Good Old Boat

windrose · Post by **windrose** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 5:08 pm

There is a Triton on the cover of the Sept/Oct. edition of Good Old Boat magazine. Sweet!

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 1:05 am

Oooops ... and I thought it was a Rhodes Ranger.
Sorry about that !

windrose · Post by **windrose** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:59 am

You may be right.... sure thought is was a Triton.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:15 am

I haven't seen the magazine yet, but Rangers usually have an eyebrow most of the way around the coachroof, which might help in identifying it, and a more-pronounced sheer than a Triton.

Guess I should renew my subscription :-)

--- R.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:14 pm

Here's a picture of a Rhodes Ranger for sale locally:

What made me think it was the Ranger was the shape of the side windows.
Maybe someone 'plucked' the eyebrows on the GOB one ;-)

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 1:13 pm

That must be "Raccoon." I've been drooling over that boat for over a year now :-) The US dollar would have to do some amazing things before I could afford it though (it's for sale in British Columbia).

I'll have to pop on over to the GOB and see if they have a copy of the cover photo there (no newsstands nearby with GOB and my subscription has lapsed).

--- Rachel

PS It's priced at C$18,959 now, but if I remember correctly it started out at C$28,000 or so...

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:28 am

Darn, Rachael ... you're good!! That's 'Racoon', alright. I took a look at her a while ago. If all boats for sale were presented in that manner the broker's docks would be empty. Took bad about the steep price.
Here's a few more pictures:

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:15 am

Peter,

That is swoonalicious -- thanks for posting! I just love those Rangers. Interesting how the owner remodeled the galley - in the original it runs right straight across the aft end of the cabin - so the top step is actually kind of on the counter.

On the one hand, you can now stand in front of the sink and stove, but on the other hand, you lose out on a big chunk of stowage space that was formerly under the center of the counter (and would have been taken up by an inboard if the original purchaser had gone for that option instead of the outboard-in-a-well that Raccoon has).

As you probably noticed, there's no stowage under the sink and stove areas - like there is on a Triton - because the foot of each settee berth runs under there; the whole berth isn't out in the open like on a Triton (even though the Ranger is 28'4" overall). I do like the way the Triton arrangement lends itself to a slide-out double berth modification in the saloon.

These two photos are from a Meridian - the Ranger's 24'9" little sister, but they show the original layout. Only difference being that where the after portion of the Meridian's counters are under the bridge-deck, the Rangers are all "out in the open."

Always fun to look inside boats, isn't it?

--- Rachel

Post by **Tim** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:11 am

Peter wrote:If all boats for sale were presented in that manner the broker's docks would be empty. Took bad about the steep price.

I don't know what the price is, but from the photos it looks as if that boat might actually have a chance of being worth her asking price. She looks very clean and well-kept.

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:50 am

Those mahogany moldings on the cabin top look really good. I'm anxious to see how my boat will look with those put back on.

Joe

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:52 am

I don't know what the price is, but from the photos it looks as if that boat might actually have a chance of being worth her asking price. She looks very clean and well-kept.

Well, when I first started drooling over it, they were asking C$28,900, now it's down to C$18,900. I hope it's still in this good a shape since it's been on the market for a long time.

I absolutely love it (just for the record, since I guess I've been complaining a bit too much lately :-). I guess it's probably still a bit overpriced for a boat with no "equipment" to speak of and an outboard motor for propulsion.

This does say something about the used boat market (at least for our type of boats) these days. I mean, how many boats do you see for sale that are actually *clean* inside. It's so impressive by comparison! If sellers would just clean their boats - at a minimum - we probably wouldn't be grousing so much about their prices. This boat, for example: A bit overpriced (even at $10,000 reduction in asking price), but there's still nothing to really get up in arms about for ridiculosity. It just makes me wish the exchange rate were a bit more favorable for us in the US :-)

--- R.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:06 am

According to the broker I spoke with, the lady who owns her is with the Canadian Coast Guard. The boat rates an 'A' plus for being clean and ship shape ... a place for everything and everything in it's place.

The listing is at http://www.thunderbirdmarine.com/sail/2078.htm

There's another one listed for sale at http://baltimore.craigslist.org/boa/87982816.html

There's also a Ranger site at http://groups.msn.com/RangerbuiltbySeaf ... ilipRhodes
... I think you already know about that one, Rachel ;-)

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:49 am

Thanks for posting those. I actually called about Raccoon today - it sold last week :-( Darn. I was starting to think about dredging up additional boat funds from somwhere. It would have been worth it for a boat that special.

I looked at the one in Baltimore last April. It's about what you'd expect. Not hideous, but a definite project. Exterior woodwork needs repair, decks, chainplates, interior. It had an inboard originally but has been converted to an outboard.

Funny, a woman owns that one too :-) Interestingly, she was telling me how she grounded once and actually broke through the bottom of the keel and took on water (it has external ballast like the earlier Tritons but behind that is a deep sump where the false keel is on a Triton. She was able to stanch the flow and not sink though.

One thing I thought was interesting about the Ranger is that it was offered with two different ballast options: Either 1900# of iron, or 2650# of lead. Kind of a big difference, percentage-wise -- I think the boat is about 7500# total.

I do think one would suit me better than the smaller Meridian, in the long run. Here I am thinking about a 28' boat as a huge, luxurious live-aboard -- nothing like a 24-footer to give you perspective :-)

--- R.

Post by **Tim** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:30 am

I got my copy of GOB yesterday, once we picked up our collected mail fro during our cruise, and the boat in question on the cover is neither a Triton (already established) nor a Rhodes Ranger.

It's an Islander; I can see the Islander cove stripe logos fore and aft. I think she's a 32, based on her longer cockpit and aft overhang, coupled with the integral bulwark chocks at the bow.

I actually think this Islander 32 (below) is the same boat; I found this photo in a soldboats listing from 2003. She was located in Michigan, same as the GOB cover photo, and though I can't read the registration clearly, the numbers look the same to me. Plus, she has the same plastic rectangular ports (the stock opening ports were oval).

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:59 pm

Thanks Tim, I'd been very curious to see that GOB cover with all we've been talking about it!

Although the nearest newsstand that carries it is probably 150 miles away, the couple who started the magazine keep their boat about 15 miles from where I'm sitting. I just happened to be sailing with a friend on his boat the day they dropped free copies of the first issue on all the boats in the marina, so I got one.

I think I must never have seen an Islander like that. Definitely a classic look to it.

--- Rachel

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:35 pm

Good work, Tim!

Lance F. Gunderson · Post by **Lance F. Gunderson** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:41 pm

Just for the record, the Rhodes Ranger with lead keel displaces 6800lbs, quite a bit lighter than a Triton. The Ranger also has a smaller sail area at 308 sq.ft, although I understand there is some differance here between boats, some having taller masts, and at least one I know of having a shorter mast. Mine is 308 sq.ft.; she is built EXACTLY according to the plans, which I purchased from Mystic Seaport; and, she is for sale! See the classifieds at this site! Also Phil Rhodes designed several variations of the Ranger, each shown in the Mystic Seaport collection, but it is my understanding that only the Seafarer version was actually built. He also drew a tabernacle mast arrangement which might be fun to have. Seafarer is said to have built about 175 Rhodes Rangers and a few were later built in Denmark and Scotland after Seafarer went broke. The Ranger is a terriffic little boat, "all the boat you'll ever need," as afriend of mine says who owns one. They sail a lot like the Herreshoff Rozinante, but of course without a mizzen.