Bow Thruster Guidance

[Broads01]

Having been hiring for many years and well practiced at boat handling, for the first time in my life I'm out to hire a boat equipped with bow thrusters. I've no doubt they'll come in handy for coming alongside and leaving side-on moorings. However, I imagine myself sitting at the helm for the first time and thinking  "What the heck do I do with these?". When should I use them and when should I not? Are they useful for stern moorings or for turning a boat around? How are they powered? Is there anything I need to be careful about? 

[Wyndham]

Be prepared to develop a thick skin as you'll be called girly, or double girly if you are a girl. 

[JawsOrca]

You use them at every possible moment including turning in the river, basically there is no need at all for the use the rudder...

[Malanka]

Oh dear 

 

 

[Siddy]

As Kaz says have you turned the super boosters on, Kaz does the ropes and for her it takes the panic out of mooring for her as she can get off the rear get a rope on and I can hold the front with a press of the boosters as required. If Kaz is happy my ears are happy.

And if you've both bow & stern like the RC45's then take out of gear & a bit of extra revs or it stalls and it nearly spins on the spot, no it's not cool to do it front of the bridge in Wroxham (ok it is).

 

[Cockatoo]

4 hours ago, Wyndham said:

Be prepared to develop a thick skin as you'll be called girly, or double girly if you are a girl. 

The irony is that the people calling you will no doubt have a motorboat.

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Simon 

I've been hiring for 43 years and happily use bow thrusters. All Swancraft boats had them. Good get out of jail card, can be a big help in tricky situations. Swancraft found that their boats suffered much less damage after they were fitted. 

Just been out on Tower Bridge with thrusters. Very useful bit of kit. No worries from me. Enjoy! 

 

[Guest]

Well I'm not the biggest fan of them but they have their uses and as much as I've a motor cruiser I don't knock those that have them , what I do knock is folk who use them excessively such as using it instead of the rudder .

One thing I would say to anyone is don't rely on it , it's there to assist not substitute skills , I've have friend with a 58 foot narrow boat that became so dependent on his bow thruster that come the day the fuse blew he was completely lost as to sailing his boat , after putting the said boat back on his berth for him he and I went out a few times In his boat and he learned to use the wind and the prop walking effect to his advantage , after that the thruster lead a much more relaxing life so much so he almost forgot he had one , PS don't forget the tides on the broads also will help with mooring .

[MauriceMynah]

I very much agree with Ricardo here. the bow thruster is not a rudder substitute (I'm sure an earlier comment suggesting it was, was tongue in cheek)  as it will have little effect when the boat is under way. At least that's what I've been told.

Norfolk Nog's comment re Swancraft is also important. If a bow thruster stops one boat from hitting another one, it's got to be a good thing.

I can imagine all sorts of situations where a bow thruster would be helpful and have never really understood why anyone would disparage their use. As I understand it, they are rather power hungry and that's the only thing I'd  keep in mind, so best not to use it unless the engine is running.

[Vaughan]

The golden rule is that you can only use the thruster when the boat itself is stationary.

Steering the boat is what the rudder is for!

They can be helpful in holding the bow up to the wind when mooring stern on and especially, when trying to leave a mooring and the wind is blowing you on to a lee shore.

The best ones are hydraulic, if the boat has hydraulic drive.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

5 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

The golden rule is that you can only use the thruster when the boat itself is stationary.

Steering the boat is what the rudder is for!

They can be helpful in holding the bow up to the wind when mooring stern on and especially, when trying to leave a mooring and the wind is blowing you on to a lee shore.

The best ones are hydraulic, if the boat has hydraulic drive.

I`ve recently read somewhere that hydraulic ones are less effective at low revs because the power of the thruster reduces due to the reduced power from a slower engine powered pump. As i said, i read this, but have no first hand experience, BUT the person reporting this had, or did have a share in Gooseander which has a hydraulic thruster. Lightning his an electric one, and always has the same power when the engine is being charged.

All that said, i willingly stand to be corrected.

[JawsOrca]

I would be interested what the yards do advise. Norfolk used to be the sound of unsilenced BMC's and perkins but often it's overpowered now by the sound of bow thrusters. 

Yeah of course they are cool, on the broom we have erm both and twin engines so clearly the boat can pretty much do whatever you want it to do which does mean we can go out even when it's blowing a gale.

