Bow thrusters

roaringgirl said:
It's entirely up to others how they equip their boats. My opinion was sought and I gave it, based on my own experience.
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Don't have a problem with opinions for yourself, but not when you comment about the capabilities of others and their decisions when you know nothing about them, nor the circumstances that lead to their decisions.

I you had fitted one you would have learned how to use it when it was advantageous to do so. To claim that just because you have learned to cope with the negative characteristics of your boat does not others can is patronising. As for planning, as I (and others) explained some are in a situation where no matter how much you "plan" it is difficult to berth confidently and reliably ON YOUR OWN and the consequences of getting it wrong are severe. When you get to your 70s and still want to sail you may well find you have a different perspective on life.
 
If Bob is in the med, then maybe I can see where he's coming from. Thruster's a'whirring - chances are it'll be a clueless charter boat, and I'd be heads up like a meerkat ready to fend off yet another ding. Of course, assuming just a bow thruster and no stern thruster, all it facilitates is a pivot about the axis of the boat - but bodily put the boat (or let it drift) into the wrong patch of water and it ain't going to help much. So it really doesn't serve as a sticking plaster for poor helmsmanship as much as some people might think.

As an aside, I noticed that the engaging YouTube chap from 45 degrees sailing charter company, retrofits thrusters on his new boats rather than spec from the manufacturer, as it's cheaper. Surprising.
 
Bobc said:
How can I be the problem?
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Some people, especially those not used to marinas, tie up badly and end up in the way. It could also be that your boat has some attribute that makes it stick out in a funny way. Maybe you do something to annoy people and they hit your boat in revenge (perhaps commenting on their boat handling ability?).
The vast majority of us have never been hit so it seems odd that you get hit so often. Perhaps you're just very unlucky.
 
lustyd said:
Some people, especially those not used to marinas, tie up badly and end up in the way. It could also be that your boat has some attribute that makes it stick out in a funny way. Maybe you do something to annoy people and they hit your boat in revenge (perhaps commenting on their boat handling ability?).
The vast majority of us have never been hit so it seems odd that you get hit so often. Perhaps you're just very unlucky.
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Although I can claim never to have hit another boat in fifty years of cruising, I have been hit many times and suffered a number of small damages, a few of which remain visible on my boat today. I can’t say that any of them were occasioned by bow thrusters, simply by over-ambitious helms with zero sense of spatial orientation. In no instance was my boat berthed in anything other than a normal manner, generally on alongside berths, and it doesn’t include the numerous occasions when my sixth sense told me to come on deck and prepare to fend off.

Damage of this kind is not caused by the victim’s poor seamanship but is something that happens when one spends a lot of time cruising into visitors’ berths across a wide field. To be honest, I can’t actually think of an occasion when I witnessed a thrust-assisted collision. What I have seen is professional sailors manoeuvring other people’s boats, often into very small gaps, with the minimum of fuss, no bow thrusters and complete assurance, confirming that it’s not the boat but the sailor that is the problem.
 
lustyd said:
And yet BobC has been hit a dozen times as a result of bow thrusters. You've got to admit that's at the very least very unlucky
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At no point did I say that. Every time I've been hit it has been as a result of poor boat handling.

What I said, was that when I hear a bow thruster going, I assume that there's a good chance we're going to get hit. This is because most people who know what they are doing rarely use their thruster. They come in slowly, quietly, and under control.

When I hear a thruster constantly going, it is usually a sign of someone not in proper control of their boat and trying to use it to get themselves out of trouble.

The offending boats are usually shiny 40-50ft modern boats with all the toys. Either charter boats of people who have bought a 45fter as their first boat and think it handles like a car.
 
Reading all this i thinkonly way to go so not to upset anyone is to fit a sail, BT and have the two engines on my boat oh and a set of oars and paddles to please you lot.

Just to be prepared to please you all if i ever come into your marinas haha.
 
I actually think that bow thrusters are a very useful tool to have on a boat, and think that it would be better to have one than not.

