Ranger26.com is your home port for everything Ranger 26 Sailboat related. A safe haven from the driving rain and angry seas. I’m not able to check on everyone often, but I do drift in from time to time to read your posts and reply. Please feel free to drop me a note and say hello! Photos of your Ranger and it’s happenings are always welcome.
Nautical Heritage
I took over the Ranger 26 Fleet Operations in December of 2014, and you can read about me and my history on the Heart of Sailing page. But before that, back in 1991, Teresa Kasner created, nurtured and grown a nice little website full of sister boats and owners and filled it with love and helpful information.
Below, I’ve included a little history of her journey as well as a link to her goodbye blog post after selling her Ranger 26. Teresa, for all the countless hours, emails, communications and care of the Ranger 26 family – Thank you!
You’ll always be welcome at the Helm of the Innisfree if you ever make it to Eugene, Oregon!
Admiral, Bruce Searl
NOTE: Below is a special thanks to the founder of the original Ranger26 website. Teresa Kasner created a website and kept it up for years and years as a way to help Ranger owners and foster relationship. Below is her history with her Stargazer R26. All Ranger 26 owners, past present and future are in her debt. Thank you Teresa!
Teresa Kasner, 1st Ranger 26 Round-Up Commodore & Founder of Ranger26.com
“We bought Stargazer in Seattle in 1993. It’s name was “Sandbagger”. I did not like the name and began working on a new name.. due to the Star on the rudder, I thought of “Star” names and came up with “Stargazer”.
Our first marina was at Cascade Locks, OR, where we learned all about our new boat. We had it there a 2nd year, too – 1994 and 1995. The 3rd year was at Hood River in 1996.
1997 we had Stargazer moored at the Embarcadero Marina in Newport, OR.
In 1998 Dayle hauled Stargazer on her trailer on a ferry up to the Friday Harbor and lived on her near the ferry dock for 4 months and did my first solo sailing there, also many people crewed/sailed with me while I lived there.
In 1999 I bought a houseboat near Portland Yacht Club and had Stargazer moored outside the front door for almost 5 years. While there I took women that wanted to learn to sail out many times to teach sailing. I joined PYC and took Stargazer on several “Ladies Cruises” to different locations each year. I took Stargazer on an Opening Day Parade with PYC that was very memorable.
While with PYC I chaired many committees and was Chair of the Memorial Day Cruise to the PYC outstation on Sauvie Island. I also chaired the Roster Committee for several years. We were members until 2014 when we sold Stargazer.
I began keeping the Ranger 26 Round-Up shortly after getting Stargazer. I designed and put up the website in 1991. I kept it going until 1914 when I finally turned it over to Bruce Searl after selling Stargazer. I paid for the domain and the hosting myself for 23 years! I also kept a database of the members – free – for all those years. At one time I wrote a newsletter and sent it out to all members for quite a while.
Here is a sample story I wrote in a Sailing Chat Newsletter in 9/1/1997 while I was the Sailing Chat Leader for AOL and before that I was the Sailing Chat Leader for Apple’s eWorld. 🙂
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TERESA’S NEWS
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It’s so late Sunday night, it’s actually Monday morning!! I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend! We just got in from Stargazer, and were blessed with another fabulous weekend in Newport!
I drove down yesterday, Dayle had been staying the whole week on the boat, having fun and getting some work done. He cleaned the bilge and other hard-to-reach areas and had stripped, sanded and gotten a couple coats of Cetol on the teak. Stargazer looked soooo pretty! What a good boat slave!!
We were getting her spiffed up for the “3rd Annual Ranger 26 Round-Up Rendezvous”. I guess having it at Newport was too far for most of our members, and only one couple showed up, Don & Donna Chalmers. They have been to the other 2, so it was nice they made it.
When they arrived, I prepared a luncheon for us in Stargazer’s galley, and served it up in the cockpit in the sunshine!! Dayle had learned to crab!! He caught 8 Dungeness crabs, steamed them (in our galley) and picked the meat out, and had them in ziploc bags in the icebox!! WOW!! So, I made crab salads, with European salad greens, sliced black olives, tomatoes, ripe avacodo, Tillamook cheddar, shallots and 1,000 Island dressing. Also had freshly baked French bread & butter, and we toasted the occasion with bubbly!! We all decided it was the best crab salad we had ever had in our whole lives!!
