Bow Thrusters

[Ray]

I'm thinking ahead and sooner or later our Safari will need to be lifted to repaint the hull. I believe I'm right in thinking that once a hull has been painted it needs redoing every few years.

My main question though is have you, or anyone you know of, fitted a bow thruster to a Hampton Safari? Given it's size and shape I wonder how practicle it is to have fitted and how effective it would be once installed?

[BroadAmbition]

Hi Ray, when you say the hull needs repainting do you mean above or below the waterline, or both?

A bow thruster on a Hampton? - well why not?  best ask round a few of the yards to see if it has or can be done, or how about asking on their owners club forum if any of them have such items fitted and how they get on with them

Griff

[Ray]

Good idea about the owners club Griff, thank you. Although only 25 feet they can be a bit of a menace to manoeuvre, once you combine the poor visibility reversing and the way wind affects them. In every other way she is the perfect boat for us but as our joints are just starting to get a bit creaky a means of mooring that doesn't involve my better half leaping ashore to an uncertain landing may prove a boon and less of a drain on the NHS 

The hull painting really is me just guessing from things I have read and half understand  Above the water line still looks pretty good, a few fender scuffs etc but clean and presentable (it's white by the way) but I thought it was recommended that below the water line should be cleaned/painted/ anti fouled regularly, although I have little idea about what's involved or how often!

[BroadAmbition]

It depends on which anti foul you use.  We jet wash / scrub,  repair if required then re anti-foul every two years with as little time out of thee water as we can get away with.  Fibre glass hulls should be dried out thoroughly as a rule of thumb but no hard and fast rules

Griff

[Ray]

Thanks Griff.

[C.Ricko]

you only need to repaint the hull if you think the hull needs repainting, it will not harm the fibreglass if it is left. 

if the previous job was of a decent quality 2 pack paint you would be amazed at how well you can bring the finish back. once a single pack paint is used it is difficult to use a 2 pack in the future and it won't wear as well. 

without looking i would think that you would struggle to get a bow thruster deep enough in the water and you would need to raise the floor in the saloon.

[Ray]

I see what you mean about the thruster, I've put a question to the owners club so it will be interesting to see if anyone has tried!

Sounds like I can leave the paint for the time being at least, thanks.

[JennyMorgan]

Ray, seriously, do you really need a bow thruster on a 25ft boat? Useful single handed, I'll grant you that but otherwise maybe not. A boat hook is a far cheaper alternative!

Re painting the hull, I do mine when it looks tatty. I use Whithams flexible marine white, lot cheaper than International (what isn't) and it remains white. I apply it with small, foam roller, I can do a 28 footer in less than half an hour per side and it looks really good. One advantage of a roller is that if I do get scruffed then I can patch the paintwork & unlike using a brush you'll be very hard pushed to see where I have made good. Two pot is probably more durable but its far harder to maintain & touch up. 

[Ray]

Good question about the thruster! The biggest problem is our home mooring, Herbert Woods at Potter. No complaints about the Marina, it's very nice, the people are friendly and helpful and it is near home. But like all Marina berths room to manoeuvre is limited and even though with a Mk 3 I can go into my bay forward or stern on it just always goes wrong lol My lovely wife and sole crew member (the Admiral) can only step ashore with the boat close alongside either side or stern. I tend to get almost in to the point where our younger selves would just jump down with the ropes, but it's not close enough anymore and by the time we have hesitated the wind is taking us off. Getting into position a second time is never as easy as the first shot where you have time to choose the best line and things quickly descend to something distinctly pear shaped.

Married 40 years ago this week but if we can't sort out mooring we won't see a 41st anniversary!!! (Probably )

[Guest]

In an ideal world I would certainly fit a bow thruster to our Safari, and I have seen a few advertised in the past with them fitted so it is possible. Wont be cheap but I would think similar to fitting a new engine, you will get approx half the cost back as an uplift on the value at resale time. (wont be as expensive as a new engine though!)

