat with a cool, Seawise davit system for easily raising and lowering the dinghy into the water.

One of the cool things about this boat is that it's coming to us fully equipped. PFDs, bedding, throw pillows, pots and pans, a coffee maker, toaster, silverware, plates, acrylic glassware, first aid kits, a couple of chairs, flares, the hoses we need, etc. We'll certainly replace a few of those things (pillows, plates) with versions that fit our style a bit better, but for now, it's fabulous not to have to turn around and immediately buy all that stuff.

I'll add more interior photos next week after we close and are IN the boat.

A BOAT!