Then we readied Stargazer for a sail, as the day was perfect and it looked as if the wind was nice on the bay. We headed out, with me at the helm, and raised the sails just out of the marina. We had a nice sail west along the historic waterfront of Newport, we saw several pelicans swimming in the bay, plus LOTS of sealions! After making our way nearly to the bridge, we turned and headed up the bay and I offered the helm to our guest, Don… boy, did his eyes light up!! He has a green Ranger 26 and loves it dearly. We had a great time together, and all enjoyed the day, the sun, the company and the view.
When we dropped the sail to head in, I was standing on the seat in the cockpit, flaking the mainsail, when a wave hit us, knocked me off-balance, and I grabbed the boom, and ZING, CRASH, BANG………. **OooPpHhhhh**….. down I went!! The topping lift broke!! The boom fell!!! TERESA FELL!! On her ummm….. stern!! Donna was very worried, she thought I may have broken something… me too… but all is well, no damage except to my ego and a ding in the teak around the companionway trim!! There must have been a kink in the cable, as it was broken 14 inches from where it was attached at the mast. And the end was *bazoing*.. a bunch of frayed metal wires. So, there you go… I scared Donna, so my scaring people saga continues!! (Editors note: I highly recommend “bottom-siders” seat cushions!! to cut down on “stern” bruising when you crash down….. )
Today we awoke to another beautiful day. Dayle got up first, made coffee, and prepared breakfast. He sliced onion bagels, buttered them, and grilled them in a saute’ pan on the alcohol stove, spread them with cream cheese, and warmed some of his crab and heaped that on top… how about THAT for a perfect boat breakfast??
The Chalmers returned to the marina, and we had lunch alfresco at the neat little cafe on the dock, then headed out for another sail! I was at the helm, and my nose headed me towards the sea. We had some really nice wind and tacked back and forth thru the bay, past the bayfront, under the Yaquina Bay bridge, and were tacking out towards the Pacific…. then we saw a powerboat racing past us, heading in, and they were waving at us pointing in….. then we looked out at the bar and could see monster waves out there… then we saw the other 2 sailboats turning and heading back… (the swells inside the jetties were higher than I had EVER SEEN THEM!!)…. then we saw a big Coast Guard cutter racing out with it’s blue light flashing, then another Coast Guard vessel, then a third…. hmmmm…. “HEY, I think we should head back…huh? What do you think?”…. Ooooo kay!
So we did.
We had a nice sail back, and got back at 4 pm, when Don had wanted to get back. We waved goodbye to them, and I prepared another crab salad with the rest of the ingredients for Dayle and I, and we lingered until sunset chatting with neighboring boat people, watched the comings and goings of the boats, noticed 3 pelicans on the seawall sunning themselves, listened to the water lapping, the seagulls calling, got Stargazer shipshape and headed off back home.
I am looking forward to more fun there this September, and think it’s going to be hard not to go back there next summer. I’ve fallen completely in love with not only Newport and our active and fascinating marina, but with being at the sea, and the people we’ve met there. Life is a rich stew of experiences, and this summer has added a really zesty flavor to my memory soup!! I’m enjoying sharing my “soup” with you!! Stay tuned….
I loved my Ranger 26 and am happy to have owned Stargazer for 21 years.
Teresa Kasner – 1st Ranger 26 Round-Up Commodore. 🙂
Note: Teresa did a personal blog post about her time with Stargazer and leading up to selling her which I’ve copied here (not to keep you from visiting her original post, but to keep a thread of history alive here going forward in case anything happens to her original post in the future).
Farewell My Beloved Stargazer
Well my dear friends.. yesterday marked the end of an era for my husband and me. After owning our beautiful sailboat, Stargazer, it is now on it’s way to her new home in Montana. When we bought her about 25 years ago and had many wonderful adventures. This is a photo when we had it moored in Cascade Locks and we sailed upstream to Government Cove, dropped anchor and I actually took this photo with my waterproof camera while swimming! The sun is quite low in the sky and is reflecting off the shiny black hull. ::sigh::
This is when I took Stargazer on the Portland Ladies Cruise – all boats were sailed to this 3 day event by female captains.
