Thruster Upgrades on a Camano Troll - Convince me not to do it

[Jeff F]

P.S., spring off the dock, some of you might be thinking, when wind pins you to dock, but I have not found a way to do this in a Camano single-handing.

That doesn't mean there isn't a way. I'm quite certain there are folks here who can offer advice on how to improve and leverage those skills.

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[SteveK]

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P.S., spring off the dock, some of you might be thinking, when wind pins you to dock, but I have not found a way to do this in a Camano single-handing.

A thought.
If the picture of your boat is at your normal dock, I can see single handed very difficult. But if you were to find someone on the docks to help.

Add fenders to the bow area, untie all lines except bow line which is held fast by dock person. Steer hard starboard, forward gear as needed to pivot against dock until you can back away. Dock person releases line which if attached to boat you retrieve once safely backed away. (you could use floating line for this).
If you had stern thruster that could be used as well.

 

[jhance]

Yes, that's springing off the dock. Great with two people. I'm all ears if someone can tell me how to do that single-handed, on my boat, and without having lines in the water. You might save me $37K, lol!

A thought.
If the picture of your boat is at your normal dock, I can see single handed very difficult. But if you were to find someone on the docks to help.

Add fenders to the bow area, untie all lines except bow line which is held fast by dock person. Steer hard starboard, forward gear as needed to pivot against dock until you can back away. Dock person releases line which if attached to boat you retrieve once safely backed away. (you could use floating line for this).
If you had stern thruster that could be used as well.

 

[rslifkin]

A good strong bow thruster can be handy on boats where the bow blows off badly. But outside of the pin the boat to the dock case when single handing, I don't think of a stern thruster as being nearly as useful.

For springing off, do you have a spring cleat you can get to quickly from the helm? If so, you can re rig some lines before departure. The line you'll use to spring off goes from the boat around the back end of a dock cleat and back to the boat. You undo the other lines, use that line to kick the stern out, step out to quickly release it and pop it free of the dock chat and back off. Easier with 2 people, but possible with 1 if your cleat placement allows.

 

[Jeff F]

Yes, that's springing off the dock. Great with two people. I'm all ears if someone can tell me how to do that single-handed, on my boat, and without having lines in the water. You might save me $37K, lol!

Just as SteveK described, but replace the helper with a quick release hitch on the dock. Take the tail to the helm, and tug to release. You can either let it trail in the water as you back out, or pull in the line to your helm position to keep it out of the water.

There are a few hitches that are useful. Here's one that can be used on a post. https://youtu.be/zNKWqAktLU8

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[fgarriso]

30 years of practice and I'm still finding many situations where I want a stern thruster.

If you have 30 years in and still having problems, and wanting a stern thruster then by all means get one!

Ask Dave about his he installed it himself.

 

[Bmarler]

It doesn’t matter what other people think you should do, do what you want.
Personally, I’d add the stern thruster first, then try it out for a while. The only downside might be that you don’t get the pin to dock function that might be handy for a single handler.

I have to laugh a little about the boat handling discussions here. My wife has some friends that have a new 45 foot cruisers yacht, they were lamenting the fact that the next model year had a self docking feature that theirs didn’t have.

 

[CamoPirate]

I have to laugh a little about the boat handling discussions here.

the whole " improve your skills" comment is a ridiculous flex. I laugh as well.

the 2 captains I got my sea time doing deliveries with each have a million miles under the keel and 100 panama canal transits, both are fans of thrusters. If it makes the job easier and safer do it. the whole I am salty attitude is lame.

improving your skills is a life long attitute that applies to everything, it isn't an excuse to not use availble tools or options.

 

[rslifkin]

the whole " improve your skills" comment is a ridiculous flex. I laugh as well.

the 2 captains I got my sea time doing deliveries with each have a million miles under the keel and 100 panama canal transits, both are fans of thrusters. If it makes the job easier and safer do it. the whole I am salty attitude is lame.

improving your skills is a life long attitute that applies to everything, it isn't an excuse to not use availble tools or options.

If the thrusters are there, making effective use of them is good skills. But if the thrusters aren't currently present, it's worth a look at the situations where you're wanting them. Sometimes the answer will be "the boat just won't reasonably do that without thrusters". Other times there's a trick that could potentially save a $10k thruster install if the situations where the thruster is really needed are avoidable enough.

 

[Jeff F]

I have to laugh a little about the boat handling discussions here. My wife has some friends that have a new 45 foot cruisers yacht, they were lamenting the fact that the next model year had a self docking feature that theirs didn’t have.

Clearly they should trade it in on a new model, or spend a few tens of thousands on an upgrade.

It's great that wealthy boat owners can just skip all that traditional learning and enjoy safe secure push button docking. No more discussions of spring lines, prop torque or pivot points. No more adjusting the mix of tools and techniques to deal with differing conditions. No more discussions on using anything other than an expensive modern set of tools with clear failure points and limitations.

Yup, I'm all for it. Sorry for questioning the checkbook solution.



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[Jeff F]

the 2 captains I got my sea time doing deliveries with each have a million miles under the keel and 100 panama canal transits, both are fans of thrusters. If it makes the job easier and safer do it.

Would your captains turn down a boat that didn't have a stern thruster? Would they have concerns about whether the thrusters were powerful enough? Do they routinely use thrusters to pin the boat to the dock? If they have millions of miles I'd love to hear their POV, and what they would view as essential tools for the OP.

Nobody who uses them doesn't like them. That's not at issue. I think we all agree that the OP should get a stern thruster. But do they need to be made more powerful at 2-3x the cost?

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[CamoPirate]

Would your captains turn down a boat that didn't have a stern thruster? Would they have concerns about whether the thrusters were powerful enough? Do they routinely use thrusters to pin the boat to the dock? If they have millions of miles I'd love to hear their POV, and what they would view as essential tools for the OP.

Nobody who uses them doesn't like them. That's not at issue. I think we all agree that the OP should get a stern thruster. But do they need to be made more powerful at 2-3x the cost?

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I’d say if there is one constant it is boats are luxury toys and owners spend absurd amounts of money on whatever tickles their fancy, if there is a gadget available that lets you enjoy your boat time more and you want to spend your money on it, have at it.

My point was more that the best boat handlers in the biz routinely use stern thrusters simply because they are a good tool.

 

[Mako]

Strange (or typical salesmanship) that they want to charge you thousands of dollars to REDUCE the size of your thruster tunnel.

Can you upgrade to a more powerful dual-prop thruster utilizing the existing tunnel?

That and the stern thruster you can install yourself without any sophisticated skills.

 

[Mike H]

Our boat is not light, but lots of windage like yours. We installed both bow and stern thrusters on our boat. Best investment we ever did, pure and simple. Not only do we like them, but when I come into a marina with a tight slip and dockhands want us to back in, they like to hear those thrusters when they come on.

Ours are Side-Power with variable thrust. Controls are through Can bus: One on each side of the upper helm and one in the lower helm (which we never use).

 

[Shrew]

My point was more that the best boat handlers in the biz routinely use stern thrusters simply because they are a good tool.

I think that is a misnomer. People use the tools that are available to them. Even the 'best boat handler' would be an idiot to refuse to use them. What makes them great boat handlers is that they don't need them if they're not installed or working.

 

[Lollygag1]

Consider adding a battery next to the bow thruster provided you have space. This will give you more juice.

I had to replace the bow thruster last season and the tech recommended a dedicated battery next to the thruster. Huge dig fence maker and whole project was $5800.

Your prop and rudder are your stern thruster so don’t see the need a 2nd one.

Talk to the thruster tech get their recommendations. I think you can find a solution that works for you that will cost less. Good luck