Bow thruster for a 26X

[humanfish]

The finger for my slip is at right angles to the normal flow of tidal current. Normal tidal current for my harbor is around 3 knots and when it is flowing, there is just no way to single hand (my usual sailing mode) into or out of my slip without the nose of my boat hitting the boat that shares the slip with me.

I discovered several different brands of externally mounted bow thrusters that seem like they might work on a 26X. Does anyone out there have any experience with a bow thruster on a 26X they would be willing to share?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[MrBill_FLL]

like this:
http://www.exturnusa.com/adminmarinno/home.php?id=1

probably won't slow you down on a plane, but will hurt your sailing speed.

do you still need to drill thru the hull for power?
can you use the money you'd spend to get a better slip?

 

[Justin_NSA]

How about some nice cheap fenders around the point of contact?

 

[humanfish]

I'd love to get a better slip, but, unfortunately, Santa Cruz is the only harbor for 20 miles in one direction and 50+ miles in the other and I have discovered that, when my boat is that far away, she simply doesn't get used. There are a few slips that are parallel to the tidal flow in the harbor but they have 10 - 15 year waiting lists to get into them. I'll be 65 - 70 years old by the so I'm not looking at them as a viable option.

 

[humanfish]

Hi Justin,

The fenders are a good idea - and I already have them but somehow my neighbor just doesn't like the sound they make as the slide down the side of his liveaboard...

 

[MSN-Travelers]

Hi Justin,

The fenders are a good idea - and I already have them but somehow my neighbor just doesn't like the sound they make as the slide down the side of his liveaboard...

I had the same kinda problem ... only mine was wind vs. current.

Not sure what your exact slip configuration is but this is what I did to keep the boat from heading into my neighbor's space -

There is a piling between our boats at the stern. I ran a line from the piling to the mid-point on my slip at the bow and another line from that center point in the slip to a point mid-way along the finger dock. This created a "V" catchers mitt and prevents me from invading my neighbors space. I even put a fender across the "V" to gently stop the boat if I came in a little too hot.

I use the same set-up with our current boat and haven't had a problem with this Beneteau 35 footer.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sumner]

Hi Justin,

The fenders are a good idea - and I already have them but somehow my neighbor just doesn't like the sound they make as the slide down the side of his liveaboard...

Trade slips with him .

I don't know if this would be an option or not without looking at everything, but.......I'd look and see if I could put a mount on one side of the bow that would stay there. Then drop a small electric trolling motor on it when going in and out. Have an outlet up there to plug it into. Control it with a remote or a cord back to the cockpit. They are small and light and wouldn't be heavy to carry back and forth to the bow. I don't know if the thrust would be good enough as I have no experience with them.

Otherwise Bill's option looks good if the cost is ok.

While in Florida we were in a restaurant that had a dock down below with a slip to pull into. We watched a $500,000 or more 3 story cruiser try and dock there for almost an hour. They came in and insisted on trying to tie to the windward side of the slip when they could of just let the wind push them against the other side.

There was a poor guy up front with a line and a couple times they got close enough before the wind blew the bow away for him to loop the line over a piling, but he couldn't hold the boat.

Finally at 2:30 a waitress ran down to the dock and yelled at them that they were closing and reopening at 5 pm. The guy on the boat yelled back that maybe they would be tied up by then. We left .

Good luck and I won't recite all of our docking screw-ups. One involved the new bow anchor rollers though on the last trip,

Sum

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[timebandit]

Can you approch your slip from the other direction by making a u turn in the fairway??

Macs turn pretty quick.