40 September 2014 PropTalk proptalk.com

Our first boat after retiring to Annapolis was a small cruising sailboat. After tak-ing it south on our maiden

ICW cruise to Florida, it didn’t take long to figure out that a small trawler was the route to go for repeated trips down the ditch.

Print ads and various reviews for Ranger Tugs caught my eye, but I had not yet seen one in person. On a pur-poseful trip to New England in 2007 to check out several used trawlers, my wife , Elaine, and I stopped at the Trawler Fest in Mystic Seaport, CT. Even before we boarded the new Ranger 25, Elaine was hooked. She loved the traditional look and the size.

It took a little more convincing for me, but once onboard, I began to see how this was the boat for us. The inte-rior is laid out like a small RV: dinette to port, galley to starboard, and head

astern of the galley. The V-berth was roomier than expected and big enough for a six-footer and his five-foot eight-inch first mate. Ranger Tugs had clev-erly used every inch of available space in the light-filled, well-ventilated cabin. Quality components and construction, standard bow and stern thrusters, a full electronics package, and a miserly Yanmar diesel all helped convince me that this was the boat for us.

The first trip down the ICW on the Ranger Tug 25 was awesome. The 26-inch draft lowered concerns about thin waters along the way. It also meant that there was always room for us at anchor. We prefer dropping the hook in seclud-ed anchorages, but that is not always possible cruising among the south-bound snowbirds. We could always find a spot in the shallower fringes of even the most crowded anchorage. On our infrequent marina stops, dockmasters

always seemed to find a spot for a little Ranger Tug.

Our next ex-tended cruise was up the New Jersey coast to New York Harbor, the Hudson River, and Erie and Oswego Canals. Thousand Islands,

by Ed Henn

The LiTTLe Tug ThaT CouLd

Rideau Canal to Ottawa, back down through Lake Champlain, and home. It was a great summer cruise. Again, the small size of the Ranger 25, along with bow and stern thrusters for ease of handling, made it the

perfect boat to handle the 99 locks we encountered along the way.

On both cruises, we were surprised by the fascination of boaters and land-lubbers alike with “the little tug that could.” Everywhere we stopped there were admirers as well as a few skeptics. “Did you bring that thing all the way down (up) here from Maryland?” was a common question. Crews from much larger boats were intrigued as to how

# Elaine and Ed Henn will make their fourth ICW voyage this fall.

# Affixing “Mile 0” sticker in Key West.

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we could manage in such a small space on long cruises. We were perfectly happy with it. After all, compared to travelling in our three previous VW campers, it was luxurious and roomy!

Visiting the Annapolis Powerboat Show in 2011, we made the ‘mistake’ of boarding the Ranger Tug 27! Once again we were hooked. We took de-livery of a new Ranger 27 in October of 2012. With the support of the staff of Pocket Yachts, the regional Ranger Tug dealer, we readied her for an immediate trip down the ICW once more.

The company listens to its own-ers. When they developed the Ranger 27, they incorporated many of the improvements owners suggested. It wasn’t particularly the additional two feet of length — mostly addi-tional cockpit space — that sold us on the Ranger 27 but the upgrades and improvements incorporated into a boat that we already loved. One of the upgrades was a solar panel which allows the luxury and independence of staying on the hook longer. We also

appreciated the addition of a flat screen TV, propane stove with oven, improved interior headliner and cabin panel-ing, wind-shield defog-ging fans, and larger swim platform. Like the Ranger Tug 25, the 27 has an 8’6” beam and is readily trailerable.

The Ranger Tugs of Kent, WA, now produce models from 25 to 31 feet. In addition to building these great boats, they strongly emphasize owner support.

After 7000 miles of cruising in Ranger Tugs, their traditional tug styling, shallow draft, innovative use of interior space, reliable components,

economical operation, ease of handling, and excellent factory support have made Ranger Tugs the boat for us. #

About the Author: Ed Henn and his wife Elaine, who keep their Ranger Tug on Back Creek in Annapolis, are planning their fourth ICW cruise beginning in October.

# Christmas time for Bay Ranger in Jacksonville, FL.