Adding a bow thruster?

[Cadence]

Hang a trolling motor off your bow.

[Captndave1]

I skippered a 60 ft Little Harbor for three years and it had a bow thruster, but I never used it. I have docked the boat in some very tight places by using the prop torque. Good boat handling skills comes with practice and determination. Btw, I have never put a scratch on any boat I have handled in about 100,00 thousand miles of sailing. Practice, practice, practice.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Captndave1

I skippered a 60 ft Little Harbor for three years and it had a bow thruster, but I never used it. I have docked the boat in some very tight places by using the prop torque. Good boat handling skills comes with practice and determination. Btw, I have never put a scratch on any boat I have handled in about 100,00 thousand miles of sailing. Practice, practice, practice.

Bravo!

[Puget Dan]

I added Yachat thruster external bow thruster to our 38" trimaran two years ago and it made all the difference. Bought it at the Feb. boat show here in Seattle and installed it my self. Had some help from the yard we store it on the hard for winter. Look up the utube video. Total cost with install help was $6500.

[buzzstar]

With all the discussions about backing and docking difficulty, it is difficult to say bow thrusters are inappropriate for any and all vessels below a certain size. If it seems worthwhile and affordable to you, you should consider it. I so not think there is an across the board answer for this or many things related to sailing and cruising. If you can believe it, even boat selection is a personal choice, as are most pieces of equipment once applicable legal requirements are satisfied.

[spaman]

At the insistence of "she who must be obeyed" (ie my crew), I had a bowthruster installed on my Beneteau Oceanis 393 five years ago. I rarely use it, but on those few necessary occasions I am extremely thankful it's there. It is seldom used when Med mooring, but the narrow passage into my marina berth can be very tricky and I always have it switched on in case. It is a great stress reliever.
The total cost including batteries was approx. €5000-5500 with the unit supplied and fitted by Vetus in Piraeus (who were fantastic, creative and professional).
The installation was somewhat complicated due to the layout of this model. The usual access/positioning would be under the V-berth (which the 393 doesn't have), so that if the tunnel was installed in front of the forward head, it is too close to the waterline and creates a cavitation problem as well as increasing the likelihood of sundry flotsam being sucked into the tunnel and damaging the propeller. It was decided to cut into the hull and mould/glass the tunnel in so that it actually protrudes below the natural shape of the hull bottom by about half of the tunnel diameter. The difference in sailing performance is negligible and would be hard to spot.
My only regret/error was in agreeing to modify the chain locker to accommodate a ledge to support the 2 batteries required. This meant reducing the size of the locker with a forward facing slope. I naively thought the chain would happily slide down the slope, but instead it tends to mountain up, necessitating having to stop hauling up the anchor every 10m or so to redistribute the chain in the locker.

[EWOL Props]

Certainly I would not buy a bow thruster for that size of boat. Install a feathering propeller, you will save at least 3000$ compared to your idea and achieve a much much better maneuverability. I can give you plenty of references ! Just ask

Originally Posted by landlockedsquid

I hope this is the correct forum for this question.
My question is about adding a bow thruster to a boat that doesn't have one. Is this possible? Has anybody attempted to do this? How did it work out? About how much do you think it would cost?

[chris07732]

Would love to hear how variable pitch props aid maneuverability? Do tell

[msponer]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Would love to hear how variable pitch props aid maneuverability? Do tell

Steve Dashew mentions it in his Cruising Encyclopedia. It allows you to control the direction and amount of prop walk.

I know folks who over pitched their MaxProp just to have more walk.

We have a controllable pitch prop, but haven't gotten that advanced with it. The most I've done is set it to minimize walk so I could back up in a straight line.

[EWOL Props]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Would love to hear how variable pitch props aid maneuverability? Do tell

Oh yes ! This is a well known feature of feathering propellers, you can ask anybody having one and I can give you plenty of examples (basically all of my customers are an example).

Why that ?
Fixed and folding propellers are designed to have one leading edge (water in) and one trailing edge (water out), if this direction is respected they are efficient.
If instead the water flow is opposite (it's the case when in reverse when the sense of rotation passes from left to right or vice-versa, the water comes in from the trailing edge and water out from the leading edge) then the efficiency is strongly reduced
The reduction of efficiency causes the prop to reduce its axial thrust (backwards) and increase the radial thrust (causing prop walk) see image of the fixed prop left

Now let's come to feathering propellers
They flip blades of 180 degrees when passing from forward to reverse, this is a smart trick because this way the water always comes in from the leading edge
So it's like installing one propeller only to go forward and another (opposite) propeller to go in reverse !

The improvement of efficiency in reverse is huge ! With an EWOL Prop boat's stopping time reduced of 50%-80%, prop walk is reduced 50%-70% (depends on original prop type).

[StuM]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Would love to hear how variable pitch props aid maneuverability? Do tell

Just ask any of the new, single-post members who have suddenly popped up recently on CF to spruik for EWOL with amazing claims for hugely increased speed both under power and sail, far better manouverability, much lower fuel consumption and better looking girlfriends.
.
.
.
.
.
(OK, maybe I got the last one wrong).

[msponer]

Originally Posted by StuM

Just ask any of the new, single-post members who have suddenly popped up recently on CF to spruik for EWOL with amazing claims for hugely increased speed both under power and sail, far better manouverability, much lower fuel consumption and better looking girlfriends.
.
.
.
.
.
(OK, maybe I got the last one wrong).

Oh, duh, I confused variable and controllable. Ignore what I said.

[EWOL Props]

Originally Posted by StuM

Just ask any of the new, single-post members who have suddenly popped up recently on CF to spruik for EWOL with amazing claims for hugely increased speed both under power and sail, far better manouverability, much lower fuel consumption and better looking girlfriends.
.
.
.
.
.
(OK, maybe I got the last one wrong).

Hahaha ! Thank you for your comment.... we'll look into that last feature for new future releases

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Would love to hear how variable pitch props aid maneuverability? Do tell

I can see where a true variable pitch prop might for prop walk. I have only seen one and the guy had it custom made in Denmark and shipped to the US. Not what you would call an off the shelf item. A thruster would probably be cheaper and more effective for a docking aide.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Captndave1

I skippered a 60 ft Little Harbor for three years and it had a bow thruster, but I never used it. I have docked the boat in some very tight places by using the prop torque. Good boat handling skills comes with practice and determination. Btw, I have never put a scratch on any boat I have handled in about 100,00 thousand miles of sailing. Practice, practice, practice.

Good boat handling skills are all well and good, but. . . I sailed all kinds of boats under 50' without a bow thruster for decades, and never missed it. But having had one now, I would never disparage anyone's desire to have one. The value of the increased control and manoeuvrability is impossible to overstate.

Sent from my D6633 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app