Our topsides are gelcoat, but the hull is painted, it was last done by the previous owners in 2013 using International Toplac and it still looks really good 5 years on

[Hylander]

2 hours ago, 40something said:

In an ideal world I would certainly fit a bow thruster to our Safari, and I have seen a few advertised in the past with them fitted so it is possible. Wont be cheap but I would think similar to fitting a new engine, you will get approx half the cost back as an uplift on the value at resale time. (wont be as expensive as a new engine though!)

Our topsides are gelcoat, but the hull is painted, it was last done by the previous owners in 2013 using International Toplac and it still looks really good 5 years on

We thought that when we had a bow thruster fitted cost about £4,500 plus a electric winch another £3.,500.    Did we get our money back , no ,  so dont expect it.    Just put it down to making your life easier and enjoy yourself.

[LondonRascal]

Bow thrusters eh? Well how about having a boat a foot shorter than a Hampton and having one? That is what Trixie is fitted with and I think it is all about what makes you comfortable as an owner and boater. If I had bought Trixie and it did not come with a bow thruster I would not consider having one fitted but that is just me.

Simon, my stepdad has not much experience of boat handling and has never hired a boat on the Broads and now is getting to grips with one for the first time. He relies on the thruster and drives the boat as if a car and expects the front to go where he wants it to.  I will show him over time how to be less reliant on a thruster and still manage the boat easily.

Bear in mind that the standard off the shelf thruster will need a lot of thought on where it could be mounted, I am sure there would be a lot more GRP work as the Hampton has a shallow draft and not much space for a 'tunnel' to be created. Some Bounty forward steer boats have had thrusters fitted but there not really 'bow' thrusters and they have had to be mounted a fair way from the bow.  I just think you could gain so much in other areas of improvement you could enjoy for the thousands it would cost to fit an aid to manoeuvring the boat.

I don't know how bad your hull is cosmetically - I am guessing it is not original gel and has been painted previously? If however it is original gel and has never been painted but if you can get away without painting it all the better. 

I have been truly amazed at the standard George has achieved at Ludham Bridge Boatyard on both the hull and superstructure on Trixie. Using a lot of time, and various methods from wet sanding to course and then finer and finer compounds with a power polisher, to then moving to Polymer polishes and finally a Carnauba based Wax the tired, rough and stained gel coat is now gleaming brilliant bright white. So much so I have asked him to do the entire cockpit area as this now looks cream and tired in comparison to the outside surfaces.

It is not cheap because you are paying for time, just as painting is not cheap not because of the materials but the sheer amount of preparation time to the surface to get a professional lasting finish. 

Everyone is different, but I would have Trixie out the water every two years for the anti-foul to be re-applied. I also specified a hard 'coastal' anti-foul suitable for performance boats, because this tends to work very well on the Broads and does not peal, crack or flake as much as some. I can tell the performance  increase from half an inch of growth on the hull to smooth clean hull has. Even at river speeds a lot of growth on a hull produces more drag, and that just means your use more revs to overcome this and thus burn more fuel. You can get yards who will do a all in one package of lift out, pressure wash, repaint of anti-foul and put back in for a set price based on your boats size. Sabena Marine  in Wroxham are one of the best value at £331.00 for a 25ft boat.

 

 

[Guest]

 

19 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

I have been truly amazed at the standard George has achieved at Ludham Bridge Boatyard on both the hull and superstructure on Trixie. Using a lot of time, and various methods from wet sanding to course and then finer and finer compounds with a power polisher, to then moving to Polymer polishes and finally a Carnauba based Wax the tired, rough and stained gel coat is now gleaming brilliant bright white. So much so I have asked him to do the entire cockpit area as this now looks cream and tired in comparison to the outside surfaces.

Sounds like the sort of TLC my gelcoat needs, I would be interested to know what the cost was, although I only need the superstructure doing.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Hylander said:

We thought that when we had a bow thruster fitted cost about £4,500 plus a electric winch another £3.,500.    Did we get our money back , no ,  so dont expect it.    Just put it down to making your life easier and enjoy yourself.

