She was our second home. We lived aboard her for two winters out of the four years we owned her. In those four years, we had logged 1000 hours on the engine and thousands of miles under her hull, but it was time to let our Ranger Tug 27 go. We got a rather late start in boating. As kids, both our families owned boats—Elaine’s on Lake Erie and mine on a small lake in Ohio. But our early working life did not involve boats. We were able to take some basic sailing lessons in our early 40s which led to a desire to sail more, and eventually, to retire in Annapolis and buy our first boat. We took our newly purchased sailboat down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) spending the winter aboard the second year we owned her. We loved the journey and knew we wanted to take more trips south. Based on our first experience and the experiences of other cruising sailors we spoke with, we learned that we would end up motoring most of the time. Since the ICW was now our focus, we decided a small trawler would be the ideal boat for the two of us for future cruises south. A Ranger Tug 25 was our first small trawler. Not only did we take her south for a winter on the Gulf Coast of Florida, we took a memorable summer cruise north through New York City, up the Hudson, and across the Erie and Oswego Canals to Lake Ontario. From there we spent time in the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River before heading north again on the Rideau Canal system to Ottawa, ONT. From there we took the Ottawa River to Montreal, headed south again through Lake Champlain to the Hudson, and then retraced our path back to the Chesapeake. In 2010, we made the mistake of looking at the new Ranger Tug 27 at the Annapolis Powerboat Show! More than the additional two feet, we were hooked by many upgrades and features Ranger had added. The Ranger 27 took us south for two more enjoyable ICW winter-long adventures Many factors go into the decision to sell one’s last boat, and our choice was not made without much thought and discussion. For us, our last six-month cruise down the ICW and back was tougher on us physically than our previous trips. We both had medical issues that just weren’t going to get any better in the long run. Once we reached a verdict, however, we were comfortable with the decision. We were doing the right thing. It seemed as if each personal item that we pulled off the boat triggered a memory. Easing the transition to becoming boatless for the first time since 2000 were Chuck Wistar and the good folks at Pocket Yachts who brokered the sale. The other factor that made this transition was a great couple from Easton, Rich and Alice Merrill, who purchased her. They were as enthusiastic about the boat as we were. We know they will enjoy Bay Ranger as much as we did and give her a great new home. Meanwhile we have places to go and people to see by land across the country. The memories of our boating life will accompany us every step of the way. About the Authors: Ed and Elaine Henn have contributed many stories and photos to PropTalk about their boating adventures over the years. They distribute magazines for us each month by land yacht and remain valuable PropTalk team members.