boathealer
Guru
The marina we are currently in has a very narrow fairway. Over the last two months, I have watched probably 30+ boats of every variety come in and out - some with interesting 'entanglements' (my swim platform ladder included in one of them ).
What has struck me after watching them all, is the large variation in effectiveness of different bow thrusters - apparently having nothing to do with the thruster itself.
It appears, from my anecdotal data, that one of the primary components of effectiveness is the depth of the props from the surface of the water (DUH). I just watched a Beneteau 40-something trawler come in and while the thruster was wailing at full power and water was absolutely thrashing about at the surface, very little power was being imparted to moving the hull at all. It was obvious that the props were not very far into the water.
Other boats, some with proportional control operating at MUCH less than full power, barely needed any effort from the thruster motor to get the bow swinging around. The current at the water surface indicated that the props were indeed very low underwater.
If anyone is installing a bow thruster, making sure the props are WELL below the water surface would be a good parameter to consider - likely more so than just the raw kW of the thruster motor. Deeper is better, maybe to the point of not being worth anything if it is too shallow.
What has struck me after watching them all, is the large variation in effectiveness of different bow thrusters - apparently having nothing to do with the thruster itself.
It appears, from my anecdotal data, that one of the primary components of effectiveness is the depth of the props from the surface of the water (DUH). I just watched a Beneteau 40-something trawler come in and while the thruster was wailing at full power and water was absolutely thrashing about at the surface, very little power was being imparted to moving the hull at all. It was obvious that the props were not very far into the water.
Other boats, some with proportional control operating at MUCH less than full power, barely needed any effort from the thruster motor to get the bow swinging around. The current at the water surface indicated that the props were indeed very low underwater.
If anyone is installing a bow thruster, making sure the props are WELL below the water surface would be a good parameter to consider - likely more so than just the raw kW of the thruster motor. Deeper is better, maybe to the point of not being worth anything if it is too shallow.