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Rocky wrote:

Marin, whats the cost of a bow thruster + installation?

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Like everything else, it depends on what you want.**I'm*guessing a*basic, small electric bowthruster is probably in the neighborhood of $4,000 installed but I could be way off on that not knowing how much labor is actually involved.* You can get an accurate estimate from the yards in your area that do this kind of work.

Or you can spend major bucks and get a hydraulic thruster, but that will probably get into five figures what with the thruster, hull installation, and hydraulic system needed to run it.

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Thanks Marin, I'll check with our yard on cost. Hydraulic thruster is out of the question.

Koliver has a bunch of great points, I would add that if you go out and practice on a calm day, in a quiet part of your marina try backing the boat while on the fly bridge standing with your back to the bow, with the wheel behind your back.... you get a great view and can quickly see how your boat reacts to each input. I typically always back this way as I use the square stern of my boat as my reference.
I recently backed my 60,000 lb single screw trawler about a 1/3 of a mile around a marina to get into a slip on the other side of a gang plank... why you ask?? 1- because it backs well enough and steers fine in reverse* ( just move the rudder SLOWLY if at any speed)... 2= because I can... and its fun to show off a little as long as it doesn't bite you in the butt!. The next day I watched a gentleman with a Krogen 42 with a bow thruster not move from the same spot until he had enough help to line him back. In all fairness I think he was new to the boat and didn't think his thruster was "big" enough.* I know a lot of folks here think that twins are the only way to go.... I for one feel the same about single engine boats.* And yes I do have a bow thruster, I use it about 50% of the time docking, backing, leaving a side tie ect.
HOLLYWOOD

Rocky wrote:SeaHorse II: DVD is out of stock (

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The site says it can be back ordered.

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Wesmar makes a line of continuous duty electric thrusters that will run all day until you exhaust the batteries. For a standard electric thruster, get a recommendation on what size your boat needs and then get the next biggest size. You can't have too big of a thruster, but a too small one will just give you a false sense of security. It'll trip out just when you need it the most.

Or Rocky, you could save the money and just do like KOliver has described - added to by that excellent link. I was convinced I would need to fit a bow thruster the first couple of times we took our boat out 8 yrs ago, but after a bit of trial and not to much error I worked out for myself exactly the technique described as backing and filling, and it does indeed work. I have a starboard side berth, and my prop-walk is to starboard in reverse, so it works for us to dock bow in, with pilot door to the berth as well. However, I would now be quite confident to back in if necessary, and to be honest, I have never missed that thruster. If you have one you will use it, but gain less skill handling the boat - if you don't have one, you manage without, it's that simple. Just remember which way the bow moves with the wind - probably like mine, your vessel will swing bow away from the wind, so use that to effect, then do that back & fill thing, and Bob's your uncle, you're in and docked. Also remember, whichever way the stern moves with reverse prop-walk set your rudder hard over to the same side, so the burst, goose, whatever you want to call it, in forward gear will move the stern the other way, and you have control to swing the stern either way. Even hard over, at slow idle revs the boat will tend to go straight back with slow swing towards the prop-walk side. A burst in reverse accentuates this, a burst in forward moves it the other way. Simple really.

SeaHorse II: DVD is out of stock ( The site says it can be back ordered.


Amazon has it. Just Google 'Bennett DVD Single Engine Powerboat Handling'

Rocky wrote:

Marin, whats the cost of a bow thruster + installation?

SeaHorse II: DVD is out of stock (

I can see from these posts it really comes down to practice, practice, practice. We do have some good open area to do this in, although wish there were some empty end slots on the dock we could practice docking.

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The thruster + the installation cost around $6,000 for my boat. It was done by the PO a few years ago. You could save a few thousand bucks if you do the installation yourself but that's tricky business.

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Peter B wrote:

If you have one [bopw trhuster] you will use it, but gain less skill handling the boat - if you don't have one, you manage without, it's that simple.

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This is a hot topic on all boating forums.* Should you get a bow thruster or tough it out and learn to operate without one.* As I said earlier, you can accomplish anything with a single that you can accomplish with a twin.* The techniques can be different but the end result will be the same.* But like everything, maneuvering a twin or a single takes practice.* The more you operate the boat under varying conditions the more you will learn, a process that never stops by the way since there will always be the situation you haven't encountered yet.

