Ranger 33
First off, I would like to note, this site is an absolute gem. More then a few times used the resources herefor old friends who had A4s, who didn't have computer access or refused to ever get a computer.
Recently an acquaintance from the old Sailnet days, before all the old Sailnet owner forums were lost to cyperspace; contacted me about acquiring his Ranger 33. I knew the boat well since I tuned his mast about 14 years ago, and checked her out fairly well. Having been on more then a few Ranger 33s over the years, I observed she was well outfitted. I talked him into joining us at the Ranger Rendezvous in '05, when he rafted along side us at Fisherman Harbor, Lopez Island. That year my youngest son attended with me, and he remarked to me, "Dad, he has a nice Ranger 33, I wouldn't mind having one like that someday." My grandpa used to say, "watch what you wish for, because it can come back to haunt you." I called my son. "Remember Mike's Ranger 33, he's offering it for free, do you want it?" He replied, " Let me think about." I said, 'you've got five minutes, because he's gonna post it on Facebook at Ranger Sailboats." I called him back two minutes later. "You decide yet?", I asked. He hemmed and hawed. OK, I'll make the decision for you, your about to become the owner of a Ranger 33. She's been sitting on the hard for four years and she's gonna need a lot of work, in the next three days, so we can splash her on Sunday and bring her home." That was on August 27, we splashed her on Sunday the 30, for long beat to weather home in mostly 18-19 knots, with gusts in low to mid 20s. We had misted the cylinders with MMO on the first day of cleanup and assessed what had to be done to the engine. The starter didn't want to come to life, so the first thing we did was pull it, and take it and solenoid apart for a good cleaning, and shinned up the commutator. Then removed the carb, disassembled it and cleaned it thoroughly with carb cleaner and compressed air, removing a lot of gummed up crud. We then added about five gallons on fuel and cycled this through a series of filters six times, till the gas had negligible sediment. Still a wee bit of minute granular sediment, and would like to pull the tank and clean it out. We also replaced the fuel lines, Racor filter and added a polishing filter. The Facet fuel pump looked to be the original, so we ordered and installed a new pump. We also opened up the waterpumps and lubed the impellers, then we disconnected all the hoses and checked for any buildup or obstructions, she was clean as a whistle. The heat exchanger was way low on coolant, so added about a gallon of antifreeze. We had called Ken for a new coil, cap, condensor, points, plugs and wires, they arrived and we installed them. Fired her up last Saturday evening, and my son has started and ran her for an hour a day since then. She purrs like a kitten. The engine has 922 hours. Looking at the logbooks of previous owners, the engine was longblocked at 800 hours by the second owner, just before Mike bought it. Mike put about a 100 hours on her in the 11 years he had her in the water. Mike had put her on the hard to have some mechanics work on the engine due to overheating. Not sure about the mechanics, because they never found out why the engine overheated, not to mention the other poor workmanship they performed on the engine and systems on the boat. So far we have found no reason why she overheated, other then being low on coolant in the heat exchanger. Mike pointed out, in each case where they had done work, it was either done wrong or not completed properly or left apart in pieces, which my son and I had to figure out and reassemble. We found a hand crank onboard, but haven't located the adapter. Called Ken yesterday and ordered more gaskets for the carb and a new float, which was probably bungled up by the mechanics who worked on her previously. I don't think I've every seen floats that were as bent and twisted as this set of floats. Also ordered spare zincs for the heat exchanger, spare impellers and gasgets for the waterpumps, a new exhaust gasket and a few other incidental parts. Before we got the engine running, Will kept going on about pulling the engine and put a new engine in. I told him patience, she'll be running soon enough. Now he can't praise the engine enough. It took a little bit of work, but was well worth it. Like I said, she purrs like a kitten. -Boomer She cleaned up quite nicely. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/667/21...3cd1698f_b.jpg A quick vid of the interior after we cleaned it up. [YOUTUBE]vb-gNPJ9l0E[/YOUTUBE] Sailing her home. [YOUTUBE]1QZ9aFwjpq0[/YOUTUBE] |
Welcome aboard and I look forward to learning from your experience. Your boat is the color of my friends Ranger 23...she's still a good little racer as well!!
