Engines & bow thruster

[Top Bouy]

Hi everyone, after some advice please. This is our first season boating and we love it but I’ve found berthing much harder than I envisaged. Especially when the tide & wind are strong. We have a Bayliner 2655 with a single engine and no thruster. Would fitting a bow thruster make a significant difference? I’m also considering a bigger boat with twin engines and a thruster. Would that make berthing easier? The bigger boat also appeals after a pretty awful recent crossing across the Solent to the IoW. Thanks

 

[Seastoke]

People will say with twin engines you don’t need thrusters, but boating is an enjoyment not a challenge . When we bought our last boat twin engines on shafts and a bow thruster, perfect I thought . Then one day we were waiting for a tidal gate to open and it pushed us into a Brad new sun seeker , thankfully no damage. Two weeks later I had a Stern thruster fitted linked to a remote that operated bow and stern , so you can turn it around with remote . Never had an issue with windage . You need advice about boats with legs as they are different to steer than shafts . Good luck.

 

[simonfraser]

'Especially when the tide & wind are strong'

that's for sure, choose your conditions, boating is not like driving a car

single engine and no bow thurster is not great, fit one if you def like the boat, else changing the boat prob best
in which case list what you like / dont like about your current boat and set up a new thread 'what is my next boat'

 

[markc]

I had a similar first boat, it was a nightmare to manoeuvre in anything but benign conditions. Kept it less than a year and replaced with a flybridge boat with twin diesel engines...loads easier.

 

[oldgit]

Fact. Any small light weight craft with single outdrive will be a challenge to control in any crosswind in confined spaces .
Would suggest that the expence of fitting a bow thruster on that boat would be a questionable use of money unless you intended keeping it for ever, cost of installation will be out of all proportion to value of boat and will never be recovered on sale.
You will get to anticipate the boats movements in wind and be ahead of the game.
Put up with it until your next upgrade, it will hone your mooring skills.

The bigger and heavier a boat does not completely remove the challenges of at close quarters maneuvering but it does slow down things considerably and gives you a far better chance of correcting any wind assisted cock up and making it look as though you were totally in control all the time.

11 th Commandment. Owners of boats with single engines shall go straight to heaven, they have already been to hell on earth.

 

[julians]

Hi everyone, after some advice please. This is our first season boating and we love it but I’ve found berthing much harder than I envisaged. Especially when the tide & wind are strong. We have a Bayliner 2655 with a single engine and no thruster. Would fitting a bow thruster make a significant difference? I’m also considering a bigger boat with twin engines and a thruster. Would that make berthing easier? The bigger boat also appeals after a pretty awful recent crossing across the Solent to the IoW. Thanks

Adding a bow thruster to your existing boat will make life easier, and would be a significant difference, but so will gaining experience.

Twin engines and a thruster is easier again, twin engines a bow thruster and a stern thruster easier still.

I wouldnt bother with the expense and hassle of adding a bow thruster to your current boat unless planning to keep for a long time. As you gain experience you will work out how best to handle the boat without the bow thruster, and that experience will be valuable with bigger boats.

If you go toa bigger boat it will almost certainly have a bow thruster by default.

The bigger boat also appeals after a pretty awful recent crossing across the Solent to the IoW.

A bigger boat always appeals in rough sea - the problem is that the sea can always be rougher than your budget will allow,sowith that line of thinking where do you stop? you just need to pick the days you go out and the place you go to, to match the boat you have regardless of size. By all means buy a bigger boat if thats what you want, but having a rough day is going to keep happening regardless of boat unless you pick your days

 

[DavidJ]

I went from a single engine Sealine 23 to a Sealine S37 with bow thruster and was amazed in the first minute how easy it was to handle.
In over a decade of small single engine boats I never really felt I got the hang of it especially if there was a breeze let alone a wind.
Oddly I found with a larger boat people come to help as well.

 

[Fire99]

I've experienced most combinations with my history of boats. I may be repeating what others have said but I will chime in..

The Bayliner is a light planing boat and with a single outdrive, she'll be a bit of a handful in any crosswinds when mooring. I had similar and it's not easy. The flip side is once you have a line on the dock, she'll pull in quite easily.


Adding a bow thruster would definitely make life a lot easier and as I have on my current boat, adding a cheap remote control, easier still but unless you love the boat and want to keep her a very long time, it wouldn't make financial sense.
Twin diesels are certainly much easier (with or without bow thruster) as you can usually turn the boat on her axis (one engine forward, the other reverse). Add in a bow thruster, and other than very high sided motorboats with very strong cross winds, you'll rarely be wanting more.