I agree you cant rely on it, and there is a limit on what any particular boat type will sell for  but its a 'big ticket' item on the spec sheet which will help to sell the boat one way or another, it certainly isn't going to harm the value.

[Ray]

Well the cost of having it fitted was an eye opener, I plucked a figure out of thin air as I do when I don't know what I'm talking about and was thinking about £2k.

Spending 25 to 30 percent of the boat's overall value needs some consideration, despite it making her worth a little more, if/when I come to sell there is a limit to how much a small 1975 boat is ever going to make.

I'd spend that much on a necessity but I'm not so sure about a luxury (unless I win the lottery)

Excellent advice all round concerning painting and anti fouling... I'd hate to think of how often I'd have got things wrong and how much money I would have wasted without all you great forum members and your friendly, helpful and freely given help and advice. Thank you one and all 

[finny]

I can remember a good few years past watch a conversation on the hampton owners forum with regards bow thrusters and like Clive has said( and he also would be in the know )there are problems - hamptons only have a draft of 2ft 6 the general feeling was that they would not be effective , that said that was years past and i guess products coming into the market place also change.so it may pay to do some homework 

I can also remember having the conversation with Dave who runs Broadsedge in the pub about how tricky hamptons was with a bit of breeze - he said it didnt need a bow thruster .....i need to learn how to control the boat  so the next day he took the boat out of the berth then on to the main river and then down the long dyke down to the service bay - BACKWARDS .........oh and he smoked then so he rolled a fag in the process  

i didnt by a bow thruster but i did buy the drinks all that night in the pub 

 

finny

[Ray]

It's amazing what a skilled helm can do! The answer I think must be that it's some kind of magic they use! 

[LondonRascal]

6 hours ago, 40something said:

Sounds like the sort of TLC my gelcoat needs, I would be interested to know what the cost was, although I only need the superstructure doing.

I'd give George a call on 01692 631 011 since he will have a good idea of what work is needed for Hampton. Once it is done it makes keeping it clean a lot easier, and will bring the boat to life. Only ever wash with a suitable boat wash and wax to maintain the finish - 'washing up liquid' will strip polishes and waxes.

[ZimbiIV]

If paint/gel coat is looking dull, I recommend, hand polishing with Farcela G10 then using Mer finishing wax hard work but not as aggressive as machine polishing.

Regards bow thruster ,never wanted one then bought a boat with one, now regard it like power steering, you can do without but a hell of a lot easier with!

paul

[Islander]

Our mooring at St Olaves means reversing past 5 other boats before I can turn around. Was the 4K worth it. Of cause it was. I may have been around boats from my teenage years and lived aboard for the past 17 but that does not mean I'm proficient at trying to handle a 35' boat with a side wind in a narrow channel.

Also, as a lot of others here, we are not getting any younger. Arthritis has taken its toll and I need to get our boats fenders touching the quay head before Ruth can get off to moor up.

If a bow thruster can be fitted then get one it will make life so much easier. My next purchase will be a winch for the mud weight.

Colin

[gancanny]

 

    we had a thruster fitted to our 37ft bathtub last year and it is a godsend,    we are both over 70 so now we look for the easy way

  of doing most things

                               the cost was no where near £4500,   sorry M

 

[Ray]

Good to know and glad you're pleased with it. Can I ask where you had it done please?

[boycee]

Ring Robert at Sutton Staithe boatyard and he will give you a quote for a bowthruster for your Hampton. Tel:- 01692 581653

Boycee

[gancanny]

Good to know and glad you're pleased with it. Can I ask where you had it done please?

 

 

      we had ours done at  SIMPSONS.    stalham

 

[Guest]

Never had one not even on a 57' narrow boat n they don't turn easy , didn't have one on a powles 33 nor on  my current boat , sure they make life easier but its a lot of cash for not much resale value n the wind and the tide are free .

Horses for courses I guess , some love em I consider it cheating n don't want one , that probably comes from seeing way too many people over using them when a little more knowledge n skill would achieve exactly the same effect .