Bow Thruster

SilverTT

SilverTT

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I'm thinking of having one fitted. I've got a 34ft twin diesel boat & always moor stern to.
It can be a bit of a handfull in a cross wind.
What's your experience on cost and use.
cheers
 
Had an vetus fitted last year to my 34ft sports cruiser, cost £2600. is very handy for close handling and getting you out of a tight spot, the battery position and size of cables is essential for both the safe installation and performance of the thruster.
 
I have one and given the choice always would. just makes parking and close quarter moving easier.

YES I can drive the boat without one but then again I could drive a car without power steering or assisted brakes but why bother?

Of course it makes you less of a man to have one fitted as I'm sure someone will shortly tell you.
 
I would guess a lot of the cost of having one fitted is the fabrication work and electrics, so it may not cost a lot more for a couple of extra horsepower, which would be well worth it IMO, cos you only need 'em when its windy.
 
2000 pounds to install & 600 for thruster.
Thats alot of labour.
Me thinking just cut a hole, stick a tube in, run a few wires. more to this than i think
 
[ QUOTE ]
With practice, you can also make the boat go sideways into a berth

[/ QUOTE ]

yes I was taught this by the guy that did my motor boat handling course - his words were you dont need IPS just use your bow thruster and the right combination of controls - ive done it ever since /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I continually amaze people at Marinas when I move sideways onto the fuel berth and off, sideways into a berth where you cannot approach in the normal 45 deg way, is also handy for cross winds when stern to mooring (but then I can do it using just the engines to compensate) but as already said why bother!!!

Yes I would now always have one - makes life a lot easier and to boot is a lot cheaper than IPS! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Should be as others have said a "get you out of jail card" however I use mine all the time stern to mooring because it makes life about a 1000% easier. Other tricks include coming away from the fuel quay parallel. Make sure you get a big enough one because in a stiff side breeze they have a lot of work to do. For my S37 I have the QL BP600 which I would say is just about OK.
buy! buy!
 
I would fully agree with above - dont delay why struggle.

Was told the 'sideways shuffle' is called vectoring - got the move sorted last Autumn on a quiet day up the Ancholme.

A cracking party piece for the gaupers I would agree and well worth spending time getting confident and perfecting !

MBM / MBY did a piece about it a few months ago.
 
Agree with the others. There's no point in skimping and getting one that's undersized because it'll be useless when you want it the most ie in high winds. Also it needs to be located deeper than a specific minimum water depth depending on the model but as far forward as possible and you may need to do some alterations to the fittings in the forward cabin to fit it at an optimum position. As has already been said, long cable runs will reduce it's power so it's best driven by it's own battery located nearby but still hooked into the charging circuit
 
He'll be along in a minute telling us that Noah never needed a bow thruster so why should we /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Go on then. I'll do my famous bow thruster bashing rant. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Only thing is, you have to read everything and not just pick out the bits you dont like.

I dont need a bow thruster cos, I aint got a stern to mooring. Dont want one and wont have one.

But it's the only place you do need one, cos cant waggle arse around with so little space.

Oh, I cant be bothered with the rant now!!
 
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