My current boat with twin diesels and a bow thruster + added remote control, means I can mostly run a 50footer single handed in most conditions.

One big but.... I always try (in safe conditions) to leave and return WITHOUT using the bow thruster. Reason being that I've been on boats recently where a thruster has stopped working unexpectedly or on an other occasion one that decided it would run to stbd but no longer to port so if you come to rely on the thruster, you may end up getting in a bit of a panic the day you push the joystick and nothing happens..

Personally, I do think the tech can get OTT but it's not a pride-fest. Get the boat with the goodies that make boating the most fun and least stressful for you and don't discount getting someone with a bit of expertise onboard to give you some tips. There are loads of techniques in using the wind, tide, prop rotation etc, to your advantage... Worth a thought.

 

[Sianna]

We have a single engined 805 without a bow thruster, would I like one ...yes .. do I need one , honestly not really.
We have a pretty windy mooring with some very strong tides, it's about reading the elements and initially planning your times for departure and arrival for slack water?
I have probably been in only 2 or 3 situations when I have wanted a thruster in the past 5 years, if you like your boat why not get some training on your boat, loads of schools offer it and it can make a huge difference.
If not a bigger twin engined boat with thrusters would probably make a world of difference

 

[Top Bouy]

Thanks for the very helpful responses everyone. Appreciate it. Lots of food for thought.

 

[East Cardinal]

I wouldn’t spend money on a bow thruster. Bayliner planing boats suffer terribly in cross winds and operatung the bow thruster, main engine and steering is at best a lottery.
Instead spend some money on training and you will be able to berth the boat using the engine, appropriate rope work and careful approach speeds and angle off the berth. Different approach angles and speeds are suited to specific weather conditions.
If you can afford a bigger twin engine boat, thats probably your best option.

 

[DavidJ]

I wouldn’t spend money on a bow thruster. Bayliner planing boats suffer terribly in cross winds and operatung the bow thruster, main engine and steering is at best a lottery.
Instead spend some money on training and you will be able to berth the boat using the engine, appropriate rope work and careful approach speeds and angle off the berth. Different approach angles and speeds are suited to specific weather conditions.
If you can afford a bigger twin engine boat, thats probably your best option.

I agree with you
Having never had a lesson and having spent many years self teaching, I sent my son and son-in-law on a training weekend. (This was a couple of decades ago)
I was amazed how confident and competent they were on their return.

 

[russ]

I too owned a 265 for 5 years on the Thames and then on the Solent. She wasn't suited to any heavy chop and I still had a struggle docking even with years of experiance going into locks on the Thames. I did get better but she is a very lite boat and would catch me out if too windy on the bow.
My next step up is my S38 with twins and thruster. A lot easier to handle, even on my own.
You still need to choose your trips according to the elements.
I wouldn't bother spending thousands on a thruster. You wont see any return on it when selling.

 

[Top Bouy]

I too owned a 265 for 5 years on the Thames and then on the Solent. She wasn't suited to any heavy chop and I still had a struggle docking even with years of experiance going into locks on the Thames. I did get better but she is a very lite boat and would catch me out if too windy on the bow.
My next step up is my S38 with twins and thruster. A lot easier to handle, even on my own.
You still need to choose your trips according to the elements.
I wouldn't bother spending thousands on a thruster. You wont see any return on it when selling.

Thanks Russ, really helpful

 

[madabouttheboat]

I'm going to buck the trend a say that if you intend to keep the boat, fit a bow thruster. It will transform your boat. How do I know? I had a single engine Bayliner and used it for years without, and then years with. I could drive it as good as anyone, but sometimes it just gave you options that engine alone did not.

 

[Offshore57]

Hardest boat to handle in close quarters is one like you have....lightish planing hull with a single prop sterndrive. If you can get anywhere near to mastering it, then subsequent boats with twins and/or a bow thruster will be very easy to berth in comparison

 

[Top Bouy]

I'm going to buck the trend a say that if you intend to keep the boat, fit a bow thruster. It will transform your boat. How do I know? I had a single engine Bayliner and used it for years without, and then years with. I could drive it as good as anyone, but sometimes it just gave you options that engine alone did not.

Thanks madabouttheboat. Really helpful to hear of your experience, particualy with a Bayliner