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Bow Thruster Tube - again

matty40s

By matty40s
in General Boating

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dor Veteran II

dor

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Posted (edited)

When my shell was built eleven years ago I had a BT tube installed.  I didn't need a BT then, but thought that one day I might find it useful in my decrepitude. I mire recently  came to the conclusion that if I can still steer a boat and have a fit and able partner I still won't need one, so had the tube taken out.  After ten years the tube was a solid as when it went in, but then it wasn't made out of a bit of bent tin.

Edited by dor
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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Huge ocean going ships should have thrusters or it takes them miles to turn, but, is anyone really that incompetent that they need a Sissy-button on a canal boat ?

Erm, not me gov.No, definitely not me...no way.

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Bee Veteran

Bee

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I can steer. Turn wheel one way, boat goes that way. Turn wheel other way, boat goes that way. Easy.  Hang about above a weir waiting to enter lock on a river whilst current takes boat ever closer. Not easy. Shove it into reverse and watch wind take fore end the wrong way. Even more not easy. This happens quite a lot and its one thing in a nice slab sided narrowboat that tends to reverse straightish but its quite another matter in a Tjalk or shallow draughted boat where wind and current are more than a match for any theory of boat handling. We have no bow thruster and I wish we had one.

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
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1 minute ago, Alway Swilby said:

I'm glad we have a bow thruster. I hardly ever use it but when I do I'm glad we have it.

 

ETA that I can steer!

Same here, I don't plan to have mine welded up. Whether I can steer I will leave for others to decide.

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rgreg Experienced

rgregDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

I'm glad we have a bow thruster. I hardly ever use it but when I do I'm glad we have it.

 

ETA that I can steer!

^^ This. My bowthruster was out of action for 5 years as I didn't bother to fix it and managed perfectly well without it. When I had a few jobs done out of the water last year I decided to get the bowthruster fixed at the same time. As above, I don't use it often but when I do I'm pleased I had it repaired.

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matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

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Posted
20 minutes ago, luggsy said:

Why don't they weld in a stainless steel tube for the bt instead of mild steel ? 

because you would get an adverse galvanic reaction at each end where it is welded to the mild steel.

An absolute minimum for a bowthruster tube is to be blacked from before launch, this is glaringly absent from more than just a few boatbuilders. 

The initial build should specify a thicker tube if possible, and this to be epoxied . The tube HAS to be in a compartment with watertight bulkheads. Access to the tube must be possible easily - some boats have welded grills or bars - boatyards will not try to black this without extra expense.  Regular blacking is essential.

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Tony Brooks Veteran II

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Posted
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16 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Huge ocean going ships should have thrusters or it takes them miles to turn, but, is anyone really that incompetent that they need a Sissy-button on a canal boat ?

You may well know enough about springs an such like to get a narrowboat away from being pinned against the bank by the wind when single handing but if anyone does not then a bowthruster is very useful providing it not a toy. Also in situations that Bee describes. In my view its nothing to do with steering as such (apart from arguably in reverse) and everything to do with adverse wind conditions and ultra low speed handling. Having said that my bowthrster still lives on the roof.

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billS Rising Star

billS

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Whilst we can all snigger at people who use their bowthruster to compensate for an apparent inability to steer, the do have their uses. even for people who are perfectly competent.

 

I was grateful for my bowthruster  when I had to reverse for two miles last year. Mrs S is also grateful that she never has to handle that long heavy eastern European thing on the roof.

 

I will only accept criticism for using it from someone with a horse.

 

  • Greenie 2
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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, billS said:

I will only accept criticism for using it from someone with a horse.

Including foals we have 20 ponies( 10 Mares, 9 Foals and 1 Stallion) and 1 horse.

 

SWMBO 'drives' (horse & carriage) and we were discussing recently if we could use the driving horse to pull the boat, our Daughter-In-Law ( a real 'townie') was listening in a asked "what would you do with the horse at night, how would you get it out of the canal, don't its feet go soft and wrinkly ?"

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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roland elsdon Influencer

roland elsdon

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Ive always been very grateful for my bowthruster. Steered the butty, did the back cabin art work , earned money . Seriously grateful most days.  Could not be replaced by an egg whisk in a rotting tube.

Sometimes if it was especially difficult we would swap places, but then the boats would get confused and misbehave all over the place, the butty didnt like male steerers and the bowthruster never got the hang of cross straps.

canals so much better nowadays. this year the shaft never came out of the hold ..

  • Greenie 1
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Clodi Proficient

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Posted
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I have owned boats with bow thrusters fitted and must admit they come in very hand in tight situations, but I come from the school of thought where the fewer holes in the hull below (or near) the waterline the better. Its my experience that seacocks etc usually fail where 'Sods Law' applies and you're miles from the nearest haul-out.

A few years ago I was at a boat show where a salesman gave an impressive presentation where the thruster and tube were constructed from a 'Plastic' or resin and the complete tube could be fitted to steel, wooden or glass fiber vessels. I think it was either a Dutch or Scandinavian company. Struck me as a good idea.

My current mooring is just up from a very simple, sheltered lock & I'm always amused by the annoying whirring noise of overworked bow thrusters being employed. It strikes me that they are eroding the need for simple steering skills in the same way that Tomtom has replaced map-reading skills.

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cuthound Veteran II

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Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Clodi said:

I have owned boats with bow thrusters fitted and must admit they come in very hand in tight situations, but I come from the school of thought where the fewer holes in the hull below (or near) the waterline the better. Its my experience that seacocks etc usually fail where 'Sods Law' applies and you're miles from the nearest haul-out.

A few years ago I was at a boat show where a salesman gave an impressive presentation where the thruster and tube were constructed from a 'Plastic' or resin and the complete tube could be fitted to steel, wooden or glass fiber vessels. I think it was either a Dutch or Scandinavian company. Struck me as a good idea.

My current mooring is just up from a very simple, sheltered lock & I'm always amused by the annoying whirring noise of overworked bow thrusters being employed. It strikes me that they are eroding the need for simple steering skills in the same way that Tomtom has replaced map-reading skills.

 

Not for those of us who had been boating for 40 years before getting a boat with a bow thruster ?

 

Anyway I wasn't going to turn down by far the best boat I had seen for the money just because it came with a bow thruster.

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