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Bow Thrusters

beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

By beerbeerbeerbeerbeer
in Boat Handling

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JDR Proficient

JDR

Posted
Posted (edited)

Mooring going upstream what I do: get the bow pointing towards the bank, as long as you are going as fast as the flow the current will make the boat move to the bank. A lot of the time you will be in still water in lock cuts so it won't be an issue anyway. You will be able to get a centre line on, then you can get a bowline tied sharpish and a stern line at your leisure.

 

ETA: Missed RWLP's post-wot he said x2

Edited by JDR
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beerbeerbeerbeerbeer Veteran II

beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

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Tie off temporarily with the centreline first, then you don't have to rush

 

Richard

I do do that.

I'm not suggesting i'm having a particukar problem.

I was just pondering the idea of bow thrusters.

I don't want one.

When I'm on my own working out how to do things like moor againast a strong current or against the wind I wonder about alternative ways.

I manage ok.

I'm enjoying the rope work and solving the ways of doing it.

 

Yea I agree, centre lines are the way.

 

The bow thruster thing , I've only seen people so far do it wrong. I'm sure there are people who know how to use them though and just thought I'd ask.

Curious that's all.

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beerbeerbeerbeerbeer Veteran II

beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

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So the list of no no's as opinionated by the forum,

Would the forum please suggest a list of yes yes's?

There doesn't seem much left that's acceptable. My boat already has an inferiority complex, how can I improve it?

 

I was going to go for the roof garden. Like the one I saw approaching Reading. Scaffold structure on top of narrow boat giving a solid platform for two barbecues , benches and plants. You probably have room for mixing desk and DJ. And: A tv aerial like the one I saw just up from the lock onto the Cherwell, two chairs one on top of each other, with aerial on top ( would have made Duchamp proud)

I also saw a forest in a boat in brum!

 

 

So what is ok?

Edited by Goliath
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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

When I'm on my own working out how to do things like moor againast a strong current or against the wind I wonder about alternative ways.

I manage ok.

I'm enjoying the rope work and solving the ways of doing it.

 

An alternative, and easier way (I find) of mooring when cruising solo on a river is to turn the boat and moor facing downstream. This is counter to received wisdom but works well for me on the Thames. I use reverse to get the boat stationary alongside the bank, then I step off with the stern line and tie the stern first.

 

This is easier because being the steerer, I am already at the stern. With the boat facing downstream, the stream now holds the boat in to the bank and I have all the time in the world to tie off at the front. If I tie the front at all :)

 

Mike

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Timleech Veteran II

Timleech

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Posted

 

 

 

I was going to go for the roof garden. Like the one I saw approaching Reading. Scaffold structure on top of narrow boat giving a solid platform for two barbecues , benches and plants. You probably have room for mixing desk and DJ.

 

 

 

So what is ok?

 

I saw that one, an upstairs patio, looked quite fun if we had decent barbecue weather, waste of space for most of this year. Not a narrow boat, though, must have been getting on for 14' wide (if it's the same one that I saw). Wouldn't really work on a narrow boat, especially not one which actually travels on narrow canals. Probably a serious impediment to any significant boating even on the river.

 

Tim

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beerbeerbeerbeerbeer Veteran II

beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

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I saw that one, an upstairs patio, looked quite fun if we had decent barbecue weather, waste of space for most of this year. Not a narrow boat, though, must have been getting on for 14' wide (if it's the same one that I saw). Wouldn't really work on a narrow boat, especially not one which actually travels on narrow canals. Probably a serious impediment to any significant boating even on the river.

 

Tim

Yea it didn't look like it was going anywhere

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  • 2 weeks later...
George94 Experienced

George94

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Can't say I see the need for bowthrusters myself, and I do find it strange when they are used for simple tasks like approaching/leaving locks/mooring etc but I think a case can be made for them, they are obviously useful for reversing, can make manouevering in crowded marinas easier, can make boating easier for people who may may have some form of physical disability, and I've seen them used to good effect on the Thames to help barges turn in spaces I wouldn't attempt on a 60' narrowboat, so ultimately a subjective choice but can anyone explain any possible reason for stern thrusters?

 

If you have to park your boat between two others with only a foot clearance each side and no current, then thrusters at bow and stern allow you to perform the manoeuvre with aplomb. I would never specify a stern thruster for fear of being thought a sissy, but there are (a few) times when it would be nice to have one.

 

I find a bow thruster to be very useful on the tidal Thames both when trying to get into my rather difficult mooring space (which requires me to reverse in and do a very sharp turn at the same time), and also to turn the boat when going with the current. Ex-sailing barges tend to be pigs to steer in reverse.

 

Incidentally, we all saw a stern thruster in action when Spirit of Chartwell docked to disembark the Queen at the end of the Jubilee Pageant. The skipper was so fearful of crashing into the pontoon that he stopped the boat 100 yards out from the dock, and then went in sideways like a crab. Entwhistle's chaps described it as great seamanship, but it was quite the opposite.

