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New Boat, New Places, New People

Jim and I have been long-distance cruisers for five years. Most of that time has been spent on good sized boats, most recently our Fathom 40, but last year we decided it was time for a change.

After redefining our cruising goals we came up with a plan to buy a trailerable trawler. We wanted to have more flexibility in our cruising time. After doing the Great Loop boat trip almost two times we wanted the ability to move around the country quicker to cruise areas that would take forever to get to by water or not even accessible by a larger boat. I’ve always wanted to rent a houseboat on Lake Powell, now we’ll be able to do that and be on our own boat. One of the features of this kind of boating didn’t occur to us initially – it didn’t take long for us to see ourselves using the boat as an RV while traveling from one cruising ground to another.

After a lot of research we went with a Ranger Tug R27 and a GMC Sierra pickup truck. There’s nothing like a little change in one’s life to get the blood flowing and such has been the case for Jim and I.

Next week we return to Seattle, WA (the same place we took possession of our Fathom 40 three years ago) to pick up our new Kismet. We’ll attend a MTOA Rendezvous and also an Ranger Tug Rendezvous in the Puget Sound area. After our time in Washington State our stops will include: Portland OR to cruise the Columbia River, Lake Tahoe, Lake Powell, and finally Rogersville, Alabama for the AGLCA Rendezvous.

On the cusp of any new adventure we always wonder what new sights we’ll see and who we’ll meet. We’re excited to get on our new Kismet, learn all about her and especially the particulars about this type of cruising. So stay tuned we’ll have some amazing cruises to share with you soon.

Kismet tucked neatly between two sailboats in Gig Harbor, WA

Interested in learning more about trailerable trawlers? Visit our other website:  Trailer Trawler Life

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This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. I take it you live in WA? How do you get your boat to the Great Loop area. I hope this isn’t a dumb question.

    Thanks,

    John

    1. John, we are from Michigan. We drove out to Washington State to pick up our new Ranger Tug which is built right here, in Washington, just south of Seattle, in Kent. If you are able to either buy a new boat from one of the many trawler factories out here or a used boat in this area it just makes sense to make a big trip out of taking possession of the boat and cruising the area before trailering (or shipping, if the boat’s bigger) back home. We’ll trailer our boat back east but only after we explore Puget Sound, the Columbia River, Lake Tahoe, Lake Powell and the Tennessee River.

    1. Pat, this will probably be one of the biggest challenges with this kind of boating and we are talking to other trailerable trawler owners to see what they have found works best for them and why. I believe this will be hard at first but will soon become second nature as we get some experience with this scenario behind us. Do you have a trailerable boat?

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