Selecting a bow thruster

[Smelly]

not 'cause I feel I need to even though it's a tight squeeze into our mooring...but that all our neighbours have one and demonstrate theirs quite regularly!

 

But don't you quietly snigger everytime you neatly reverse back onto your mooring without one???

[Night Hawk]

But don't you quietly snigger everytime you neatly reverse back onto your mooring without one???

 

I know....and I try not to gloat...but the Lister in our old tub is so quiet on the outside, we've snuck back to our mooring only to discover neighbours with their bow/stern doors open..erm......at it! Oh the red faces..and red bottoms!

 

So we feel a bow thruster just to make a loud wooosh as we arrive might be prudent!

[Timleech]

a vetus 55kgf is just the ticket for the job if the boat has an integral water tank it can be mouted to the cabin side getting it as far under the water as possible, a usefull web site is www.vetusretail.co.uk the kits on there! if the boats out of the water its a two day job speaking from first hand experiance.

Spoken like a true Vetus agent

 

 

Surely that will depend on what's behind the water tank?

(not sure about 'mounting to the cabin side', but I think I know what you mean )

 

Does your two days include all the wiring, installing extra batteries in the approved manner, etc etc?

 

Tim

Edited March 21, 2009 by Timleech

[blackrose]

(not sure about 'mounting to the cabin side', but I think I know what you mean )

 

I don't know what he means? Surely anything mounted to the side of the boat will just get knocked off?

 

I have an integral water tank on my boat and the BT tunnel is situated aft of the tank. That means it's a long tunnel and the thruster is mounted to one side.

[Timleech]

I don't know what he means? Surely anything mounted to the side of the boat will just get knocked off?

 

I have an integral water tank on my boat and the BT tunnel is situated aft of the tank. That means it's a long tunnel and the thruster is mounted to one side.

 

My interpretation was that he meant 'to the cabin side of the tank', ie like yours, but perhaps he'll be along in a bit to put us right.

 

To me, the 'cabin side' is at the other end of the boat, and well above the water

 

Tim

[Gordon Chesterman]

It's OK, I know exactly what KingsLock means. Aft of the integral watertank is a large space (ie 'cabin side') that has ample room for a tube and bow thruster.

It looks as if this space was almost made for a bow thruster.

And grateful to have received this useful information from KingsLock - thanks.

Gordon (the original poster)

Now, where can I find some synthetic mud - any helpful agents out there?

Edited March 21, 2009 by Gordon Chesterman

[ourmaninbananas]

After reading this thread I want both bow and stern thrusters, but as I don't even have a boat I will have to do without!

[Nickhlx]

After reading this thread I want both bow and stern thrusters, but as I don't even have a boat I will have to do without!

 

 

How about a mid-thruster too, and pad it and call it a sofa ?

 

Nick

[Natalie Graham]

How about a mid-thruster too, and pad it and call it a sofa ?

 

Nick

And vertical ones to lift the boat if it runs aground.

[Tam & Di]

Gordon (the original poster)

Now, where can I find some synthetic mud - any helpful agents out there?

 

I could sell you a bag of dehydrated mud very cheap.

[alan_fincher]

And vertical ones to lift the boat if it runs aground.

Or which can be run in reverse to get you through otherwise impossible bridges or tunnels.....

[Night Hawk]

...and what about watertight windows and doors so you can submerge completely!

Edited March 22, 2009 by Night Hawk

[Timleech]

...and what about watertight windows and doors so you can submerge completely!

 

That's when thrusters in the 'cabin side' might come in handy

 

Tim

[Theo]

I just cannot believe the this writer has never had an experience where a bow thruster would have made a situation easier. I would say at least twice a day would be a fair guess. Sometimes I will make a six point turn to prove a point but why go to the trouble when pressing a button will achieve the same result. So the two seem to go together do they. Maybe it's the other way round and the more skillful and experienced will specify a bow thruster knowing their obvious benifits.

 

If you make a six point turn don't you end up going backwards?

 

N

[carlt]

I just cannot believe the this writer has never had an experience where a bow thruster would have made a situation easier. I would say at least twice a day would be a fair guess. Sometimes I will make a six point turn to prove a point but why go to the trouble when pressing a button will achieve the same result. So the two seem to go together do they. Maybe it's the other way round and the more skillful and experienced will specify a bow thruster knowing their obvious benifits.

If you know how to steer a boat then there is no reason to do a "six point" or even 3 point turn.

 

I liked to turn my, 72' long, boat, in a winding hole, using no more than one half throttle burst of reverse, then turning it on the spot, to prove a point.

 

Shuffling your boat round, in 6 or more goes of forward and reverse blasts, or putting the bows into the bank, to turn it, merely proves the point that you can't steer your boat properly and should maybe invest in a bow thruster.

Edited March 22, 2009 by carlt

[Gibbo]

Shuffling your boat round, in 6 or more goes of forward and reverse blasts, or putting the bows into the bank, to turn it, merely proves the point that you can't steer your boat properly and should maybe invest in a bow thruster.

 

My experience is more that shuffling the boat round, sometimes having to do a 30 point turn, is more related to the lack of proper dredging than the lack of any boat handling skills.

 

It doesn't matter how clever or experienced you are if the bow is stuck in mud , the boat has 2 inches between either end and the bank and there is a current pushing the boat the wrong way.

 

Gibbo

[carlt]

My experience is more that shuffling the boat round, sometimes having to do a 30 point turn, is more related to the lack of proper dredging than the lack of any boat handling skills.

 

It doesn't matter how clever or experienced you are if the bow is stuck in mud , the boat has 2 inches between either end and the bank and there is a current pushing the boat the wrong way.

