Bow thrusters

capnsensible said:
Have you ever tried going out astern up to somewhere near the middle of your yellow arrow, then going ahead to the entrance?

Just a thought.
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That would be my preference, and probably my routine in the prevailing wind since my prop kicks to port when going ahead and the saildrive doesn't give an immediate turn when going ahead. This brings me to the question of new-style boats with twin rudders. I have never sailed on one but they strike me as being very hard to manage in marinas. Rather than having a bow thruster, if I had such a boat I would be tempted to have a steerable saildrive, as I once saw on a boat in Germany.
 
LittleSister said:
It does annoy me to see boats using engines to manoeuvre. People had managed for millennia using oars/sweeps, warps and sails. Grrr! ;)
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Most marinas frown, possibly ban, on owners using sails within the marina, oars need space (and a narrow beam, or crew) and warps need crew. I certainly cannot afford crew and with a 22'6" beam I shudder to think how long the oars would need to be. Any way - we only run 2 engines to charge the batteries - manouvering at the same time is simply coincidental.

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
Most marinas frown, possibly ban, on owners using sails within the marina, oars need space (and a narrow beam, or crew) and warps need crew. I certainly cannot afford crew and with a 22'6" beam I shudder to think how long the oars would need to be. Any way - we only run 2 engines to charge the batteries - manouvering at the same time is simply coincidental.

Jonathan
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But surely your marina provides a sizeable crew of beefy types on hand at all times to help warp your boat around, using the many bollards strategically installed to facilitate such manoeuvres? ;)
 
srm said:
But that tells us if the driver understands how a bow thruster works. Fore or aft movement through the water reduces their effectiveness. The boat should be stopped or only moving very slowly to get maximum thrust. At two to three knots the side thrust is minimal but the rudder is starting to bite. So often I have seen boats making a right angled turn in a marina at four or five knots. The bow thruster is grinding away to no effect and the turn is being made by the water flow over the rudder.
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Sounds about right. It's always a pleasure to see power boats handled at close quarters under twin engines. but novices in this type of boat are the absolute worst at grinding away with thrusters to little effect.
 
I seem to be drawn towards boats that are difficult to manoeuvre in tight spaces - Albin Vega which is just about the worst you could imagine because the prop comes after the rudder. Little Bowman 26 long keeler which was a nightmare sometimes. I now have a Colvic Watson 34 which thankfully has a bow thruster that I happily use if necessary. Some manoeuvres would be nigh on impossible without it, other times it's not necessary at all if the variables are in your favour. It's a "nice to have" rather than absolutely necessary I guess but it removes a large amount of stress in some situations...
 
johnalison said:
That would be my preference, and probably my routine in the prevailing wind since my prop kicks to port when going ahead and the saildrive doesn't give an immediate turn when going ahead. This brings me to the question of new-style boats with twin rudders. I have never sailed on one but they strike me as being very hard to manage in marinas. Rather than having a bow thruster, if I had such a boat I would be tempted to have a steerable saildrive, as I once saw on a boat in Germany.
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Sometimes takes a while to get used to different configurations on yachts and motor boats. I think it's been mentioned already that practice is the key. Boats normally behave eventually. :)
 
I've recently taken on a beamy 32 ft twin rudder sail drive - in close quarters at low speed with limited manoeuvring room she is an absolute pig - combined with a family crew of small people and a reluctant wife I am considering a bow thruster just to get a bit of serenity back into my life! The only way i can get her on the berth with the least trouble is to comically reverse all the way down and aim a mid ships at my neighbour- but one puff or a slight misjudgement and/or another vessel decides now is the time to leave its all ends up in a right pickle. I'm not so keen on the 5k supply/install costs mind...
 
Bobc said:
Whenever I'm downstairs and I hear a thruster, I always run up on deck as I know that there is a high likelyhood of getting banged into.
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Indeed; quite the opposite - if I see a long keel coming into a tight berth in a hoolie, that's when I'm up ready with a spare fender!

Use mine maybe one time in ten, but single handed, and I just want to straighten up as I slip off the last bow line, or push off the lock pontoon .. very glad to have it.
 
capnsensible said:
Not quite sure you have grasped what these things are for! :)
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I think the people with them haven't grasped what they are for, and seem to just HAVE to use them all the time. I lose count of the number of times I've seen a boat going perfectly into a berth, right up to the point where you hear "GRRRRRRRRRR" and then everything goes to pot and they hit someone.

I even had a guy once who when leaving his berth, let all the lines go, shoved the nose off the pontoon with the thruster and then drove down the side of our boat all the way out, whereas all he had to do was to put the engine in ahead and go straight forwards.

When I hear them being used, my instant reaction is "look out, here comes a numpty who doesn't know how to handle their boat".
 
Tranona said:
How patronising . If you had bought your bow thruster I expect you would now be saying what a good decision it was.

Why do you seem to think that you are superior and others are not capable of making their own decisions on how to equip their boats?
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It's entirely up to others how they equip their boats. My opinion was sought and I gave it, based on my own experience.
 
lustyd said:
How many times have you been hit? It’s zero for me.
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At least a dozen. That's just the ones I actually knew about. I suspect there were others when I was not on the boat.

Sometimes I've been quick enough to fend, other not. Some were just light nudges but a couple have been big thumps (one nearly knocked me off my feet).
 
Bobc said:
At least a dozen. That's just the ones I actually knew about. I suspect there were others when I was not on the boat.

Sometimes I've been quick enough to fend, other not. Some were just light nudges but a couple have been big thumps (one nearly knocked me off my feet).
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I've got to say it sounds like you might be the problem there if you've been hit so many times, or you just have a terrible berth.
 
lustyd said:
I've got to say it sounds like you might be the problem there if you've been hit so many times, or you just have a terrible berth.
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How can I be the problem? The problem is others not being able to park their boats? I think that's a very rude comment to make.

Never been hit on my boat's mooring, as I have a mid-river mooring. The problem is always in marinas I am visiting.

Maybe it's more common with big boats as they are heavier, carry more windage, tend to be fitted with gadgets (like thrusters), and tend to have a higher percentage of owners with all the gear and no idea.

I'd be interested to know what size your boat is.
 
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