[andyc]

We selected a berth barely long enough for our 40-footer. As I threw the engine astern to take off way, she shimmied her hips in like a halfback making a break as the mate hopped ashore with the stern line. In the brief interlude that it took to whip in the slack and make fast, the quarter had already blown three feet off the dock and the bow was halfway to Christmas. No problem. I produced the WiFi remote control like a rabbit from a hat, hit the button that pointed to where I wanted the bow to go, and in she came. The wireless controller let me mosey up to the foredeck, keeping the bow in as needed, pick up the bow line and hand it to my pal. He made the end fast, I took in the slack and secured it, and that was that. The rest was simply details.

[Stickboy]

Without a thruster: The best short-handed scenario is often to cram the midships section alongside as best you can while the crew steps off and secures the boat with a short line from a midships cleat. On some boats this works just fine, but not on all, and the line has to be very short indeed for it to work well. Failing that solution, the conventional approach is for a solitary crewmember to hop off as best he or she can and secure a bow line. By the time this is achieved the stern is blowing away, so the crew trots aft along the dock and the skipper either throws or hands a stern line across; all very well if the boat has enough lateral resistance to stay put for a few seconds and the crew are sprightly enough to do what’s needed. A thruster, however, offers a real alternative. My friend with the big boat and his wife had developed a singular system, and we decided to give it our best shot. [links]

[bytemaster]

With a thruster: The secret is not even to try to steer the bow in. Instead, the crew scrambles off the boat with a stern line. Once this is secured, it doesn’t matter what happens because the stern won’t go anywhere. Even if the bow blows right out perpendicular to the dock, you need only power up your little friend in the bow and the boat will walk back alongside in defiance of the laws of nature.

[hughbarnard]

My initial reaction when I first saw a bow thruster on a 40-foot sailboat was to laugh my docksiders off. I’d spent a lifetime threading awkward boats with single props into tricky berths and could imagine no sensible reason for compromising sailing performance by drilling a hole the size of a baby’s head through the bow of a perfectly good boat. As thrusters became more common and I watched competent people using them, it finally dawned on me that for hard-to-handle boats, or even easy-to-handle ones stuck in marina berths from Hell, they do make sense. Then came the true moment of revelation.

[Comatus]

An alternative to spring lines more

[168virak]

Last month I spent a day playing with a hefty boat of a type I’d had problems maneuvering in the past. This one, however, had a thruster. There was even a remote wireless unit to control it with, so I had no excuse not to find out what bow thrusters can do. more

[Guybrush01]

At Sideshift we do one thing and we do it well: We take the stress out of docking your boat! Our revolutionary bow and stern thruster technology sets the standard for affordable, powerful, and easy-to-install thruster solutions for all types of boats, including monohull, pontoon, and houseboats. [links]

[kathysafari]

Since introducing the industry’s first external bow thruster in 2001, thousands of customers in over fifty countries have experienced the Sideshift difference.

[jescro]

more

[willyzg68]

[djoot]

[kashiffarooq2003]

Another benefit is the greater level of independence and confidence a thruster can offer, both to beginner and experienced boaters alike. Novice operators are more likely to actually get underway in more challenging conditions, while experienced captains can expand their options (sailing solo, for example) with greater safety. In both cases, installing a bow thruster is like recruiting a trusted crewmember, one that's always ready to lend a hand when pushing (or fending) off from a dock. A wireless control unit adds more convenience, allowing you to move around the boat while controlling the thruster. Imagine picking up that mooring ball with minimal effort (and shouting) or boarding without having to pull on a single dockline, bringing the boat to you with the push of a button.

[rjebro]

With planing hulls, being able to place a smaller-diameter tube farther forward may even be enough to locate the tube so that it's completely out of the water while the vessel is underway, which reduces both drag and fuel consumption. Finally, a smaller, shorter tube has less water inside it, which reduces weight, increases buoyancy, and improves fuel economy.

[mizerydearia]

An example of a thruster battery and charger installation. here

[hidden_citizen]

While each of these systems will work if properly designed, the choice typically boils down to installation obstacles, space, and expense (the cost of those heavy cables as compared to a dedicated battery and charger, for example). [links]

[rfugger]

Selecting a unit that's powerful enough to meet your performance requirements while matching the characteristics of your boat (type, size, hull shape) is crucial to getting the most benefit from your installation. Thruster performance is determined primarily by a vessel's windage and correct thruster location. Vessel weight is not typically a major factor in thruster selection for pleasure craft, unless they routinely operate in areas where the thruster will be constantly needed to counter strong currents or winds. more

[bitplane]

Calculating wind, ocean current, tides, and other crafts' presence creates a chaotic three-dimensional dilemma in the brain, wishing you had the mind of an Apollo space astronaut. With one or more thrusters onboard, you gain one of the most critical factors to reduce stress while docking, which is time. Time to orient yourself, time to consider and plan, and time to wait for others! more

[sstsf]

The right thruster is energy efficient, quiet and powerful enough to help you in the worst possible conditions when the thruster is needed the most. here

[TheOddShot]

A bow or stern thruster that cannot deliver adequate thrust when you get caught in windy conditions while docking when you genuinely need the assistance of a thruster to control the vessel is undoubtedly a poor investment. [links]

[paulhickey103]

Here we will primarily address bow and stern thrusters with 12 and 24 VDC operating voltage. For AC electric and hydraulic bow and stern thrusters, you can download a dedicated pdf here →