Bow thurster Vs Stern thruster

[steveh]

Do you drive about at 4mph?

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In reverse i do especially when parking.

 

I agree everyone should be able to control a vessel without the aid of thrusters but if yo can afford to have them fitted have them fitted. I could have done with them the weekend, several tight spots I managed without would have been quicker and easier with them.

[DHutch]

It depends how you use the thruster.

 

We have a thurster to get out of difficultys, eather in a busy marina, or what have you. If we use it more than twice a week i'd be suppresed.

 

- But i agree the people who use it on every lock, ad ever time they moor or set off. that just lasy (or shoddy helman ship)

 

daiel

[rog guiver]

We have a bowthruster, We have a sternthruster, We have a DVD player with a wide screen TV, We have internet access (so I can read these posts). We have lots of things that make our time on the boat more enjoyable.

 

It may not be for everyone, but we like our boat.

 

We are still very friendly, unlike the chap on his own going up the Napton flight last weekend who point blank refused the offer of help. Each to their own, but in his case I would suggest that a bowthruster would have helped and reduced the inconvenience to fellow boaters.

 

Mind you I would think it would be difficult to fit a bowthruster to a wooden boat!!

 

Forget the bowthruster, a name on the side and a LICENCE would have been nice.

Edited April 7, 2005 by rog guiver

[bottle]

The first way of propelling a "boat" was by hand. A log it was called then throughout time it was found that a piece of wood could be used they called it an oar. So through time a sail was invented, then engines, I know I have missed out quite a bit of progress.

 

The point is we "improve" our methods over time.

 

I do not argue that we all need the skill to control our boats, what if the bow/stern thruster does not work, and should try not to get into situations beyond our control.

 

As said before the boatmen of old would probably have used them if they could.

 

Toby, carry on the way you wish and I would probably admire your skill.

 

I have been in situations, where I have controled the boat, been proud of my "skill" but a bow thruster would have made it a lot easier.

 

 

p.s. ocean going liners and tankers use side thrusters they are called tugs but also some have fitted into the hull.

[tobytimothy]

Toby, carry on the way you wish and I would probably admire your skill.

 

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Did you mean to say Liam rather than Toby??

 

 

 

Tobytimothy

Edited April 7, 2005 by tobytimothy

[DHutch]

Do you drive about at 4mph?

 

Do you drive a 60ft car?

[NB Willawaw]

Sorry to be late but better late than never (or is it better never than late).

 

We have a bow thruster and thank heavens for it on a regular basis.

Willawaw is 62ft and although we could survive without a thruster using boathandling skills handed down from father to son and only divulged on ones death bed to the first born son, it makes life A LOT, LOT easier.

 

In effect, its a form of steering at low speed. As somebody said earlier, on a large ship this is what a tug would normally do (unless they also have a thruster).

 

IMHO a stern thruster is only useful if you already have a bow thruster, but to be honest, the screw and rudder act as a form of stern thruster.

 

So my answer is BOW THRUSTER, for the reasons stated earlier. The defence rests, m'lud.

[gardencoaster]

I don't wish to offend anyone here, and if I do, I'm sorry, but I still think having a bow thruster fitted is an excuse for shoddy helmsmanship. 

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As far as I'm concerned, one should tie dear old Dobbin to the front and haul the boat around. Carrots are a darned sight cheaper than diesel (especially if the tax goes up)! These new-fangled engines are just killing off the old boating skills. Come to think of it, why should we use the pump-out toilets when a bucket did perfectly well in the 19th century? Central heating? For wimps!

 

The lucky ones get to know their boats by living on them and moving them every day. Unlucky ones like me get four weeks tops per annum so I shall use each and every gadget, gizmo and device at my disposal to put my boat where I want it. If the traditionalists wish to stand and tut-tut in disgust when I don't hit anything, let them...

 

I'd rant further but the horse needs feeding...

 

gardencoaster (aka Shoddy The Helmsman)

[Richard Bustens]

I dont think i would have managed without the bow thruster last week/end it got me out of a lot of scrapes there were one or two that it did not though.....lol.

Like the boat moored right on the junction at fradley,,,,, bet he wont moor there again.

[FatBear]

If thrusters (bow or stern) are so bad, why have the axial thruster (main engine)? After all, didn't they formerly use wind or oxen to move the barges?

 

What I'm curious about is why they use electrons to power bow thrusters and not hydraulics?

 

--Brian

[Paul Evans]

I'm not sure that anybody used oxen on British canals - horses and mules were the usual form of propulsion before engines took over (and men on some river navigations). Sail was only used by keels on the larger waterways.

 

Some modern narrowboats use hydraulics for the main propulsion system, steering and possibly bow thrusters, but they are a rarity. The main advantage is that you can mount the engine away from the steering position and cut down the amount of noise you have to endure (or enjoy if you are particularly masochistic).

[gaggle]

p&o ro-ro,s have thrusters all around the ship as far as i can see.if a ships captain uses them so will i,there is only one captain on this boat.

[Khayamanzi]

Liam - this post still stands from the previous debate on this subject - come on moderators can we consolidate all these fragmented discussions that deal with the same subjects!

