The engine has arrived!

Hope they will uncrate it pronto!

V Berth Unit Installation

The hull is still in the mold. Underneath the protective plastic, the V berth unit of the forward stateroom has been bonded to the hull. The hoses are from the holding tank which is under the V berth.

Hull and Stringers

Hull and Stringers have been laminated and are now bonded together.  This is all done within the hull mold to better retain the shape of the bonded unit.

Construction begins...

03 January 2013: Construction on NUDGE has begun. The various pieces of the hull and superstructure are in their molds. Here is  a view of the top of the tug upside down and inside out as it is being "layered" in  mold. The gelcoat and colors are all the first coating that is sprayed into the mold.

Sea Change

December 22, 2012

We’ve always said that we’d continue to drive back and forth to Miami until we got tired of it. This summer, we got tired of it. No particular reason. We sold the condo, sailboat and boat slip!

Our new second home will be a Ranger Tug that we’ll use mostly on the Chesapeake Bay. Our slip is in the protected West River and the marina is dog friendly of course. The resident boxer and Valentine and Chelsea Seadog have already had their first meet and sniff.

Our car trip will now be only an hour and we can spend the rest of our boating days gunkholing the Chesapeake. (Gunkholing is a boating term referring to a type of cruising in shallow or shoal water, meandering from place to place, spending the nights in coves. The term refers to the gunk, or mud, typical of the creeks, coves, marshes, sloughs, and rivers that are referred to as gunkholes. While not necessary, gunkholers typically seek out the serenity of isolated anchorages over the crowds of marinas and popular bays, and a minimal draft is preferred, since gunkholers tend to go as far up and into the gunkholes as possible, seeking ever more inaccessible destinations.) Thank you Wikipedia.

Check it out at: http://www.rangertugs.com/R-29. There’s a virtual tour screen and a video. Click on the different areas for the full show. Goofy music included. Boating geeks can click on all the specs. Check out the fancy giant dog crate also known as the second stateroom. The boat comes with an official tug horn and Fred intends to add a tug whistle for the authentic experience.

Construction began outside Seattle on December 18 and she’ll be commissioned in Kent MD in March. Her name is NUDGE becasue that's what tugs do.

We had no idea that this adventure was in our future. We’re spending the winter preparing for it and can’t wait to get started.