The Connecticut River — Little Red Tug

Today I took a trip up the Connecticut River in Toto. Since I live in Western Massachusetts far away from the ocean, a lot of the Boating that I do is on freshwater. I'm fortunate to live in close proximity to the Connecticut River and there are plenty of places to put in the boat. One particular place that's exceptional is called Barton's Cove located just east of Greenfield Massachusetts. I've lived in Western Massachusetts for over 20 years now and one of my favorite places to go is the Connecticut River. There's a long history dating to the early pilgrims and up to the current century and a trip up the Connecticut River is a trip in time. Without getting into too much detail, the river has been used industrially, commercially and a transport system for centuries to date. There have been several dams built along the river and even a nuclear power plant- in fact two of them were located on the Connecticut River at some time. For a period of time the River was often dangerously contaminated and polluted. Over the last 30 years many conservation groups have worked hard to return the river back it's recreational an environmentally protected status. They've done an exceptional job and today the Connecticut River is cleaner than it probably has been since the pilgrims arrived.

My favorite place to go has a state boat ramp which is convenient and has parking for many vehicles and trailers. Adjacent to it is the yacht club to which I belong. This stretch of the river runs from Greenfield for almost Seventeen miles crossing the New Hampshire and Vermont borders ending up in Vernon, Vermont. The stretch has barely any homes on it and the views are gorgeous. With only one boat ramp and it's location in a less-populated area of the state, the boat traffic on weekdays is minimal.

I put in the boat at the boat ramp approximately noon, parked the trailer and headed out for the afternoon. Initially the weather was warm and sunny but as the afternoon progressed it began to rain. The best part about the ranger 21 is it cabin and its ability to keep you warm and dry even on a rainy day. For years I've kayaked in this area and even had a sailboat but when it was raining it would preclude me from visiting the river. With the ranger tug even a rainy day on the river is perfect. Thank goodness for those windshield wipers.

The boat ran perfect all day and I put approximately 4 and 1/2 hours on the engine. As most people know about this boat, it certainly doesn't go fast. I continue to find The Sweet Spot is it is about 1700 RPM which makes approximately 6 miles per hour. I'm used to traveling this stretch of the river in my friends power boats which go much faster,and the one thing about the tug is that you have to do trip planning. In order to be back for sunset and allow for time to load the boat in daylight, I only traveled approximately halfway out the stretch of the river. What makes it nice is there is always time to stop, anchor, and have a snack. Another great day on the boat!