Although it's a hireboat and the chances of them failing are pretty slim (apart from some problems where the engine needs to be rev'd for the hydraulic ones) but as mentioned they are clearly an aid, as others mentioned the worst thing you can do is start to rely on them. 

Please don't over use them as trying to turn a boat at 6kts in the river dinne work and it just makes the helmsmen look uncool... (comments aimed at general readership and not OP ;) )

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I find it very easy to steer 43ft of Lightning in reverse, but only at very slow speed. Excellent when reversing into a stern on mooring, as Vaughn mentioned above.

[Vaughan]

The trick with a hydraulic thruster is to adjust the tick-over so that it will not stall the engine when in neutral. On a Nanni or Beta, about 900RPM will do fine. When in neutral you can always pull the button to disengage the gears and then rev up in neutral, to give more power to the thruster. 

If you want good power to the thruster, it has to come from somewhere and on a Nanni you only have a 40HP engine, so naturally it will reduce the power available to the shaft. So you will notice that astern gear is much less effective when using the thruster, unless you rev up more than usual.

An electric thruster also has to get its power from somewhere, and they take a lot of it!  So when the alternator is running flat out to provide the power to the thruster, it is also taking over 5HP off the engine.

This may all sound complicated but bow thrusters are not as simple as they seem. the boat's mechanics have to be designed to accept them and the helmsman has to be trained in using them in conjunction with the proper handling of the boat itself.

In my opinion the average Broads hire boat, especially the older ones, has been well designed for the job and the bow thruster, although a fun toy to play with, is not necessary on small boats.

[Broads01]

Thanks for all the replies, I feel better informed now. Yes I was already aware of the fact they're just an aid and only use them when necessary. I wasn't sure about stern mooring but I'll feel OK about using them in that situation now. We shall be north Broads only for this break so unless its particularly windy I can't see myself needing them very much but we'll see. 

[ZimbiIV]

I bet all those that decry bow thrusters have power steering on their cars!

paul

[Vaughan]

5 minutes ago, ZimbiIV said:

I bet all those that decry bow thrusters have power steering on their cars!

Actually I don't but I suggest that the analogy is not quite the same.

Power steering does not require any extra expertise on the part of the driver, whereas a bow thruster does.

[ZimbiIV]

Vaughan, it was sarcasm.

I have a bow thruster but seldom use it.

What is never mentioned is if you use an electric one a lot when mooring, is to leave the engine ticking over for quarter of an hour to replenish the battery.

paul

[dnks34]

I can see that going down well!

[Broads01]

Blimey, are the electric ones that power hungry?

[dnks34]

They are but ive never had an issue in the all the years we have had one and certainly never needed to run the engine after mooring up! 

Think it was a joke!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ZimbiIV said:

Vaughan, it was sarcasm.

I have a bow thruster but seldom use it.

What is never mentioned is if you use an electric one a lot when mooring, is to leave the engine ticking over for quarter of an hour to replenish the battery.

paul

Ticking over ? What's the alternator output at tick over ? Answer not a lot + doesn't do the engine any favours , run it at 1200 rpm and it will replenish the amount used faster , then again don't over use the device in the first place 

[dnks34]

An electric thruster unit usually has an automatic shut down feature which will kick in after a set period of running to prevent overheating.  I think ours is around 2 minutes of constant use according to the book but in all honesty ive never had it do it as you only ever need short bursts to achieve the desired direction.

But its worth remembering if the wind is much more than a breeze the bow thruster probably wont be strong enough to be much use, it will just be an expensive battery draining blender!

[VetChugger]

My previous boat, "Glenmore", had a bowthruster with its own battery arrangement all very neatly done up in the bows. Also on its own charging circuit. Only downside, if used, was the decibel level of the thing! Was at Barton Turf one time and a crew mate used it to get out of a bit of trouble! There was a protest swim past by every duck, swan, coot, moorhen and a special delegation from the piscatorial residents!

 

[Wonderwall]

I'm about to hire a boat (Pacific Diamond) with bow thrusters for the first time. I have hired boats of various sizes and shapes many many times , and with experience have learned to use the wind and tide to my advantage. I do suspect that at first, this new to me aid, will probably catch me out , it's the fear of the unknown!! My plan is to find a quiet spot on the first day and try out my new toy.

My usual tactic, when coming in side on , is to bring the stern on line late in the manoeuvre with a sharp blast of the revs . I suspect I will use the thrusters more for leaving a mooring . My young lad will no doubt master it before me and keep me right ! Old dog, new tricks type of thing!,