Those 33's are a very well built boat. There's one at our club and the guy hasn't had his engine running all year. He hurt his back and I offered to do her for him but he wanted to wait until he was back in shape...not much improvement and he hasn't even been around...he's getting a few miles on him as well;) He was going to pull the engine but she has 105 compression on all 4 and I told him to hold off and I'd sort it out for him. So his issue is either fire or fuel. Our boats will come out in a month or so so if all goes well I can get at it for him and sort it out. Once we pull it out I'll put a charger on her batteries and get it running decent then winterize it for him. Sounds like you have kicked the can around the block a few times and in doing so have the balls to go straight in and tackle any problems. The boat looks great...koodos to you guys. Good thing about the older boats is that they were made of something in the first place. Much like a foundation, if not designed, and laid up right, the rest is a battle from there on in. |
Thanks for the welcome, Mo!
We still have that first Ranger 23 in our fleet. However, sold the other very nice and well outfitted Ranger 23 about ten years ago, to a doctor in Poulsbo. Her and her husband raced her quite successfully till a couple years ago. The reason we kept the first Ranger 23 is because she's just a wee bit faster. All things being equal, not all hulls pulled off a mold are absolutely equal in speed. She does well in breezy conditions and isn't very sticky in zephyrs, and has the ability to ghost along. When the wind drops to zephyrs while most the rest of the fleet struggles, with the exception of a couple boats sailed by lifelong sailors. My wife says, she has a lot of heart and is the little boat that can, will and do. Besides she's the only boat my wife enjoys sailing on, so we keep her. I don't race her much anymore, since I've been busy racing on several other boats, as well as racing with the Cal 20 Fleet 8 out of TYC the past few years since retiring. My brother and I did race her this summer in the CYCE second summer series. We missed the first two races of the series, due to crewing on other peoples boats. We did sail the final four races of the series, and finished just out of the silver - but that's quite alright because we had the two DNSs. Very kind of you to help with your club member's Ranger 33. You must be a good guy or enjoy working on boats for the sheer pleasure or both? Most everything I've learned about the A4; is what I've learned here from Don on the MMI website, and knowledgeable afourians like yourself, here at on the MMA4 forum. |
Boomer
You're going to be a real asset to the forum. Welcome aboard. With your experience there aren't to many boat\engine issues you haven't dealt with. You'll like all the "excitement" around here. TRUE GRIT |
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Welcome to the forum from a fellow Ranger sailor ;)
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Thank you John and Jerry!
My brother and I will be crewing for my son in our local club racing. Since the Ranger 33 is loaded with cruising gear, we'll enter in the cruising class which usually has 5-7 weighted down cruisers of similar size including a few C&Cs and Cals. Supposed to be breezy according to todays forecast and looking outside. "TODAY...S WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. A CHANCE OF RAIN." |
Jesus Jerry, your wife dress you too...I wear the same colors? Just back from a race!...beat to hell, single handed it, now having a rum...on the rocks;)
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Sailor hijack
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Show up at the yacht club in the same colors so that people can point you out..."Mo is the guy in the beige shorts and light blue shirt"....most times! |
There are no boats I hate racing against more than Rangers, and no Ranger I hate racing against more than the 33. They are ALL very generously handicapped!!:D
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The ranger 33 at our club doesn't race but the 23 is an avid racer and wicked to race against. The 23 footer lost her mast in May. Her owner had just stepped the mast, rigged her and forgot a cotter pin in stb upper. Took her for a sail and figures the pin then dropped out on prt tack, when the pressure was off the rig on leeward side...as soon as he tacked the boat he saw it right away but it was to late to recover...the mast broke at the spreaders and came down in slow motion. He ordered and received a new mast but hasn't put it up yet.