If you operated your single-engine boat a lot under many conditions--- like the fishing skippers and tug skippers--- you will get real good at putting a single-engine boat anywhere you want it.** (And fishing boats and tugs are made to be whacked up against docks and piers--- they aren't real worried about the brightwork and wax job on these things.)

But most of us recreational boaters don't really run our boats all that much.* Certainly not compared to a commercial skipper.* Having a bow thruster can be a real boon to a skipper who simply doesn't have the boat handling time and a vast number of docking and wind and current situations under his belt, which tends to be most of us.

We chartered a single-engine GB36 before buying our own boat.* It had a bow thruster and that thruster was the only thing in a few instances that prevented us from damaging the boat.* Has I been a much more experienced boat handler at the time, I might not have needed the thruster.* But given my abilities and the situations we were in, the thruster was an obvious "fix" for the problem, it was easy to use and understand, and it required no practice to "get it right."

The most common argument against thrusters is that when it quits you won't know how to maneuver the boat without it.* But you can make the same statement about a twin engine boat.* If you have to shut down an engine, you have a single engine boat with asymetrical thrust.* It can be a real bear to dock or close-maneuver a twin with only one engine running.* I've had to do it a couple of times, and it was not easy.* Harder than maneuvering a single-engine boat, I can tell you that.* But what twin owner practices close-in maneuvering on one engine?* There might be a few but I daresay most of us never do this.* We depend on those two engines running, which I don't see being any different than the single-engine owner depending on his bow thruster running.

I've noticed that most people who point out the downside of relying on a bow thruster don't have one.* So far as I can recall, I have never heard a boater who has one say they wish they didn't.* A sensible approach in my opinion is what our boating friend Carey does with his single-engine lobsterboat.* It has a thruster, but he rarely uses it.* He is one of the best boat handlers I know, and he has learned how to handle his boat without the thruster.* But..... on those occasions where a shot of thruster will make his life a whole lot easier, or prevent whacking into something, he uses it.

It's sort of like a mobile phone.* You can live your life successfully without one but now that they've been invented it can make a lot of situations a whole lot easier to deal with, so why not take advantage of the technology?



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I'm thinking at this stage of the game, practice, practice, practice will be what hubby will opt for. Thats not to say that down the line a thruster wouldn't be a consideration. Seems to make more sense to me that practicing and getting to know ones boat inside and out is the most prudent course of action and will teach a skill worth knowing. Kinda like learning to drive a 4-speed transmission, not much use for that these days, but if the occasion ever arose and the only old vehicle available to get ya somewhere was a 4 speed manual transmission, that knowledge would be worth alot. I forced my daughter to learn to drive a stick shift when she was 13 (old farm truck), and boy was she mad, didn't want any part of it, wasn't a cool thing I guess; however now that she's an adult and a deputy sheriff she has come across numerous times where that knowledge came in pretty darn handy. Thanks to all for your generous responses.

Pattik

Marin wrote:"I've noticed that most people who point out the downside of relying on a bow thruster don't have one.* So far as I can recall, I have never heard a boater who has one say they wish they didn't.* ....

It's sort of like a mobile phone.* You can live your life successfully without one but now that they've been invented it can make a lot of situations a whole lot easier to deal with, so why not take advantage of the technology"

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Could not agree more.* Now I must get baaaack to work.*

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I have a Bow thruster on my Monk 36 single Cummins. I don't use it all the time, the Monk responds well to back and fill maneuvering, once a "spectator" asked me if I had a stern thruster. I am not embarrased to use the bow thruster, it is nice to have when the wind or current are "wrong".
Steve W.

I will say that it is all relative. I had a single engine boat without a thruster and I managed to get along just fine. In fact it taught me good boat handling skills and it was very rewarding to be able to put the boat where I wanted it. You add a bow thruster to the equation and NONE of that changes. It is just you become a little less limited in where you can put the boat. I had a professional captain on board And parked my 34ft LOA boat in about a 40 foot space without even thinking about it....spun it around and stabbed it. I didn't think anything about it. He flipped out and was very complimentary. I told him it was no big deal...I had a bow thruster....he knew I did but still said it was impressive....whatever. My point is, you can do more things with a bow thruster even though you just bump it on occasion. I find the experience no more or less rewarding....just different. And, yes, you can "downgrade" your level of "automation" should the thing quit working....simple as that...shift gears mentally.

