Fitting a retrospective bow thruster

[heyjude999]

Our mooring is extremely difficult to get into, plus on a couple of occasions the wind has caused us significant damage to the boat.

Yesterday trying to get in to our mooring frankly was such a nightmare we are considering moving it was that bad!

When the boat was built we did not have a bow thruster fitted but are now thinking is could be possible, what would be involved and how much would it be?

What needs to be considered?

I would welcome any advice you can offer.

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, heyjude999 said:

Our mooring is extremely difficult to get into, plus on a couple of occasions the wind has caused us significant damage to the boat.

Yesterday trying to get in to our mooring frankly was such a nightmare we are considering moving it was that bad!

When the boat was built we did not have a bow thruster fitted but are now thinking is could be possible, what would be involved and how much would it be?

What needs to be considered?

I would welcome any advice you can offer.

I would simply change mooring. Most bowthrusters are too puny to make any discernable difference in high winds anyway. A hydraulic thruster would be better but cost a fortune to retro fit.

If you must have one even though they are rarely of any use it would probably be easier to sell your boat and downgrade to a boat fitted with one.

[heyjude999]

Thank you, want to explore more as we both work near the mooring and there are no other moorings for miles making the daily commute onerous.

Our friends came in to their mooring with their bow thruster with no issue grrrr.

[Jess--]

sometimes a change as simple as moving from one side of a pontoon to the other can make all the difference for being able to get into a mooring as for any given place there will be one direction that the wind usually comes from, in the case of our marina the wind usually comes from the south (in 3 years I have only once had the wind coming from a different direction when trying to moor).

our mooring is on the right of the pontoon (south side) and has never presented a problem to get the boat into (even if the approach angle is interesting), our neighbours who both moor on the left of the pontoons (north side) and often cannot get into their moorings

[Tony Brooks]

Do you know how to use a spring line to get your boat alongside?

I admit its probably not a lot of use on much less than full length moorings but when I single hand into my berth, usually in reverse, on occasions I have ended up with the stern against the pontoon and the bow sitting against the next line of boats. As long as you are not fully home into your berth running the centre line well forward and fixing it to the pontoon and the applying reverse should gradually pull the boat alongside the mooring. You may have to shorten the line several times and in strong winds you may need plenty of revs.

Its the same when coming in forwards except you run the line backwards and drive forwards.

I find reversing in using this technique easier because  as long as I can get the stern alongside i can step off and deal with the lines.

While talking about spring lines the services berth at our marina is somewhat restricted lengthwise so its hard to get the boat away when the wind is blowing onto the side of the boat. I move the boat well back on the wharf and run the stern line a meter or so forward and take a turn around a bollard. Applying reverse while holding the line springs the bow well clear of other boats so a flick of the line releases it ready to turn away from the wharf.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Tony Brooks
addeed drive forwards to para 3

[Neil2]

I'll have a go a guesstimating the cost, say £6-8k depending on whether you want electric or hydraulic, weed hatch access etc.  But I'm sure you could end up spending £10k on a retro fit.

Every marina in the country is difficult to get in and out of on a windy day, we can all sympathise, but how often do you have to do it?  In our case it's maybe four times a year.  However difficult it might be that wouldn't justify the cost of a bowthruster.  

The other problem with bowthrusters is -  you see this all the time - people get to rely on them and forget how to handle the boat properly. 

And they sound awful.

[blackrose]

On most canals and marinas someone standing on the bow with a pole will be just as good if not better than a bowthruster. I have a bowthruster because I move a big boat single handed and it does make things a bit easier in certain situations - but it won't help much in high winds (or currents). Most BTs fitted to NBs wouldn't be powerful enough to deal with high winds.

[dor]

When my shell was being built I had a BT tube fitted.  My thinking was that some time in the future when I was getting old and feeble I might have need of one.  Last year I had the tube removed as it just caused loads of condensation and I reckon I would only need to use it once a year as I think I can handle my boat pretty well.  If it did become a struggle, then we would probably downsize to a 40ft boat or similar.

You need to ask yourself some questions based on whether you really need it.  In my opinion, if the wind is strong enough to need to use a BT, then the sort fitted to narrowboats probably won't be strong enough anyway.  I can think of better things to do with the money.

[GUMPY]

Can we assume the boat is not a narrowboat and has an 85hp engine?

[alan_fincher]

3 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Can we assume the boat is not a narrowboat and has an 85hp engine?

Probably, I think.

[heyjude999]

Widebeam 58ft x 10ft6in

[Tony Brooks]

Springs will work better than on a narrowboat. Greater perpendicular distance between prop and line fixing.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Tony Brooks