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Here's a good primer - 75 go fast tips by Dave Dellenbaugh
http://www.woodlawnsailingclub.com/a...eedsmarts.html |
What year is your Ranger 33?
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It's a '77. Recalled a buddy of mine picked up a spare clean FWC Atomic 4 10 years ago for his Ericson 29. He sold the 29 last year. So I gave him a call and asked if he still had the A4 in storage. He did and is willing to sell it for $250. I always like having a backup engine.
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Who knows I might of ran into you checking out the different boat building facilities. When my Battalion was homeported in Port Hueneme, I stopped by the Jensen and Ranger facilities as well as a few others in Coasta Mesa in the fall of '72. I was pondering buying new, when I got out of the service. However for the size I wanted 36'+/-, ended up buying a used boat in the NW, and got a Colombia 38, in the middle of winter at a low price. It sure has changed down there now, from what it was in the early '70s. Much more rural back then, with much unused property around there. Now days it's all pavement and modern structures.
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Fall of '72 I was at Capital Yachts in Harbor City building the Newport 30 among others, also a Gary Mull design. Compare the two layouts and they're almost identical.
Dick Van Dyke bought a Ranger 33 somewhere around 1974-75. |
So went to work after high school in the boat yards, eh.
I noted more then a few youngsters laminating at the various boatbuilders. What was your first job there, laminating, wood joiner, rigging, mechanical or electrical? |
First job was during an extended mid-college break. I started at Columbia/Coronado as a plumbing & steering specialist on Coronado 35's, Columbia 34's and Coronado 30's. Ours was the only line building different models. Certain tasks required all hands like joining hulls and decks.
I finished college while working at Capital Yachts building everything they made except for the Newport 27. Although we gravitated to our strengths, everybody learned everything at Capital, a fully cross-trained workforce. From there I went to Jensen Marine, the topic of this thread, as a cost accountant. As such I analyzed all aspects of the company including the Ranger division. During my tenure Ranger produced the trunk cabin 23, 26, 29 and 33, blister deck 28, 32,and 37. Out of the same facility we produced the Cal 20, 25, 27, 227, T2, 29, 229, 3-30, Cruising 35 and Cruising 2-46, O'Day Widgeon, Daysailor, 27 and 32. We built two sizes of Luhrs powerboats and the Defever 32 and 40 trawlers. It was a pretty busy place. Resin was brought in by the tanker truck, stored in underground tanks. There was a steady stream of trucks delivering enough materiel to 'feed the beast.' |
I have a bigger boat in Friday Harbor, but I have a '74 Ranger 33 in Brookings, OR which is closer to home. I bought it in 2005 on eBay and after scraping off the decal the previous owner had applied, I discovered it was actually the R33 that I had crewed on a few times when it was new out-of-the-box in San Diego.
Since that time, my poor Yacht Club has suffered the slings and arrows of one boat winning every 1st place trophy but one. Its in a diverse fleet of older boats racing PHRF, and I can't pretend I'd win if something modern came to town. Still running on the original raw water A4 - no hour meter and no log. I use it for getting in and out of the slip, and there's no where to go in Brookings except "west", so I doubt if I've put 100 hours on it in 10 years. Starts in a few seconds after months of sitting. Good sailing weather in Brookings is few and far between, so the boat doesn't get out as often as I'd wish, often because I'm in the Salish. |
Jim- Good to see your still kicking around. I remember you from Sailnet, and when you created the Ranger Yachts website shortly after JP & I started another website, when the old Sailnet was up and running. So are you retired now and living in the San Juans?
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Neil- What prompted you to leave Jensen? New direction with the company, new management? Islander offer you a job?
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Sounds like an interesting time in your life. Did you every get a chance to meet Gary Mull or Bob Perry?
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