And if you can find somebody to do it for $6k, do it. You have to figure the unit itself is about $3k.....and then you have all of the supporting hardware. And then you have to haul and block the boat and do some pretty serious hull modification. I think you would be VERY hard pressed to find somebody to do it for that amount. You are well into the $8k-$12k range for a bowthruster install....turn key.

Marin wrote:"I've noticed that most people who point out the downside of relying on a bow thruster don't have one.* So far as I can recall, I have never heard a boater who has one say they wish they didn't.* ....

It's sort of like a mobile phone.* You can live your life successfully without one but now that they've been invented it can make a lot of situations a whole lot easier to deal with, so why not take advantage of the technology"

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Walt added.....
Could not agree more.*
Baker pointed out.....
And if you can find somebody to do it for $6k, do it. You have to figure the unit itself is about $3k.....and then you have all of the supporting hardware. And then you have to haul and block the boat and do some pretty serious hull modification. I think you would be VERY hard pressed to find somebody to do it for that amount. You are well into the $8k-$12k range for a bowthruster install....turn key.
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So, that about sums it up really.* If you can afford those sort of dollars, when you probably would get more benefit from a lot of other nice stuff that would help more, (like an auto-pilot and maybe RADAR, in my case), then fine, do it, but if you can afford that, then probably it would have made more sense to buy a boat already equipped.* I freely admit if I could afford one with it, or, put another way.... I bought a boat that happened to have a thruster, I sure as heck would not take it out....... but...... 6 to 10 grand buys a lot of other improvements which would add a lot more to ones safety and/or pleasure* - probably - unless you freak out every time it comes to docking, thereby ruining your day.**If that was the case, then maybe it is worth the 6-10k....?

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Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this. As I said earlier, going to stick with just getting good at it through practice. I can think of lots of stuff we want more than a bow thruster. This is probably a lousy comparison, but hubby had an incredible talent for backing up a long gooseneck stock trailer, could park it little dinky spots like no one I've ever seen, so I have huge amounts of faith that he will be a quick learner and be fine. Being ex-law enforcement he doesn't get adled or too freaked over much, so I'm confident he'll do just fine. I'll keep ya 'all posted if we take out our dock though......LOL

I cruised my single screw Krogen for 2-3 years before I installed a bow thruster. I was competent at maneuvering it that way, but the thruster really can help. Never rely on it though, I always consider it lagniappe. (something extra).

Baker wrote:

You are well into the $8k-$12k range for a bowthruster install....turn key.


3 years ago I talked to Huckins Yachts in Jacksonville, FL about installing a bow thruster on a 43 foot trawler that displaced 43,000 lbs with lots of wind-age.* The yard manager said it would be around $10,000 complete.* I'd say Baker's right on the money.

Larry/Lena
Hobo KK42
La Paz, BCS, MX

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Even getting parts and labor at wholesale as I am in the business, I still spent nearly $8k on a complete installation of a oversized thruster on a 42' Aluminum trawler......of course there is a difference between welding a tube or glassing it in....retail I think it would have been nearly $12k.....

Unfortunatley it just not as simple as putting it in, you also have to consider a new battery bank, charging of the new bank, connecting it to a panel, breakers, tearing the boat apart tomake all the runs, making sure the battery bank for the thrusters gets charged properly so it works when it should...on and on...fun fun fun....

Being an ex-coastie boat driver I am all for superior boat handling skills and learning to do it the "right way"..that being said, I am not embarressed to use it and make my day easier when it helps...

I had an 8kw (approximate) Lewmar thruster installed earlier this*year. Each vessel is different in its required work. Mine required significant labor due to holding tank relocation and sole removal for gaining access. Plus I went with a 24 V setup requiring an inverter. I just wish my cost was only $12K. *But, it sure helps in those 20 knot winds and 3 knot currents in the PNW.

For the average weekend warrior, there is not much need to add one. Just buff out those gelcoat dings.

My Wesmar 24V 18 hp thruster installation was right at $10k, but that was in 2003.