Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
We do exactly that, but replace ‘bridgedeck’ with ‘front beam’.
Bow thrusters and mooring buoys
- Thread starter dunedin
- Start date
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
So why is it such a problem then?Perhaps more than spliced eye mooring rope issues you get agitated about
PS If you read post #1 you will see this had surprised me as not seen before
Poignard
Well-Known Member
May I draw the attention of anyone who just likes to do things the easy way, to the two genuine 'Moorfast' Mooring Aids/ Line Threaders I am currently offering for sale at a ridiculously low price on the 'For Sale' forum?
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dunedin
Well-Known Member
Why don’t you think about it then? If a boat has got close to a mooring buoy but a metre too far to port of the buoy, so presses bow thruster then it sucks in water - and the pick up line - from the starboard side.So why is it such a problem then?
Boat then moored by bow thruster blades. Cue RNLI call-out to release, and cut pick-up rope. Suspect lift also to check/repair bow thruster.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
So it's happened......once. Someone made a mistake. Oh dear.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
On a more sinister note, have swimmers been sucked into these whirring dervishes and nastily injured? Ships have warning signs on theirs but I don’t remember seeing them on yachts.
sigma38dave
Well-Known Member
Bow thrusters are an embarrassment on anything under 36ft. I've witnessed an apparently 'amazing dinghy sailor' using his bow thruster to tack his Southerly cruiser under sail.
Having said that, crewing on a big 55ft X with the drop out the bottom of the boat thruster complete with beeping warnings that it's been deployed isn't great either.
Ban them.
Having said that, crewing on a big 55ft X with the drop out the bottom of the boat thruster complete with beeping warnings that it's been deployed isn't great either.
Ban them.
srm
Well-Known Member
Probably a good move to save the embarrassment of getting stuck in irons, especially if in a narrow channel. (or am I the only one here to have miss judged making a tack) However, if the boat had sufficient way on to tack properly the bow thruster would have very little or no effect.
Have chuckled a number of times when hearing a bow thruster grinding away through a sharp turn in a marina. At the speed the boat was going the rudder was providing all the turning force.
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B27
Well-Known Member
Using a thruster as well as the rudder might be a handy way to move the boat diagonally more than rotate it?
If you're going to lumber the boat with drag-tastic hole in the bow, you might as well make the best of it.
It's good to practise with the tools you have.
I don't have a thruster, but then I'm too miserly to go near marinas anyway.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
A surprising number of people seem use their bow thruster to steer the boat in a marina, as if they had no rudder.
Good skippers steer almost exclusively with the rudder and make final adjustments with the thruster, even in confined spaces.
srm
Well-Known Member
Very few people seem to understand that a flow of water across the thruster tunnel reduces its effectiveness. Perhaps visualise the water flow from the thruster getting left behind as the boat moves forward. A thruster is most effective when the vessel is effectively stopped in the water. As speed increases so the thruster becomes less effective. By the time a boat has enough steerage way to make a right angled turn using the rudder the thruster has no significant effect, hence my chuckling at the pointless grinding of thrusters.
It is a great tool for pushing the bow one way or another at very slow speed ahead or astern while getting in or out of a berth, (or recovering a seismic cable) but is not a second rudder when the boat has steerage way.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
a sticker does cme with the thruster but don't think anybody bothers/ The typical tunnel is 125mm diameter so difficult to imagine both why a swimmer would get that close to one that is in use let alone put a body part in the tunnel. The warnings on ships is because they do put out enough flow of water to affect objects close by. Have a look at the thruster on the Condor ferry when it leaves its berth in Poole against a brisk southerly.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
A great tool for those that moan how their long keel yachts are difficult in marinas.
Adjag
Active Member
Yes we often do that (especially if I'm onmy own) Usually rig a long line from the bow cleat then walk it forward (after passing through the body strop or eye)
mrangry
Well-Known Member
I must admit that I have considered fitting a thruster to assist in maria berthing in windy conditions, however cant justify the cost.
I did see the article and just wondered why the crew didnt just cut the pick up line and reimburse the cost of its replacement to North Ayrshire Council rather than ask for RNLI assistance.
Lifeboat and coastguard teams race to help yacht in difficulty in Millport Bay
https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2024/july/19/largs-rnli-launch-to-vessel-in-distress
I did see the article and just wondered why the crew didnt just cut the pick up line and reimburse the cost of its replacement to North Ayrshire Council rather than ask for RNLI assistance.
Lifeboat and coastguard teams race to help yacht in difficulty in Millport Bay
https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2024/july/19/largs-rnli-launch-to-vessel-in-distress
boomerangben
Well-Known Member
A couple of thoughts. Clearly when picking up a mooring approaching bow downwind in astern affords the helm a good view and the opportunity to execute the manoeuvre single handed, but you could still pick up the buoy amidships or even closer to the bow with a competent crew.
Bow thrusters, don’t have one, but can’t help feeling that as boats get bigger and marinas more densely populated, bow thrusters might become more the norm and indeed expected…….. cue the conversation with the marina manager “I need a different berth because the current one is too tight…” “ we assume that boats have a bow thruster these days…”. But they do sound horrible - to me they sound as if something expensive is grinding itself to bits.
Bow thrusters, don’t have one, but can’t help feeling that as boats get bigger and marinas more densely populated, bow thrusters might become more the norm and indeed expected…….. cue the conversation with the marina manager “I need a different berth because the current one is too tight…” “ we assume that boats have a bow thruster these days…”. But they do sound horrible - to me they sound as if something expensive is grinding itself to bits.
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Think the boat was singlehanded - and the RNLI crew couldn’t cut without going into the water.
Bow thrusters are generally great for marinas - but dim approach for moorings with pickup lines
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
The sound is like an in sink waste disposal thing. Or a cavitating outboard.
oldmanofthehills
Well-Known Member
Bow thrusters might be an excellent idea if the cost of the conversion wasnt about as much as we paid for yacht, and if there was actually anywhere to instal it on our tiny LM27.
We simply say "Long keeler - Keep well back" or words to that effect, and always go in forward towards the pinch point. Only ever hit pontoon one hose reel
B27
Well-Known Member
'People don't generally 'call for RNLI assistance', they let the coastguard know they have a problem, the coastguard tasks the RNLI if they see fit.
"Michael Holcombe, helm at Largs RNLI, said: ‘The casualty vessel made the right decision to call for help when they realised they were in difficulties."
I will take his word for that.