Bow-Thruster

A

austingm

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Joined
Jan 15, 2007
RO Number
24887
Messages
27
First of all, hi! First post :)

We bought this boat in the begining of last summer. It is a 14.5m trawler.

hp032.jpg


It is currenly on land as I am going to fit a bow-thruster. My Yard reccomended a electrical unit rated at 10.2hp. Do you think that its is big enough?

My resoning is that I want it to work when I need it which will be in strong currents! It would obviosly be usless if it is only effective on calm days.
 
Not to be a smart arse, but we will have to wait for Pascal to finsih his Wheaties
this morning and give you his opinion of thrusters.

Do you have 1 engine or 2 aboard this boat, It shows nice by the way.
 
First welcome to the best boating board on the net,-)

quote:
Originally posted by austingm

My Yard reccomended a electrical unit rated at 10.2hp. Do you think that its is big enough?

Click to expand...

10.2hp is about 7KW and 265lbs of thrust - should be good for a 50-60 ft boat
I have this size on a 50ft 50,000lb boat and it does the job
That being said If there is not much differnce in cost to the next size I would go there
 
This might have some bearing on thruster requirement. Is the boat a single or twin? If single you will get far more use out of the thruster & thus have a need for a powerful one. If twins you are most likely doing most of the work with the engines anyway. The thruster will not get used much & only to help in particularly difficult situations.

Be mindful of where it will be located. Looks like a fairly fine entry at the bow therefore not much room far forward for thruster machinery inside. Mountung further aft will require more hp than a thruster far fwd.

I have a 2hp thruster in my 18,000# 32' single. It won't throw you off your feet at the bow as you hit the switch but it gets the job done. I rarely use it even though I frequently need to put the boat in tight spots. Must be the thrill of the challenge. Still, the thruster is good to have, just in case.
 
i agree...biggest question is whether you have twin or single engines. If twin engines, my vote would be to spend the $$ on food and beer! :)
 
Austing,
There are alot anti-thruster/ fair weather boaters around... ull have to muck tru the beatings amd the b/s to get ur answer... Stick in there ... The people with the knowledge will respond as Veeb's did...

Rob
 
Thanks for your replies!

She has twin Ford Sabres

Thas being said, I have found myself in some tricky situations where a bow-thruster would be very usefull.

Eg. gusts of wind whilst docking
 
actually navman, considering his location a thruster maybe very usefull since i assume he meds moor a lot and it woudl help keeping his bow off the next boat.

personally, I've been hit by a guy trying to use his thruster to get bow in into a slip... two days ago, i saw the aftermatch of newish 40's SeaRay wiping a sailboat stanchions while using his thruster to leave a dock.

thursters are for fair weather boaters... if you think a bow thruster is going to get a 50k lbs boat off a dock while pinned by a 20kts post cold front wind, i'd love to hear it. in the meantime, I'ss stick to props n rudders and a couple of fenders... :-)

but back to the original question, even on a twin ocnsidering the location, it coudl make sense. make sure you contact the thruster manufacturer to see what they recommend. i would also pay attention to how the thruster will be powered, youre going to need to add some dedicated batteries at the bow. make sure the yard is experienced with that kind of work.

good luck ! and post some pictures of your cruising gtound... Malta seems like a very intersting place !
 
Been there. Malta is beautiful and the people are great. I think most boats med-moor, but they were doing that long before thrusters were invented.

That said, if you think you need one get it. They're not a cure-all but they do come in handy.
 
Pascal,

I agree that Thrusters are for fair weather boaters...in fact that is why I spent a summer geeting used to the boat without one as I don't want to be the sort of boater that would rely on it.

In fact ther reason I want it is as an extra help more than a necessity.

Here we dock in pontoons with around 25 boats all side to side so getting in and out is quite hard especially when it is windy.

20001108-01_msida_yatch_marina.jpg


Malta is quite a nice place for boating. Its bang in the middle of the Med so in reach of most of Europe as well as North Africa
 
I didn't see that you were in Malta. Med anchoring would definitely be a factor.

Btw, welcome to the forums and please DO post pics of cruising around the med!
 
yes, this is why in your case, it makes sense.

here is florida, we have the luxury of wooden pilings between slips at most marinas so as long as you can get the stern in, the bow has nowhere to go but follow the stern in, with the rub rail rubbing against wood. no need for thrusters...

never been to malta... been to corsica, sardaigna, sicilly... (not while boating though) but never malta...
 
I should learn to just ignore the bow thruster threads....

I give....

Rob
 
Don't wanna change the subject, but what is the length, make and year of the trawler? She looks like something I'd like to have in retirement which isn't so many years away.

Thanks!!!
 
Austing,
Welcome to BoaterEd! Definitely get the thrusters; better to have them and not need them than otherwise. I could use them on my boat occasionally. In windy conditions, I have more trouble getting the boat OUT of the slip than into the slip. When I'm backing the boat into the slip I have good control until the stern is well into the slip; after that it's no problem. Leaving the slip in windy conditions is more difficult. The wind catches the bow and turns the boat before I have the stern free of the slip... minimal control until I get the stern free of the slip. And I have rocks about 7 feet away downwind! Would love to have a thruster on those windy days.
 
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This photo shows where the tunnel will be placed. According to my yard, this is the lowest it can go.

They told me that it should work fine in this location as usually it should be the length of the diameter of the tunnel below the water line.

One of my only concerns is that since I will be adding a dingy on the davits this year (approx 220kg) the waterline might not remain the same.

What do you think?
 
One thing to consider with electric versus hydraulic thrusters is that you cannot throttle electric thrusters (unlike hydraulic) they are either on or off. So going with a thruster that is "too" powerful for you boat size will be more of an issue with an electric setup. You have to adjust the force with burst/length of the thrust.
Because your thruster will always be in the water (displacement hull) make sure they build up a nice bulb in front of the tunnel to guide the water around it.
The waterline even with the dinghy on should be more then fine.
 
Dom,
I dont think a thruster could ever be tooo powerful. Like u said , one would just use a shorter bursts.

Rob
 
I generally hate to disagree with Pascal, and I have to say that I am proud of how little I use my bow thruster at this point, but I still find it convenient to have around. I agree it can give you a false sense of security, but it is another tool that makes my boating life easier.
 
Yes a thruster can be too powerful. I was piloting a Legacy 27? single for the new owner out of a tight spot which required turning the boat 180 deg in virtually its own length.

The owner was on the bow. I touched the thruster. It was so powerful that he was almost thrown off the bow. No need for that much power in a light boat.

I have the same thruster in my own boat, a 32'er which weighs double the Legacy 27. It takes a very stiff breeze holding the boat against a dock for the thruster not to be slow but effective.
 
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