Gulf Island Getaway: Ranger Tugs 27

The Kenmore Air seaplane climbed north from Lake Washington, leaving the damp and gray of Seattle behind. As the sky cleared, a vista of blue water and green islands unfolded below. Soon, I thought, I'll be down there among them. I could almost chart my course from the window of the plane.

An hour later, we touched down in the harbor at Nanaimo, the second-largest city on Canada's Vancouver Island. The water was flat; the sun was shining; a cruising adventure was in the offing. Mark Mansfield, the sales manager of Ranger Tugs, and I stepped off the seaplane float and were met by Jeff Messmer, Ranger's vice president of sales and marketing. He walked us to Nanaimo's municipal dock, where a pair of vessels waited.

Mansfield would drive a Ranger 29 to Anacortes, Washington, some 100 miles away, while I followed aboard the company's new 27-footer. This provided a chance to put the Ranger 27 through its paces and to see parts of the Gulf Islands I had never seen. Mansfield, who has cruised the region for many years, promised to show me some of his favorite sites.

Anxious to start, we had a fast lunch at Penny's Palapa at the top of the dock then made ready for departure. Nanaimo is nice, but it's still a city with office buildings and traffic lights. I wanted to get out on the water and look at whales and eagles instead of cars and condos.

Standard bow and stern thrusters let me walk the boat off the dock easily, even into a wind. I later found the R27 to be easily maneuvered, even when not using the thrusters. Turning into the fairway and heading south, I followed Mansfield through the Dodd Narrows rapids, which can be nasty when tides are running but were benign when we hit them at slack water.

A Garmin touch screen GPSMAP 5212 was mounted on the R27's wooden helm pod. I divided the screen into three windows: chart plotter, radar and engine controls. This was probably overkill, since all I really had to do was follow Mansfield, who was 100 yards ahead. But when cruising, I'm super-cautious; I also spread out paper charts on the empty passenger seat to my left.

Once under way, I had a chance to get acquainted with my surroundings. The adjustable helm seat was comfortable and the facing passenger seat could easily hold two adults. As nice added touches, the back of the helm seat flips forward to extend the galley countertop behind it, while the back of the passenger seat converts to extend the dinette.

The R27's cockpit offers almost 50 square feet of deck space ? one of the most significant differences between it and the company's popular 25-foot model. I found this added space became a very pleasant spot to sit and relax at the end of the day; it's also great for fishing and launching kayaks or dinghies. The large cockpit allows the engine compartment to sit aft of the cabin, where it is accessed by a large hatch in the aft deck; this keeps the engine noise out of the salon. A bump in the bilge also places the 180 hp Yanmar diesel engine deeper in the hull, which lowers the overall center of gravity and results in an efficient 6-degree shaft angle. There's also a protective shoe aft to shield the prop and rudder from obstacles.

After a few hours of 15-knot cruising through a postcard-perfect day, we made a left turn between Thetis and Kuper Islands and into Telegraph Harbour Marina. As we hailed the dockmaster for a slip, I realized this was the scene I'd been hoping for. Telegraph Harbour was tucked away at the top of the bay, encircled by low green hills with rocks dotting the shore and boats bobbing at their moorings. It seemed the perfect place to unwind and relax.

The docks were wide and clean, and the bistro overlooking the marina had both outside seating on the porch and stools around the counter inside, like an old-fashioned soda fountain. I was in the mood to go in and order a milkshake, but I first ran into the marina's owner, Ron Faoro, who bought the place last January with his wife, Tara Kaulback. They sailed to the Pacific Northwest from New England after Faoro retired from a graphic design business. The couple saw Telegraph Harbour and fell in love with it. The marina stays busy all summer and even into the fall, but closes in winter. "We're going to the Maldives this winter," Faoro says. "We want to get warm."

Mansfield and I took the Livingston dink from the R29 and explored a beautiful little cut leading east from Telegraph Harbour to the wide, peaceful Clam Bay, where a dozen boats were anchored. A sparse collection of day markers demarcated a channel in the middle of the cut. Faoro said large boats cruised through at high tide. Mansfield and I looked around at the shoaling mud flats and decided there was no way we would take the Rangers through there. We retreated to the bistro's porch for burgers and beer.

Back aboard that evening, I continued to be pleasantly surprised by the amount of living space I enjoyed on this compact cruiser. Though I'm a couple of inches over 6 feet, I had plenty of headroom throughout the cabin. The one space I did not spend any time in was the second stateroom that's tucked into the aft section of the salon on the port side. It was filled with gear from an earlier trip. I'm sure I could have ducked in there and slept well, although I think it might be more suitable for shorter people. Instead, I stretched out in the 6-foot 6-inch forward berth and slept like a log.

The next morning we reluctantly headed south then east into Payne Bay at the lower end of the long, noodleshaped Galiano Island and cruised into Montague Harbour, a wide, fairly active bay with a good-size marina. Mansfield dropped the hook on the R29 and I rafted up next to him.

The side decks on the R27 are necessarily slim, making it more difficult to move about when hanging fenders ? especially when single-handed. I soon discovered a simple solution: Open the sliding windows next to the helm and the passengers' seats, reach out and hang the fenders, then just tuck them inside the rail when you leave the dock, the same thing with the bowline. Tie it off and then either secure it to the rail or bring it inside the window.

Once again, we launched the Livingston and rowed 30 yards to the Atrevida. This 82-year-old ferryboat was converted into a floating bakery and sandwich shop and now sits anchored in the bay.

Later, Mansfield led the way west to Ganges Harbour. Though it seemed nice enough, in my get-away-from-itall mode, it also seemed way too civilized. We circled and left, aiming instead for the U.S. side of the sound and the familiar pleasures of Roche Harbor, Washington. This picturesque port has been one of my favorite cruising destinations for many years, and the appeal returns every time I see the white peaked spire of the old church rising among the trees at the end of the harbor. After a quick visit to the customs office, we were officially back in the United States with ample time to retreat to the restaurant at the top of the harbor for the evening display of colors, when the Canadian and American flags are lowered and a canon fired in salute.

It took only a few hours the next morning to cruise to Anacortes and a state park ramp, where I loaded the R27 on a trailer hitched to a white Suburban and Mansfield put the R29 on a trailer pulled by a Dodge Ram pickup. This entire procedure took perhaps 15 minutes and illustrated one more appeal of a Ranger Tug. You can cruise comfortably for days ? or weeks, if you have the time ? with all the comforts of home, then load the boat onto a trailer and drive it away, and that combination is hard to beat.