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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Hydraulic bowthrusters are OK though, aren't they

 

They are of some use on craft sizeable enough to need one though no narrowboat can ever be built that needs one as 70 foot by 7 is always going to be too small. An hydraulic bowthruster still has problems. A stand alone unit will bring extra power when needed during close manouvres, however we have one on one of our boats at work that produces 20 hp at the tube. It obtains its power from each of the twin engines at the rear and removes more from them than the 20 hp it delivers at the front, so it aint for nothing.

 

Tim

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  • 4 months later...
larryjc Proficient

larryjc

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Well as an ex yottie who had always decried bow thrusters as a waste of time and only used by incompetent show offs, I am now going to have a large helping of the pie wot is humble. Went to the new boat last week and had to do an epic forty five minute trip from Venetian to Aqueduct marinas. It was windy. The boat comes with a hydraulic BT. It got me out of the marina without hitting anything and when the wind blew me onto the end of a finger as I came into Aqueduct it allowed me to pivot the bow and come quickly alongside. I am now a convert.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted (edited)

So the list of no no's as opinionated by the forum,

Would the forum please suggest a list of yes yes's?

There doesn't seem much left that's acceptable. My boat already has an inferiority complex, how can I improve it?

 

I was going to go for the roof garden. Like the one I saw approaching Reading. Scaffold structure on top of narrow boat giving a solid platform for two barbecues , benches and plants. You probably have room for mixing desk and DJ. And: A tv aerial like the one I saw just up from the lock onto the Cherwell, two chairs one on top of each other, with aerial on top ( would have made Duchamp proud)

I also saw a forest in a boat in brum!

 

 

So what is ok?

 

Whatever you want to do - it's your boat.

 

I just ignore the anti-BT brigade. Some people seem to have a psychological need to impose rules as to what equipment we should have on our boats, how wide they should be, what sort of toilet they should have, etc, etc. If we listened to these people every boat would be exactly the same...

 

It's an easy trap to fall into and I've probably been guilty of it myself, but never forget it's YOUR boat.

Edited by blackrose
  • Greenie 4
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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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I was told to fit at least a hole for a bowthruster in my hull in case I wanted to fit one later in life.

I didnt have the cash so I didnt.

Yesterday, in a break in the wind, I decided to move my widebeam 2 pontoons down. (I had used another pontoon for a few days to paint the other side of my boat).

All went well...but the wind came up. Unfortunately in our marina, the "designers" decided it was fun to put huge concrete "islands" in the middle of things, which look great, but are a little frightening to navigate when the wind is pushing the nose of your widebeam in the wrong direction. Instead of doing an out and reverse manouvre, it turned into an out, and bugger...i'm going to hit the island...open throttle, and go past island...only to be blown up against the furthest mooring strip. No problem...now I have an island on my right, a swing bridge on my bow, and a wind pushing me hard left. Waited for a lull, pushed the bow out, opened up throttle and swung the boat around.....so now facing my destination pontoon...which I would now attempt bow first... Unfortunately, I'm on the end pontoon, and I have to get into a gap where I have pontoon on the left, and floating swan nests on the right....(chained to the marina floor)....and island in the way so the only way to get into the gap is to come in from an angle.....full throttle (to overcome the side wind and stop me hitting the same island), and once past the island, swing hard left, hit full reverse, and throw rope to kid on pontoon ...who will pull the boat in.....no problem......except...he missed the rope....leaving me with a full side wind pushing the widebeam against the swan nests....(oh...forgot to mention, that on the other side of the swan nests the level of the marina changes due to a weir that they built to make it safe for little kiddies to swim...so my main concern was getting blown over onto the shallows...which would have caused some damage.) I hit the throttle again....swinging the boat the opposite way...and threw another rope....this time caught...boat got pulled in..engine off.

 

Would a bow thruster have helped. Of course.

Would I buy a bow thruster. No.

  • Greenie 1
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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

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Posted

Whatever you want to do - it's your boat.

 

I just ignore the anti-BT brigade. Some people seem to have a psychological need to impose rules as to what equipment we should have on our boats, how wide they should be, what sort of toilet they should have, etc, etc. If we listened to these people every boat would be exactly the same...

 

It's an easy trap to fall into and I've probably been guilty of it myself, but never forget it's YOUR boat.

 

Yay! have a greenie, you have expressed my sentiments exactly, have said so myself on previous occasions.

 

Phil

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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Would you have a bow thruster installed if it was free?

 

To be honest the puny bowthrusters fitted to most small widebeams and narrowboats in a strong wind are usualy of the " Chocolate Fireguard " category and of no use. They are primarily to assist in coming alongside in heavy winds to for instance cushion the landing as it were if wind is blowing the boat " On " rather hard. In open water they are of little consequence. But as some people rightly say if ya want one fit one, its your money.

 

Tim

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