Houseboat repair, repairs, maintenance, sales and information

Marine Thrusters

Let's get the wind blowing in the right direction on this subject.  First of all by simple definition thrusters are designed to assist boat navigation in close quarters. In and out of your slip or marina fuel station to name a few. 

Thrusters are expensive and nice to have if money is no object. By all means have both bow and stern.  Having said that if money spent needs to be prioritized read on.

So to answer the question.  If I could only have one which one would it be?   The answer is straight forward.  STERN THRUSTER

A boat is unlike a car. The bow or nose doesn't turn. It is pushed or guided by the stern or rear of the boat. When traveling across the lake and you make a right turn what happens is the stern or rear of the boat goes to the left forcing the bow to go right and visa versa.

I will explain. When in tight situations to move a boats bow left or right all one needs to do is apply one drive in forward and one drive in reverse.  The boat will pivot on the stern moving the bow left or right depending on the order in which the drives oppose each other. Example: right engine in forward left engine in reverse = bow moving to the left. You got it left in forward right in reverse = bow to right.  How quickly it will move depends on the amount of throttle applied to each. Heavier throttle on the reverse engine will draw the boat back and the bow to the side of the reverse engine quickly. Heavier throttle on the forward engine will move the boat forward and the bow to the reverse engine side quickly. Normally this is done at idle speeds and is all that's needed.  A very good training exercise is to take the boat out in open water and play with it. Imagine your slip approach or fuel island. Try this technique of opposing engine drives and at different throttle settings on each. Make mental notes of the bow reaction in both directions and what you had to do to get the desired results.  I assure you the stern basically stayed stationary.  Think of the stern as your elbow and your fist as the bow. Move your fist towards your chest and back out.  Once you understand what's going own you will find that it isn't really all that difficult to control the bow.

Now that we have decided that if the only thruster I can have is a stern.

Simply move the lever side to side to move the stern left or right. This can be done simultaneously with the throttles during bow adjustments.

Uncle Ricky says this one can confuse you and takes practice.