001: Our "Looper" Boat: "Hygge"

 The Name:

I first read about the word hygge, in a 2016 article in “The New Yorker” Magazine.   It was a finalist for The Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 “word of the year.”   Quoting from that New Yorker article, “hygge is a Danish term defined as “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Pronounced “hoo-guh,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “cozy” comes close. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.” Associated with relaxation, indulgence, and gratitude, hygge has long been considered a part of the Danish national character”.

For the first five years we owned our boat, hygge defines exactly how we used it.  Having family and friends come for a boat ride along the great Chicago lake front, going up the Chicago river, and generally hanging out in the cockpit with some good wine (see www.kanzlervineyards.com for a list of my my cousin Steven’s vineyard varieties.) 

The Boat:

Ranger Tug makes a line of boats that can best be described as the “Swiss Army knife of boats.”  With the exception of the RT43 line, they are tailorable pocket-sized trawlers.   At a length overall of 33’ and beam of 10’ our RT29S is on the smaller side of “looper boats.”  According to the AGLCA website, 40.5’ is the average size of a boat that does the Great Loop (“G/L”) trip. 

   The specifications of our Hygge can be found here: 

In 2022 Nancy and I looked seriously at getting a larger boat.  We looked at American Tugs, Nordic Tugs and Helmsman trawlers; going so far travel to the Seattle area and tour all three lines and visit the factories of the first two.   We followed a strong lead on a used American Tug 34, but the person was completely unrealistic about his price (eventually having to come down $80k to sell it).  We did a sea trial on a used Nordic Tug 37 as well.   The draw on the bigger boats was more stability, more room for stuff and potentially a second cabin for overnight guests.    At the end of the day, we decided to do the G/L trip on our RT29S for a variety of reasons:

1) we are super comfortable with her after six season of ownership; 

2) I can single handle her with ease if Nancy wants to visit one or more of her four sisters; 

3) Ranger Tugs has hands-down the best boat-owner community; and 

4) with her relatively shallow draft of 30”, we can have more choices of anchorages than deeper draft vessels.   

The Modifications:

Notwithstanding how much we liked our RT29S, I knew that some modifications were in order to allow us to do the G/L trip in a bit more comfort.   The more significant modifications are as follows:

 

1) Added three roof top cargo box carriers.  The long thin one (“alpine”) was simply mounted to existing railings on the cabin top.  It opens from the side and is easily accessible standing on the starboard side of the boat.   For the two larger boxes toward the bow (“vista’s”) I added aluminum mounting rails to hold them.   They open from the rear which is the most accessible location standing on top of the cabin top.    The alpine box stores bike helmets, pickleball paddles, fishing poles, screens for the windows/hatches, and lots of miscellaneous items.    The port vista has my scuba gear and a cushion insert for converting the galley table to a berth.  The starboard vista has extra clothes, rags, sleeping bags, paper towels, and pumps for the fenders and dingy.

2) Raised and installed a higher capacity solar panel.  The standard solar panel that came with our boat is rated at 160 watts.  I replaced that with a 200-watt solar panel.  I also raised it up approximately 10 inches to a) get it out of the shadow of the alpine cargo box and b) make room for storing the five additional boat fenders I bought for the trip, the advice from most “loopers” we have met being, “you can’t have too many fenders for going thru the 100+ locks.”

3) Added a Weaver Davit system for mounting our dinghy.   The dinghy is a Takacat 360 inflatable with an EP Carry electric outboard.  The EP Carry outboard is a bit of disappointment, I did want an electric, but the power output is not as advertised IMHO.  

4) Removed the digital tv antenna and in its place added a Starlink internet satellite dish.

The boat came with a small refrigerator/freezer, a wine cooler, and an ice maker.  We have repurposed the wine cooler to store our vegetables and we added a small Dometic 12v freezer to store meats and frozen vegetables.   We use the ice maker to keep a large Igloo cooler stocked with drinks and beer nice and chilly. 

On top of the dinghy we strap on a rear facing camera that sends a video to an IPAD we keep on the helm.   We do not follow this adage from the movie “The Great Race,” ““now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving. What's-a behind me is not important.”

Dave