 

 

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!

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[Gary Stacey]

Hmm...we had the usual round of thrusterless boats going sideways in the basin this weekend and banging into other moored craft.

[howardang]

p&o ro-ro,s have thrusters all around the ship as far as i can see.if a ships captain uses them so will i,there is only one captain on this boat.

20291[/snapback]

 

Your captain looks very young but wears his cap with a certain air of authority!

 

Howard Anguish

[gaggle]

i have never steered a boat therefore i have no skill as a helmsman shoddy or otherwise.however i am prepared if you wish liam to make a promise not to use my bow thruster as i am about to collide with your boat. the bow thruster is to avoid damage to other boats,thats the kind of guy i am

[DHutch]

i have never steered a boat therefore i have no skill as a helmsman shoddy or otherwise.however i am prepared if you wish liam to make a promise not to use my bow thruster as i am about to collide with your boat. the bow thruster is to avoid damage to other boats,thats the kind of guy i am    

The other thing our bow thruster is REALLY good for is reversing. Without it, on a boat as non-resposive as ours you really are "up the cut without paddle"

 

Daniel

[Stephen Sugg]

I agree about reversing with bow thrusters, although I think some people tend to overuse them esp. in wider locks. I think it also depends where the contols for the bow thruster are, on the LNBP boats they sit on top of the throttle, facing 90 degrees away from where they should be facing, confuses the hell out of me, so I leave them alone!

[DHutch]

On the LNBP boats they sit on top of the throttle, facing 90 degrees away from where they should be facing, confuses the hell out of me.

Yeah, that how ours is, simpley becuase they where fitted about 3years before the dashboard got built. I just imagine them on the dash, and then press that button.

 

 

Daniel

[Liam]

There's plenty of people who don't have a bow/stern thruster and they manage fine.

 

Sorry if I've offended anybody.

 

http://www.cruisingschool.co.uk/home/cours...mans_course.htm

Edited May 30, 2005 by Liam

[FatBear]

I've been thinking about this (yes, a dangerous thing to do!) If you put the boat into reverse and your stern moves to the left you will have to counteract it by using the bow thruster to move the bow to the left, thereby leaving the boat pointed in the same direction. But this will also move the entire boat to the left. So what have you really gained? Do you just use the bowthruster to hold the boat straight until it has some way on in reverse and the rudder begins to take effect?

 

On the surface, it would seem that a stern thruster would be more useful than a bow thruster in reverse.

 

I saw an interesting, but only slightly related, thing the other day. In San Diego harbor there was a gigantic cruise ship (I mean REALLY gigantic.) It was tied up at a pier. I heard the horn and was surprised because I saw no tugs. Pretty soon it moved out from the pier, reversed and backed into the harbor, spun around in its own length, and took off. It had two bow thrusters (judging by the warning signs) and I couldn't see if it had any stern thrusters, but I'm betting there was at least one. Having once worked on a tug boat and having assisted much smaller vessels than this, I was very impressed.

 

--Brian

[Amicus]

Spect she was like the QM2 three bow thrusters and steerable pods aft.

Look Mum, no rudders;

http://www.thisishampshire.net/hampshire/s...PPING_QM27.html

[mykaskin]

The Pride of Hull (and presumbably The Pride of Rotterdam), have two 2000KW bow thrusters (electric), variable pitch props, and a really clever rudder system. The rudder goes to 45 degrees, but has an extra bit on it which goes another 45 degrees when needed. This allows the main props to push completely sidewards - if I remember up to 50 tonne of sidewards oomph in combination with the bow thrusters.

 

She had no problem dealing with the force 7 wind that was blowing that day, and turned on the spot. If it does get to much winder, they do have to bring in the tugs though.

 

The Pride of Hull also has 4 engines with piston assemblies 5 feet high, producing 37,800kW in total pushing her to 22 knots.

 

Of course, it's all completely unnessesary in a narrowboat, and remember what isn't needed is just extra expense. I think even boat companies in days of old realised that.

 

Mike

[rog guiver]

mykaskin,

 

Just a few questions....

 

Where do you moor "The Pride of Hull", and as she sounds like a widebeam do you always contact BW before navigating through tunnels?

 

Is she over the 20metres such that she may need radar/nav lights under this new EU scheme?

 

Have you had the sign writing done locally to Hull, what about roses and castles? How about posting some pics.

 

Assuming they bowtrusters are Vetus I must have a couple of pages missing in the catalogue as the largest I can see is 15kw and that is 24volt. I presume your electrics are 24v as well.

[DHutch]

Where do you moor "The Pride of Hull", and as she sounds like a widebeam do you always contact BW before navigating through tunnels?

 

Is she over the 20metres such that she may need radar/nav lights under this new EU scheme?

 

Have you had the sign writing done locally to Hull, what about roses and castles? How about posting some pics.

 

Assuming they bowtrusters are Vetus I must have a couple of pages missing in the catalogue as the largest I can see is 15kw and that is 24volt. I presume your electrics are 24v as well.