Looking at possibly adding a bow thruster to my 30 u. The issue is the mast removal and reinstall will cost almost as much as the bow thruster over $2000 here in NJ. Has anyone been able to add a bow thruster without pulling the mast?
Thanks
Peter Farley U30 #328
Keyport NJ
Paul Miller in Cowichan Bay, BC added a bow thruster to his 30U, Sandpiper. He did it himself. Knowing Paul, he probably didn’t remove the mast or even haul out his boat. He probably put on some scuba gear and swam down to do it while she was in her slip. :-). I’m sure he’ll chime in with the details.
Elsie Sands
N22 #55 Dauntless
Maple Bay, BC
Consider a stern thruster. My boat, Mirthin a 30U, had a stern thruster installed when I boat it last year. It is a Dockstar and efficiently turns the boat as you dock aslthough it takes some getting used to. The previous owner used it to help him dock in tight spaces. It won’t counter a big wind but I doubt a bow thruster would either.
Nick Hirst
Mirthin 30U #513
RCYC Toronto
Paul wrote up his bow thruster installation for an INA Update a few years back. The write-up can also be found by going to www.Nonsuch.org, clicking on MEMBERS TIPS AND PROJECTS, and scrolling down to “Installing a Bow Thruster - Posted March 2022” about 6-7 items down the list.
He did a really impressive job, as Elsie said, and it’s a really informative write-up.
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
Nicholas, the dockstar looks very interesting but I have a couple of questions.
First how do you keep someone from walking off with it?
How long does it take to charge?
Do you have to remove it to charge it?
How long last?
Hi Peter,
Why do you feel you need a bow thruster ?
I ask because, after 22 years of manoeuvring my Nonsuch 30, I really don’t see that it would be of much advantage. I find my boat to be very responsive to both helm and throttle, I can put her on the dock without trouble, if there’s a wind issue I adjust my approach accordingly. I can’t claim to be perfect every time (just ask my wife !) but I haven’t destroyed or damaged (yet) anything (well not too badly anyway)
Alan Steward
30C #144 MagnifiCat
Loyalist Cove Marina
Bath, Ontario
Why a bow thruster? Why an engine? Why a boat? Nobody needs any of them. I haven’t needed a bow thruster in the year I’ve had my boat … until Monday. I sure could have used one on Monday. It might not have overcome that gust that spun me like a weather vane in a tight marina fairway, but it sure would have helped. I made it in on my second try and didn’t bump anything, but I was so close on the first ry …
I did a sea trial on a different NS33 in 2022 with a very highly regarded professional skipper in charge. Afterwards he took me aside and warned me that the boat was strongly affected by the wind while under power and urged me to put a bow thruster on my todo list. He said San Diego marinas are too tight for a difficult to control boat. And most have double slips. Maybe Alan is in a similar situation.
Brian
Did you install the bow thruster or just be careful?
Brian
Deep River,CT
Not everyone needs or wants a bow thruster. However, after delivering boats for 15 years. I can certainly say that there were times that the boat I was delivering had one.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Sorry Peter, I don’t think there is any way with the mast in. A lot of work, both structural (glassing) and mechanical/electrical must be done in the chain locker area and the only place to do it from is right where the mast sits.
As for the other questions…
Will it save you from a strong gust?
Mine is a Lewmar TT140 (2.2 kW or ~3 Hp) and yes, it will hold my bow against a pretty good blast.
Why does anyone need one?
I sail alone most of the time and I’m too old to leap for the dock with a line in my teeth as the wind takes my bow away.
I’ve been handling boats all my life and I’m not bad at it but that big mast on the very bow caused me enough concern at my particular “wind always blowing me off the dock” moorage spot to convince me to do the installation. Now I have no qualms about heading out no matter the wind.
Short answer… I sail more now.
I don’t think a stern thruster would solve this problem.
Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay, B.C.
