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I hope a few more folks will chime in with experience using only or primarily a stern thruster or who are curious and have done some experiments. Of course if more/most transient marina docks in the PAC NW used cleats instead of the devil’s spawn bull rails I probably wouldn’t care as much because I’m pretty good at stepping out of the pilothouse and lassoing a dock cleat I can use to maneuver around a spring cleat, but then I can’t change that situation so there ya go. But for example, with a starboard-to docking I could theoretically approach the dock bow in, do the clockwise spin thing to twist the bow even closer to the dock, and use a stern thruster to counteract the twist thus bringing the stern in to the dock in parallel to the twist pushing the bow toward the dock. I can pivot our boat using the twin engines but try as I might (and I’ve tried/practiced often), walking sideways using twin screws and rudders on a 4788 is not that effective. Frankly at $20k or so I can’t afford a bow thruster but at half that I could consider a stern thruster. I am curious about whether or not a 2x cost for bow vs stern thrusters brings with it a significant additional benefit. And again - my question was not meant to stimulate a discussion of thruster vs no thrusters. I agree fully with PFW and Papa Charlies postsĪs much as a I appreciate the comments and insight my original post was focused on the difference, if any, of using a bow thruster vs a stern thruster (not both). I often singlehand and use the thrusters to hold the boat against the dock when tieing up. I am never stressed now when docking because I believe that I have enough tools on hand to get the job done with damaging anything or my fragile ego. My current boat has bow and stern thrusters with handheld remote, I try to dock without using them but they are always on and ready to go and I never hesitate to use them if needed. I installed a properly sized bow thruster that winter and from that time onward, docking was much easier and not a stressful ordeal. The wind was gusting riight on my beam when trying to get into the slip and it was blowing me into the boat beside me. Later that year I was assigned a slip in the Port Sidney marina where I had to go half way down a narrow fairway and turn 90 degrees into the slip. I spent hours and hours practicing docking, even in a bit of wind and current and got to the point where I said.
Aftermarket stern thrusters dockstar professional#
When I bought my single engine trawler, I said to myself If professional fishermen and tugboat captains can learn to dock their boats without thrusters. Either way will be expensive, but you want something to show for you money and you don't want to be reminded that you cut corners or didn't get what you wanted every time you hit that switch. So if you are considering the expense of a thruster, first work through the operation, performance and sizing, then worry about cost. Mine are Westmar and very quiet and work reasonably well. Also so many are so very noisy for what they actually produce. They are not as powerful as one might think. I have seen many with bow thrusters think it will solve all their problems. If you want to enhance them then change out the rudders or see if other props may be better than what you are running. Your stern already has two large thrusters (Mains). If I were to have only one thruster, I would go with a bow thruster. But there are those extreme times where only a spring line will get me in against the dock or off of it. In this case I have used the mains and both bow and stern thrusters. But I have been in situations where current and wind were just against me in all ways. I like being able to walk my boat sideways just using the prop wash and the rudders. That all being said, I try to use my thrusters as little as possible. I am lucky in three ways, first my boat has both bow and stern, secondly a previous owner had larger rudders installed for better low speed maneuvering capability and third I have modified props that also aid in handling. Please do us a favor by clicking on, then spending a minute visiting our advertisers.
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