slowandsteady
Senior Member
After taking possession of a Mainship 34 III a few weeks ago, I experienced a little "difficulty" docking in the marina that I call home, tide going out and a stiff breeze in the same direction. Luckily, there were few boats or people around so I got out of the situation unscathed after three tries. Not maneuvering a boat in quite a few years (that boat was a twin screw in a very protected marina) I contributed my difficulty to being rusty and a single screw boat. I've read that I shouldn't become reliant on the bow thruster so I practice backing down the alley between slips with just the rudder and transmission, getting used to the prop walk, etc. I became confident since that first time and thought I had it licked until this past weekend. This time the wind was from the opposite direction and I couldn't get my bow into the wind soon enough and, well, before I knew it, I was in trouble. The awesome group of people on my dock came to my rescue and bailed me out, with good humor, grace and went out of their way not to make me feel like an idiot. One of my problems was after a few short blasts (at least I THOUGHT they were short) on my thruster, it quit on me. I haven't tried to see if it works since then but my questions are as follows:
Is there a maximum number of continuous seconds that I can use it before it stops working?
Is there some kind of circuit/overload protection that makes it stop working?
Was it possible I killed the battery? There is one battery for it under the v berth and there is a small trickle charger wired in that I believe works on 110 volt at shore power. When I eventually wire in the anchor windlass, they will both share the same battery. The PO left all the wiring and a solar panel and controller to charge that battery. I think that will be enough to keep the battery charged while not on shore power. Should I consider wiring it differently so that it charges while underway from the main engine/alternator? Or should a different set of batteries power it (starting batteries or house batteries)?
As I stated, I know I shouldn't rely on the the thruster, but I sure could have used it the other day and it just wasn't there for me.
Is there a maximum number of continuous seconds that I can use it before it stops working?
Is there some kind of circuit/overload protection that makes it stop working?
Was it possible I killed the battery? There is one battery for it under the v berth and there is a small trickle charger wired in that I believe works on 110 volt at shore power. When I eventually wire in the anchor windlass, they will both share the same battery. The PO left all the wiring and a solar panel and controller to charge that battery. I think that will be enough to keep the battery charged while not on shore power. Should I consider wiring it differently so that it charges while underway from the main engine/alternator? Or should a different set of batteries power it (starting batteries or house batteries)?
As I stated, I know I shouldn't rely on the the thruster, but I sure could have used it the other day and it just wasn't there for me.