bow thrusters

[gaggle]

i read a story about bow thrusters taking all the power from batteries and so it is in my head not to have one as a totally dead boat i do not want when i have a boat full of bin lids.other stories suggest that for steering and handling the boat it is exactly what a newcomer to boating needs as the build is underway i need to make my mind up .needed or not?any thoughts by them that know please.

[dor]

I don't have a bow thruster.

 

There have been odd times when it would have been useful, I can't dispute that. However I've never yet been in a situation where a bow thruster is the only answer.

 

In view of their cost, maintenance and potential problems I can live without one.

 

If however I was having that mythical lottery win-funded boat built with no expense spared I might just be tempted.

[stuart]

I think it helps if you have a long boat. What length are you having built?

[Richard Bustens]

Get one you wont regret it, you dont have to use it if you dont want to and it wont do your batteries down as the ones you use will be seporate fron the others.

[Gary Peacock]

Over 55' consider the option it will make life simpler, under 55' it will make the builder richer!

 

Gary

[John Orentas]

Gaggle.

 

All the people that have them fitted will tell you it is the best thing they have ever bought, the ones without one and that includes 'me' will tell you "I have managed for many years and never felt the need of one and probably wouldn't use it if it was fitted".

 

All the people, or nearly all the people who sell them will tell you they are almost compulsory.

[David]

Take gary's advice, shorter boats handle without one, longer boats can be controled easier with one,

BUT, having one from the begining will make you rely on it, you will not learn to work with the wind and the pull of your prop. OK you will get into allsorts of tangles maybe without one, but the best lesson is to make a mistake (and a prat of yourself) you won't make the same mistake again. Why not try to learn some old skills before you get one . Of course if you have done all that and get to the stage were physically extra help is needed, single handed cruising or old age etc get one.

I think I will add a comment harking to another thread, anyone who has never used a boat unless it had bow thruster's to help control it may well be qualified to call themselves "real boaters" but they would not be a "real boatmen".

david

[gringogordo]

Gaggle.

 

All the people that have them fitted will tell you it is the best thing they have ever bought, the ones without one and that includes 'me' will tell you "I have managed for many years and never felt the need of one and probably wouldn't use it if it was fitted".

 

All the people, or nearly all the people who sell them will tell you they are almost compulsory.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Also as a relatively new boater who has made a fair few mistakes over the last couple of years on a boat only 36' long - although I've never used a bow thruster, watching other people using them makes it look like it would make life a lot easier if you don't have the experience of the "I have managed for many years..." boaters. Especially as the waterways get busier and busier I think mooring up in a tight gap must be routine rather than a potential nightmare (overstatement!) - although as long as no one is too uptight some of the more tricky manoevres also make the whole thing more fun and I guess you would lose some of that ... (like freefalling is ruined by a good parachute!)

 

Cheers,

 

Ben.

[Alan Saunders]

I have never used one but I imagine they are particularly useful when going astern. The longer the boat the more likely you are to find yourself in reverse.

 

Normally the engine is running when you use the bow-thruster so there should be little, if any loss of battery charge.

 

Common advice is to have the tube fitted anyway.

 

Alan

[gaggle]

I have never used one but I imagine they are particularly useful when going astern. The longer the boat the more likely you are to find yourself in reverse.

 

Normally the engine is running when you use the bow-thruster so there should be little, if any loss of battery charge.

 

Common advice is to have the tube fitted anyway.

 

Alan

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks all just seen sts boats and told them to fit bow thruster of the name vetus i believe.i never wrote the spec of the model down. the boat will be 57 ft long so i thought better fit one on build than have to have it done at later stage and having to have boat lifted out.further can i point out the boat i am trying to emulate or copy if that word is wrong is on the website named something like www.askalex.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk it is the blue boat mary jane and she was built to my amazement by sts boats@yahoo.co.uk who are looking after me very well.

liverpool daily post and echo new business award winner to be announced next week sts boats have been shortlisted i believe for the award,

 

i have no connection to the firm just a customer but credit where credit is due

the gaggle the sun has got its hat on

[Khayamanzi]

Whatever happened to self discipline!?

 

They are possible to turn off if you have one but impossible to turn on if you don't have one. I have found that as my confidence in handling the boat has increased so my use of the thruster has decreased. It prevented too much loss of face in the early days but being someone who loves a challenge, I always challenge myself to handling the boat without the use of it - it is just nice to know it's there if I really needed it.

 

Besides - I know for sure my split weld and ripped cratch board would have been a lot worse if I hadn't been able to swing the bow out of the way of that bright yellow hire boat that hit me doing about 6 MPH 2 years ago!

[DHutch]

We have a vetus bow thruster on emily anne, shes about 62ft as far as i know.

- I roughtly go along has been said above, there not essential, but somtimes they really do help you get out of difficulty, especially if there only 1 of you on deck.

- Our unit is 14years old and we have yet to do any work on it, other that replace the batterys after 10years. We run it on two "lorry size" starter batterys, which we charge when pluged into the mains, or when we run the genny (about once every 8-9 days, to flu the boiler)

 

We dont use it much, maybe one short blip every two days. (hence we dont really charge it between mains hook-ups)

 

So to conclude, they can be nice, but i'd rarely miss ours if was didnt have it.

 

Hope this helps, Daniel

Edited May 17, 2005 by dhutch

[Tim]

I've had 70ft for 6 years and wouldn't use one even if it was fitted, my (new) 60ft doesn't have one either, it was never considered, if you can't manouver a boat without one you shouldn't be on the cut, contraversial I know, but my opinion all the same!