Peter -
While I didn’t have (or really require) a bow thruster on my NS 22, I highly recommend their use on anything larger, from an NS 26 on up. Especially if you sail alone. We rented a steel houseboat on a canal trip in the north of Holland some years ago. It was some heavy vessel and was around 33’ long. It weighed TONS. But, it had a VETUS bow thruster. Thank heaven it did. Granted, these were canals and only about 40’ - 70’ wide but the winds … THE WINDS !!! There were jillions of (truly beautiful) boats on these canals, all tied up everywhere. Loads of uptight owners onboard who’d poke their heads out of their boats, convinced that I, in an obviously rented boat, would be colliding with them as I tried to dock. Never had an issue. Saved by the bow thruster. At one town dock, I received applause and took a bow (speaking of bow thrusters … ). It’s like anything else on your boat … if it adds a BIG comfort (and safety) factor and removes terror and sweat and stress, it’s good idea.
Sure, having a stern thruster gives some added control but nothing like a bow thruster. Boats are designed to move forward and that’s where you need the agility. Paul is correct (and he did a textbook perfect installation of his). I agree, Peter, it’s pretty off-pissing to pay a FORTUNE to pull the mast to do this but, frankly, it’s worth it. (I’m beginning to think that with these kind of masting costs in that neck of the woods, better to have a stinkpot than a sailboat - unbelievable, really).
Good luck - you won’t be disappointed with this addition.
Ernie A. in Toronto
Ya know Ernie?, If a thruster makes a skipper more relaxed and offers a more enjoyable sailing day, the subject is worth looking into. I have some boating friends who recently bought boats (no Nonsuches) with or installed thrusters in their boats. They appear happy and are going through the learning curve of using them. BUT, I argue with them that they still need to know how to operate the boat without them. Most of them are not making that effort and I fear the day that they will pay for that. The thrusters are an assistance to what one should already know what to do. They are boats and you can be damn sure that somewhere at sometime, in the narrow fairway of some unfamiliar marina, that the thruster is not going to work. If not knowledgeable of how to handle the boat without thrusters, then you may have to depend on some real bad language. My recommendations is to schedule one’s self to a routine to practice docking without the aid of the thruster(s).
Be safe!
Cheers,
Butch
Butch Garren
Nonsuch 30 #196 “Whiskers II”
SIYC Slip 12
Solomons, MD
Good point, Butch!!
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
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[/details]I totally agree. I try to only use mine when it is necessary.
You obviously said it much better than I Butch !
Alan Steward
30C #144 MagnifiCat,
Loyalist Cove Marina,
Bath, Ontario
I totally agree, Butch. In my particular case, believe me, that thruster came in handy (but the boat must have weighed 20 tons). It’s a good add-on to have but should only be used when absolutely neccesary.
Ernie A. in Toronto
There’s always the Jet Thruster. (www.jetthruster.com) You might be able to install it without removing the mast, but you’d still have to haul the boat. I’ve actually thought about this one, but the catch is that there is a big intake hole somewhere and then you need to route piping from it to the jets. I’m not sure how to do that without weakening the floor timbers. (If they are actually structural. Are they?)
I suspect that these Jet Thrusters may not provide quite the push that a conventional bow thruster does, but I could be wrong. I once owned a 3500 pound boat that cruised at 26kts being pushed along by a tiny little jet of water.
How interesting, Brian -
It’s exactly what I had on that steel houseboat in Holland. Very quiet and, I must say, easily controllable. Maybe these Dutch products were distributed by VETUS ?? This was in 2008 (which seems like an eternity ago).
I don’t think that the hole for the water intake is THAT big. And, instead of a complicated tunnel in the bow (not for the faint of heart) you simply have two small-ish holes. I am sure that this system ain’t cheap but, from my experience, it sure works well.
Ernie A. in Toronto
It seems that a 50 KGF Jet Thruster (the second smallest) can handle a 40’ sailboat. It needs an inlet hole of 90 mm. (a touch over 3.5") and two outlet holes in the bow of 1.26". Not cheap, as I mentioned - between 5700 Euro and 6K Euro, depending if you want the stand-up motor or the lie-flat motor. And, I believe it requires dedicated batteries.
Nice machine, though.
Ernie A. in Toronto
They do have the Jet Thruster Micro for those of us with a N26 or N22.
https://www.jetthruster.com/webshop/USA-CAN-VERSION-Jet-Thruster-Micro-for-Small-boats-p534272731
The price is tempting . . . if only I had a cross wind slip.
Tim in STL
White O’morn NS e26U #216
Harbor Point Yacht Club
West Alton, MO