 

Gibbo

Your bow can't be stuck in mud, if you are going backwards.

 

If there are 2 inches between either end of the boat and the bank then inexperience has caused you to turn in the wrong place.

 

If the current is pushing your boat the wrong way then inexperience has led you not to use the current to your advantage.

[Gibbo]

Your bow can't be stuck in mud, if you are going backwards.

 

If there are 2 inches between either end of the boat and the bank then inexperience has caused you to turn in the wrong place.

 

If the current is pushing your boat the wrong way then inexperience has led you not to use the current to your advantage.

 

And your reply clearly shows your complete inexperience on the Llangollen canal.

 

Gibbo

[carlt]

And your reply clearly shows your complete inexperience on the Llangollen canal.

 

Gibbo

On the contrary, I spent many years boating on the Llangollen, it's one of my favourite canals.

 

I'm not sure what the difference is, that should offer up any hazards not present in other canals (you surely aren't suggesting the slight current adds to the drama?).

[Ex- Member]

I must admit I have regularily put the bow into the bank deliberately but gently, but still managed to get the turn in one, I found trying to force the issue or trying to do it quickly doesn't work. Once you position the boat and have the slightest momemtum the boat ( half throttle as carlt suggests) will turn on it's access, it's a matter of patience IMO When first attempting turning I made quite a few cockups and had some very interesting looks from people on the canalside LOL My brother had it down to a T though with his narrowboat and taught me how turn our wide beam in about half an hour and I've had little problen since.

 

 

The cost and power requirements for a bow thruster do not equate in any way to the return they give you.

 

If you took just a days course on turning a boat at £150 this would be a much better investment, especially bearing in mind a bow thruster being mechanical could fail, and those boating skills would become necessary anyway.

 

Don't be lazy save your money and learn something that should be a basic requirement anyway for piloting a boat on the waterways.

[Night Hawk]

...and I'm with Gibbo on this one carly dude....our local winding hole (wrenbury) is more like a roundabout..there's a shallow bit right in the middle....and with a deep draughted tub like ours, a 6 or 8 point turn is quite the norm....doesn't help that that hire boaters often moor by the hole...or get up a fair speed from the bridge...or the fact that the winding hole is just about on a blind bend! It takes as many forward/reverses as in required to get your tub floating in the other direction!

 

Sometimes we do it with ropes and poles....just for the fun of it!

[carlt]

...and I'm with Gibbo on this one carly dude....our local winding hole (wrenbury) is more like a roundabout..there's a shallow bit right in the middle....and with a deep draughted tub like ours, a 6 or 8 point turn is quite the norm....doesn't help that that hire boaters often moor by the hole...or get up a fair speed from the bridge...or the fact that the winding hole is just about on a blind bend! It takes as many forward/reverses as in required to get your tub floating in the other direction!

 

Sometimes we do it with ropes and poles....just for the fun of it!

If you can spin your boat, on it's axis, in reverse, then a shallow bit, in the middle serves as a fulcrum (72 foot, drawing nearly 3.5' fore and aft, btw)

[Gibbo]

On the contrary, I spent many years boating on the Llangollen, it's one of my favourite canals.

 

I'm not sure what the difference is, that should offer up any hazards not present in other canals (you surely aren't suggesting the slight current adds to the drama?).

 

If I want a few hours out on my boat I have a choice. Travel one way and do lots of locks, the first winding point is a good few hours away. I can't actually have a "few hours trip" in that direction.

 

If I go the other way I can immediately go through a lock, then cruise for 6 minutes to the first winding point, moor up for a few hours, turn round and go back.

 

Or I can cruise to the first proper winding point which is several hours away. The whole trip then becomes far longer than "a few hours trip".

 

Or I can cruise and turn in a hole halfway between those two, it isn't a full length hole (it's supposed to be but they haven't dredged it) but I know it can be done in a full length boat, with some difficulty.

 

I have to stick the bow into the mud in exactly the right place because the stern is too deep to fit and there's only one spot where I can jam the bow in hard to get enough room to turn. Otherwise it simply isn't wide enough. Where I can stick the bow into the mud is very close to the edge of the hole so there is very little room to move. That means the stern is in the channel and in the current which goes the wrong way. The channel is very shallow and the boat probably takes up well over half of the oncoming flow area. It's a fight but it can be done. I've done it many times.

 

That has got nothing to do with lack of experience. Without experience I simply wouldn't be able to do it. I've seen even 60 footers try for half an hour, give up, and cruise onto the next hole.

 

But if it was dredged properly it would be easy. It should be at least 2 foot deeper than it is. I've seen crews dredge other parts of the canal and dump the cr*p in the winding hole!

 

Gibbo

 

If you can spin your boat, on it's axis, in reverse, then a shallow bit, in the middle serves as a fulcrum (72 foot, drawing nearly 3.5' fore and aft, btw)

 

Lots of people say things like that.

 

That boat simply will not fit on the Llangollen. There isn't a single part of it that deep. Even 2'6 is pushing the imagination on that canal.

 

Gibbo

Edited March 22, 2009 by Gibbo

[Night Hawk]

We did....the kids thought it was great!

 

Goodness....41 inch draught...how on earth did you get it over Chirk aquaduct? We scrape the bottom going upstream at 32 inches!

[Speedwheel]

If BW did no other dredging then winding holes are the one place they should dredge. The silt tends to collect in there and simpy by keeping them clear would help keep the whole system in better shape.

 

I managed to get up the llangollen at 3'1" ish but it was a struggle (Edit as Night Hawk says, to Trevor). I know of a few who have taken 3ft boats up there.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Satellite