Reversing the Vega

Jun 22, 2014
2
I was contemplating a second rudder to control reversing but when I consulted my ship wright he suggested a simple solution. Attach an oar lock to the stern and move the stern side to side using the oar this makes an inexpensive stern thruster. Any ideas?
 
Oct 31, 2019
303
Years ago I had a little fishing dinghy with an electric Minnkote, about 55 lbs as I recall. I also had a Garlick scissor engine mount (that I can remove and leave only a low profile plate on the stern). So now I can put the little electric trolling motor on the mount and have a steerable stern thruster. I had to move the boat a few slips down in the marina and the little electric moved Flyaway along at about two knots (dead calm of course). I initially did this kinda of as a joke, but it works so well I kept it.I also have a stern skulling oar that works well. And finally, check out articles on spring lines. We teach the use of these in all our on the water courses (they make it possible to dock or undock with only a couple feet of clearance forward and aft. There are several good articles on Youtube on these techniques -- both docking and undocking.