It was mid-June. We had just finished the test ride and were sold. We completely loved being on the water in the R-23. While we sat with Emile to place the order for our Ranger Tug R-23, we were surrounded by many other Ranger Tugs, as well as many other boats at the Oyster Bar Marina in Pensacola, Florida. Edgewater Yacht Sales was on the first floor, with the restaurant on the second floor. There were R-23’s scheduled for Edgewater in October and November - everything else was already sold.
We committed to the October slot, and discussed the options we wanted on our R-23. Color? Ranger Gray - Definitely, Ranger Gray. Options: Bow Thruster, check. Anchor Windlass, check. Air Conditioning, double-check. Auto-pilot, hmmm... Emile strongly recommended the Auto-pilot - it’s hard to add later - and boy are we glad he did. Lots of other options, too.
We drove away that day excited, nervous, and full of emotions. We didn’t know that we wouldn’t see that marina the same way on our return trip. We knew we had to sell our existing boat, so we listed it soon after returning home. Within a few days, it was sold. That meant that 2020 would be the first summer in two decades that we didn’t have some type of watercraft to enjoy.
Then came the Hurricanes. Pensacola was rocked by Hurricane Sally, and Oyster Bar Marina, where we had been just weeks before, was at ground zero for the destruction. While this wouldn’t impact the manufacture of our boat (Ranger Tugs are built by hand in the state of Washington), it did impact the delivery process. More on that later. There were other close calls with hurricanes, including the week before we were to take delivery of Elvin Ray.
The rest of the summer was spent waiting, and waiting, and waiting for October. Then we found out that delivery had slipped to November. That can happen with boat building. We finally got the ship date - 11/16, a picture of her leaving the factory, and then a call that she had arrived in Pensacola safe and sound after a long journey from Kent, WA. We were already on the way to Pensacola to meet her.
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