Another ladies cruise with my fellow sailing friend Alyce that I met in the AOL Sailing Forum! This was to the Portland Yacht Club out-station on Sauvie Island.
Alyce also was my crew for the Opening Day Parade with the Portland Yacht Club. That was a memorable event – all the yacht clubs in the Portland area strut their stuff on the opening day of sailing season and they give out awards for this and that. I believe we were the only all-woman crew for this event.
I did a watercolor of my beloved boat.
Dayle took this shot of me at the helm offshore in the Pacific Ocean out of Newport, OR’s Yaquina Bay.
This is a fuzzy photo – but I was taking a visitor sailing when I lived on Stargazer in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, Washington State. We were headed to Deer Harbor.
I took this on Sunday after we spent hours and hours cleaning the boat to show to Mike and Mary who were driving all the way from Missoula, Montana to look at her. I still think she’s beautiful.
Dayle worked in the salon and I was scrubbing the cockpit. I went below to snap some photos to remember her by. I lived aboard in Friday Harbor for 4 months 15 or so years ago. It was a very comfortable salon – the table goes down to form a queen sized berth. I would make my coffee and breakfast while looking out the companionway opening to the boats at anchor in the harbor.
Looking to the companionway opening from the salon.
Walking away after a day aboard my beloved boat. If Mike and Mary liked her, this would be my last memory of my boat at the dock of the Portland Yacht Club. ::sigh::
Mike and Mary actually made good time on their trip and surprised us while we were hard at work cleaning the boat.. they were able to look her over inside and out made the final decision to buy her. We were up early yesterday (Monday) and headed off to PYC with Dayle hauling the boat trailer and me following in my Explorer. Then we met M&M at Danish Marine where we had arranged for a haul-out and pressure wash of the bottom of the boat before slinging it onto the trailer. I actually ended up dog-sitting their Schnauser and Mike, Mary and Dayle drove over to the club, left Dayle’s truck there and boarded the boat and motored her down the channel to be hauled out. This is a shot after they’d put the slings on her, under the Travel Lift.
Up she comes out of the water, 5,500 lbs. of boat. 🙂
Here she is.. ready to get her bottom power washed. Side Note – I lived in a houseboat across the channel from here for 5 years. That was a wonderful experience.
Cleaner bottom!
The amazing TravelLift then “drove” over to lower Stargazer onto her trailer – hooked up to Mike and Mary’s truck.
I walked around the stern to get a shot.
Goodbye my beloved boat. I named you, I loved you, I sailed with my husband and family and I sailed her with friends and I singlehanded her in the San Juan Islands and the Columbia River. This is the end of an era for me. Farewell and I do hope you have a good life in Montana.
Here she is ready to head out.. Dayle worked himself to a frazzle getting the trailer and boat ready for sale. Kristi even spent a day scrubbing the head for us. Travis helped with preparing the trailer.
PYC – it’s been a great time – you are a bunch of really nice folks.
After all was said and done, I took Dayle for a steak dinner at Bumper’s Grill and Bar. We both enjoyed that and felt good about this being done. At home last night Kristi had a birthday party for the boys just for me as I will be gone during their real birthdays. My granddaughters Spring vacation just happened to occur during their birthdays, so I’ll be in Ohio. My daughter sent the boys these amazing Transformer toys which they just LOVE!
The boys picked out a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.. make a wish!
The boys love their new little tablets their Mom and Dad got for them.
As we headed to the boat on Sunday I got a huge kick out of seeing 2 horses tied up at the Springdale Tavern. Yes, I love living in the country!
I thought I’d end with a happy note as selling the boat was a sad and stressful time for us. But onward and upward. We might get a fishing boat instead. 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful week! Next post might be from Ohio. ((hugs)), Teresa 🙂
Original Post Here: Teresa Kasner: Farewell My Beloved Stargazer
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