Twin Engine Trawler Maneuvering Expectations

[Csellars]

Many twin screw powered boats have a hard time turning thru a cross wind using engines only. I was giving a lesson in Los Angeles harbor and the customer told me that a guy on his dock told him never to use the rudder. I said really let’s put that to a test, so we went down a fairway with a 15 knot tail wind and asked him to turn the boat 180 degrees with no rudder. The boat got to a 45 degree angle and he couldn’t get the bow thru the wind no matter how much throttle he gave. At this point we were going about 2 knots sideways and he was panicking. We put the helm hard over and came thru the wind. I always teach people to use some rudder in tight situations. If you are walking a boat on engines alone full rudder will make the stern walk more as you take rudder out the bow can be made to walk more and somewhere in between the boat will walk evenly. All boats aren’t the same.

 

[Mambo42]

We have a Defever 49, twin engine, stabilized and I regularly have to bring her in with 20 - 30 kts of wind. Here in the Med (Aegean, Greece) strong winds are basically the norm and we have to go stern to every single time. If we have to do that on the anchor it is not a problem, just keep the chain tight and the bow won't go anywhere. Depending on the wind it is idle on one engine and reverse on the other engine to keep her going straight reverse.
However, if the wind is from the side and we have to pick up a bow line, it does become a challenge since the boat has a lot of surface for the wind to grab on to. Then I do need to move her sideways and I do need the rudder and even bow thruster, but so far it has worked out fine.
My keel is 5' and the stabilizers still function when we come in to a berth (the deflection of the stabilizers are limited though).
Am pretty sure that if you practice it a bit you will get the hang of it and in the end it will become second nature. I still remember that we chose to go to an anchorage instead of bringing it in with 15 kts on the bow when needing to pick up a bow line. That night resulted in our first dragging of the anchor since the wind changed completely from what was forecasted. We were out on a sea trial, no food, no drinks, no nothing and in the end had to stay on board for 3 days because of a non forecasted storm. That was not fun at all, won't happen again. If it is now 15 kts we call it a calm day and laugh when we think about that first unexpected couple of days out on the boat.
Lesson learned ?
Never leave port with the fridges stocked up, you never know if you will make it back. (lol).

 

[Buff]

I have a 53 POC and always use just the engines to slow speed maneuver, and the stabilizers centered. A friend has a 53 POV with a 9 ft extension and the props were left in the original position. That causes some slow speed maneuver issues plus a following sea with the rudder and props so far forward of the stern causes the stern to be pushed around some....even with stabilizers

 

[SteveK]

I have a 53 POC and always use just the engines to slow speed maneuver, and the stabilizers centered. A friend has a 53 POV with a 9 ft extension and the props were left in the original position. That causes some slow speed maneuver issues plus a following sea with the rudder and props so far forward of the stern causes the stern to be pushed around some....even with stabilizers

Always? I have to ask, have you tried rudders at all to know when to use them.

 

[Searunner37]

We are under contract to purchase a twin engine trawler (56’ DeFever) and we had an interesting experience during our sea trial.

During close quarter maneuvering the captain (long time owner) was using a great deal of rudder positioning in addition to the twin engines (and still seemed to have significant difficulty controlling the boat). It was a fairly windy day (like 12-15 kts), but regardless we were still surprised by the apparent lack of maneuverability.

We are coming from a Meridian 490, so a MUCH lighter boat, but one that does get pushed around in the wind. On our current boat, even in worse conditions, I would have full control on engines alone. Are my expectations that this DeFever would be similar unrealistic?

The owner mentioned that the boat has oversized stabilizers (12 sqft) and a 4ft hull extension, which he attributes some of the maneuvering characteristics to those modifications, certainly believable, but still seems like the boat should be capable of maneuvering on engines alone.

Definitely would expect a heavy boat to be slower to react, but didn’t expect it to not be controllable on engines alone.

Thoughts?

If he cut the transom off and added 4' that could be the problem. Have a friend that bought a trawler that this was done to and maneuvering is a big problem. If the section was added ahead of the prop and rudder something else is the issue.

 

[keith c]

One more imput concerning twin engine handling. To test your boats ability to pivot in windy conditions, take the vessel out on a windy day in the wide open and see how the boat pivots , in particular how the bow moves up wind. If idle speed of both engines is not enough adjust the rpms on one or both engines to get the boat up wind

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Yep. Practice, practice, practice...That being said, I wouldn't trust myself to maneuver our last boat now. WAY out of practice by 2 years. Still haven't got the hang of the new boat with twin outboards. Good thing is I'm not hitting the dock as hard as I used to.