I saw a German couple use the thruster along with the engine to really effectively push their boat off a leeward wall in a lock. They were using the thruster to cancel out the bow against the propwalk. Very clever.

I think, going back to the OP, it's not about the size of the boat, but more about the people on it (the number of them, their experience, their physical fitness and strength, etc.).
 
Bobc said:
I actually think that bow thrusters are a very useful tool to have on a boat, and think that it would be better to have one than not.
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Yes it is better but some people are just snobbish about bow thrusters.
Yes I do a lot of locks and use a blip of the bow thruster to push off a wall or to nudge the bow up to the wall to save my chief officer over stretching herself.
Reversing into a finger pontoon the bow thruster adds confidence even if its use proves not to be required.
 
Poignard said:
Even worse is someone with a bow thruster, a Breton cap, a blue ensign, and a CQR anchor.
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There is nothing so wrong with a CQR, you are maligning an anchor that has stood the test of time.

I'd worry about people with or hankering after a Herreshoff, who incessantly sing their praises and completely ignore anchor developments over the last 6 decades.

Jonathan
 
Bow thrusters are handy.

As you approach the berth, do repeated frantic thruster bursts alternatively left and right (they won't make much difference to heading while you are still moving, anyway) and you'll find by the time you arrive at the berth the neighbouring boats will have been pulled as far out of the way as possible, fenders deployed, and attentive neighbours will be on hand to help if things start getting out of shape! 😁
 
Neeves said:
There is nothing so wrong with a CQR, you are maligning an anchor that has stood the test of time.

I'd worry about people with or hankering after a Herreshoff, who incessantly sing their praises and completely ignore anchor developments over the last 6 decades.

Jonathan
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Oh for heaven's sake!

I was making a little joke. You know, one of those remarks that, even if they don’t actually result in people rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically, are usually understood as humorous.

But, if you must take everything literally, look back a few posts and you will see one, by me, in which, far from maligning them, I say I have had a CQR anchor for a very long time, and have no reason to be dissatisfied with it.

The Herreshoff Anchor
See my post #47
 
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Poignard said:
Oh for heaven's sake!

I was making a little joke. You know, one of those remarks that, even if they don’t actually result in people rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically, are usually understood as humorous.

But, if you must take everything literally, look back a few posts and you will see one, by me, in which, far from maligning them, I say I have had a CQR anchor for a very long time, and have no reason to be dissatisfied with it.
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Sorry but I have a different sense of humour.

Ah! so the funny, humorous, part was not the bit about the CQR. Just what is funny about maligning people who fly a blue ensign and/or wear Breton caps. I noted you did not include any reference to umbrellas nor bicycles - wisely, as many of us carry bicycles. Here we all wear caps, anything will do (I prefer a bandana), we are not fashion conscious, as the absence of a cap results in severe sunburn and/or skin cancer - there is nothing in the least bit humorous in wearing a cap, its serious stuff. We all, well not actually all - but many, carry blue ensigns, with pride - its our national flag.

Actually I was poking a finger (no humour intended) at champions of Herreshoff anchors - but if you did not understand that ..... there is no hope.

Its a forum..... Relax.

Take care, stay safe

Jonathan[/QUOTE]
 
Neeves said:
Sorry but I have a different sense of humour.

Ah! so the funny, humorous, part was not the bit about the CQR. Just what is funny about maligning people who fly a blue ensign and/or wear Breton caps. I noted you did not include any reference to umbrellas nor bicycles - wisely, as many of us carry bicycles. Here we all wear caps, anything will do (I prefer a bandana), we are not fashion conscious, as the absence of a cap results in severe sunburn and/or skin cancer - there is nothing in the least bit humorous in wearing a cap, its serious stuff. We all, well not actually all - but many, carry blue ensigns, with pride - its our national flag.

Actually I was poking a finger (no humour intended) at champions of Herreshoff anchors - but if you did not understand that ..... there is no hope.

Its a forum..... Relax.

Take care, stay safe

Jonathan
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Give me strength.....
 
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