Cheap bow thrusters

[whiteoaks7]

Anyone ever considered using an electric outboard as a demountable bow thruster?

 

[aztec]

mate of mine has made just a beastie. put it into a tube then fitted the lot to his bertram.

works fine.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

wouldn't have thought that an electric outboard would even be close in terms of thrust power needed....

Bowthrusters are actually pretty powerful bits of kit.....

 

[Poignard]

An even simpler idea. In one of John Goode's [editor Sailing Today"] books is a photo of somebody using an oar over the bow of an old long-keeler to help turn her in a confined space.

 

[Becky]

HWMBO not Becky.

Many moons ago someone (I think a Mr Clegg in the IoM) "invented" a water jet system as a bow thruster. I haven't anything about it for a long time. Anybody got anything on it?

Richard. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PCUK]

Vetus made them. They were expensive and didn't work well. Now discontinued for that reason

 

[davidpbo]

[ QUOTE ]
using an oar over the bow of an old long-keeler to help turn her in a confined space.

[/ QUOTE ]

Our Jeanneau Tonic has a rowlock on the transom to take an oar and the previous owner supplied us with an extending oar made out of an old windsurfing mast. An 8ft oar out the back of the boat certainly added interest to tight manouevres. It tends to stay in the locker now.

 

[Spuddy]

Dutch barges on the canals used to have a long shaft with a prop bolted straight on the end. This could be carted about the deck and shoved over where needed. Probably needed some sort of hook to go over a solid handrail to take thrust. Wouldn't like the thought of waving an unguarded prop around the pontoons in a marina though.

 

[john_morris_uk]

There was a long keeled traditional wooden boat that used to use an electric o/b on a framework that they stuck over the bow of their boat whenever they came into the marina we were once in. It looked a bit heath robinson, but worked for them. I think part of the problem was stowing all the framework on deck for the 99.9% of the time it wasn't being used.

Not sure if it would have walked the boat sideways into any decent wind either...

The marine was Millbay in Plymouth, and they might still be there for all I know.

 

[Anonymous]

As others have commented, bowthrusters are very powerful and need to be. Most are nowhere near powerful enough to do the job they are expected to do, in any case. Most people manage to handle their boats most of the time without bowthruster; the time they are needed is in marinas, in tight corners and when you have awkward winds . You are not really in a position to start rigging up an electric outboard under these conditions, you need to be able to operate the bowthruster instantly.

For myself, ours is just powerful enough for most things until marine life cuts the thrust down and on a couple of occasions damp in the forward locker has caused temporary failure of the bowthruster so these days I sail on the assumption that the bowthruster won't work and and delighted when it does!