[DHutch]

If you can't manouver a boat without one you shouldn't be on the cut.

Thats defonatly true, they should be used make boating less stress full, rather than to make of for lack of skill.

Edited May 18, 2005 by dhutch

[ChrisPy]

Oh dear - BT elitism raises its ugly head.

 

My first car had a manual box and a simple throttle. My present vehicle has an intelligent auto box and cruise control. I wouldn't be without either. And I wouldn't be a worse driver if I'd always had those gizmos.

 

I consider myself old-fashioned, but I don't believe it's necessary to be able to everything the hard way.

[Gary Stacey]

Should,nt the non-believers be pulling their boats around with horses? Or is that a little 'too' traditional?

 

I have seen too many boats without them carreering out of control in our windswept basisn to consider them a luxery only - the wind in the basin swirls and can be very unpredictable. I have had boats at the side of my barge using my bow as a turning point becaus they could not get off the side in the wind - would have been easy with a thruster.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Gary Stacey

[Khayamanzi]

Tim - are you really suggesting that the old working boatman wouldn't have had them and used them if the technology was available in their days!?

 

I appreciate that some people say they have never had them and would therefore never need or use them - none of us know what we are missing when we don't have it in the first place but we must be careful about 'pointing the finger' at others in the canal culture. Strangely I broadly agree with you Tim but the implication that a bow thruster is somehow demoting ones skills of boating is simply absurd.

 

Canals were introduced as a more convenient and safe way to transport goods around the country - may be we should all give up boating and start restoring the more traditional form of transport: the stage coach!

 

Please apply the same logic across the board as I never used to have a computer with a broadband internet connection either so maybe neither of us should be using this forum!

 

Seeing as we are being controversial - we MUST get past the snobbish idea on the waterways that says tradition is always best and I am traditional, therefore I am best. It is this mentality that is the root of many 'new' problems seen on the waterways and the increase in canal rage. This 'worldly' philosophy should, in my book, be left on the bank when you step on a boat. What makes boating great - we are all equal on the cut, those with traditional working boats and those with modern state of the art vessels, those with inverters and microwaves and those with copper kettles on stoves, those with bow thrusters and those without!

 

Here endeth the sermon!

[ChrisPy]

well said Andy (and Simba)

[dor]

I think you have to put it into context with the cost.

 

They are not cheap. Yes, I expect we would all have them if they were cheap, but at several thousand pound a time you have to consider if it is worth it.

 

I can think of better things to do with the money, so whilst I have constraints on my expenditure, pending those 6 right numbers coming up (preferably at the same time), I'll try and manage without one.

[Golden Duck]

We have looked at the number of the posts on various threads on the BT subject and it is certainly a hot potato, guaranteed to get people posting.

 

The "Duck" is 56ft x 11'2" (wide beam) and although not essential, the BT is useful, especially if you are short-handed.

 

Our thruster is an engine driven hydraulic one (Nobel), so we never have a problem with thruster batteries. If the engine runs and the oil is kept topped up, the thruster will run.

 

However, it has to be said that it is possible to get complacent with a BT.

We still practise using rudder, engine and occasionally spring lines to keep us familiar with the old skills - for that inevitable day when the boat is far away from home and the thruster prop gets damaged or develops a leaky oil seal, etc.

 

Barry

 

P.S one little tip we would pass on, is try to get your thruster control panel fitted athwartships. When you need the BT in a hurry and one of its biggest advantages is giving your bow that little nudge sideways when you most need it, you don't want to have to think about which button to push or which way to push the joystick.

Our BT joystick is fitted in a fore-aft direction on a post, so we have to push it towards the front of the boat to push the bow to starboard. We have got used to it, but it is much more intuitive if you push starboard to go starboard, etc.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Golden Duck

[ChrisPy]

I think you have to put it into context with the cost.

 

They are not cheap. Yes, I expect we would all have them if they were cheap, but at several thousand pound a time you have to consider if it is worth it.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey don't exaggerate and frighten people off.

 

I have just ordered my Vetus 75kgf thruster including the extra heavy cables, fuse, control panel and wiring harness from Frenchmarine, at a cost of £1,200 plus VAT. It will be supplied directly by the engine battery.

 

Not so bad.

[Richard Bustens]

they saw you coming i bought one from vetus last year compleat with panel and fuses with 2 leads but no cable for £860. it was supplied through kings lock.

[gaggle]

I think you have to put it into context with the cost.

 

They are not cheap. Yes, I expect we would all have them if they were cheap, but at several thousand pound a time you have to consider if it is worth it.

 

I can think of better things to do with the money, so whilst I have constraints on my expenditure, pending those 6 right numbers coming up (preferably at the same time), I'll try and manage without one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hang a latch dor were has this thousands of pounds come from granted i do have money to spend on the build but it is £350 for the bow thruster tube set up while in the build stage.dont frighten me with large figures when you talk money,i will have to go back to buider now to make sure but not thousands for the unit man,no way

[dor]

Sorry folks:

 

I was going by the cost I was told 2 or 3 years ago for full installation. Maybe they have come down in price. Or maybe the boat supplier I was talking to at Crick was being optimistic.

 

Apologies again.

[Richard Bustens]

Well you know the price for the unit is between 900 and 1200 you know the price for the tube coz the builder has quoted you so add the two together and that is the cost plus fitting if you dont do it yourself, plus batteries and charging rig up

Edited May 18, 2005 by Richard Bustens