Mainship 34
- Thread starter hansondl
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Not sure what you are asking but if you use your thruster for steering it will not last long. Electric thruster motors are pretty much like the "starter" motor in your car. Imagine how long that would last if you continually ran it for more than a few seconds. Your thruster manual will tell you how long you can run it for and how long it must cool down before you use it again.
Moonstruck
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Most thrusters that I am familiar with are designed to use to counter act wind, current, and or prop torque during close quarter maneuvering. They are really great for moving the bow or stern around in the slip for tieing up. If electric, they have timers on them to shut off before getting too hot. They are short duration appliances. After getting familiar with the handling characteristics of your vessel you will use your thruster only when necessary.
There are also hydraulic thrusters and individually powered thrusters, but I don't think that your boat would have any of those. A thruster is a very good thing to have especially on a single screw boat.
Where do you keep your boat?
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If you are looking for advice on maneuvering your boat with a thruster, then the general section of the forum would get you more traffic and activity on this subject.
With that said, I have a single screw boat with a thruster....Mainship Pilot 30. To me, this is the most brainless configuration for maneuvering a boat. Maybe I am just used to it. My biggest piece of advice is to be mindful of where you want the STERN to go...be cause you can put the bow wherever you want. A good example of this would be departing a side tie dock. My technique(which I feel is the best) is to turn the wheel hard over TOWARDS the dock....not what is natural. And then put it in gear...the stern goes AWAY from the dock and then use the thruster to push the bow away and the boat walks gently and measuredly away from the dock. When you get clear, you can resume normal steering inputs. Same goes for "parallel parking". have the boat lined up with the spot. Have the helm turned AWAY from the dock and go in and out of gear walking the stern towards the dock while pushing the bow with the thruster. If you can get this on the side your prop walks to, that helps even more.
I have an acquaintance who is in a band that was playing at a waterside bar on a busy afternoon and he was playing a song and I pulled up and literally parallel parked my 33LOA boat in about 37 feet of space...he literally stopped playing mid song and had to give a play by play to the crowd of my parking maneuver....luckily, I pulled it off and he was pretty impressed. Anyway....you get the idea.
My thruster has a 3 minute time limit on it. You should never get anywhere close to that. They should be short little bursts. And there are times when the wind and current are stronger than your thruster.
With that said, I have a single screw boat with a thruster....Mainship Pilot 30. To me, this is the most brainless configuration for maneuvering a boat. Maybe I am just used to it. My biggest piece of advice is to be mindful of where you want the STERN to go...be cause you can put the bow wherever you want. A good example of this would be departing a side tie dock. My technique(which I feel is the best) is to turn the wheel hard over TOWARDS the dock....not what is natural. And then put it in gear...the stern goes AWAY from the dock and then use the thruster to push the bow away and the boat walks gently and measuredly away from the dock. When you get clear, you can resume normal steering inputs. Same goes for "parallel parking". have the boat lined up with the spot. Have the helm turned AWAY from the dock and go in and out of gear walking the stern towards the dock while pushing the bow with the thruster. If you can get this on the side your prop walks to, that helps even more.
I have an acquaintance who is in a band that was playing at a waterside bar on a busy afternoon and he was playing a song and I pulled up and literally parallel parked my 33LOA boat in about 37 feet of space...he literally stopped playing mid song and had to give a play by play to the crowd of my parking maneuver....luckily, I pulled it off and he was pretty impressed. Anyway....you get the idea.
My thruster has a 3 minute time limit on it. You should never get anywhere close to that. They should be short little bursts. And there are times when the wind and current are stronger than your thruster.
Moonstruck
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Th
I concur with Baker's analysis of handling a single screw with a bow thruster. The big caution that I will offer is current. #1 always head into the current if possible. #2 In you have a keel, getting your keel perpindicular to the current can be a disaster. In a strong current a bow thruster may not be able to overcome the side setting effect. Unless in an extremely strong wind, in docking situations current usually rules.
With careful analysis then planning you should do quite well. There is usually no big rush. Stay outside the docking area to see how wind and current is going to affect your situation. When you have a plan, set all lines and fenders. Let your crew know exactly what you intend to do. Give them your instructions, and have at it. You'll look like a pro.
I concur with Baker's analysis of handling a single screw with a bow thruster. The big caution that I will offer is current. #1 always head into the current if possible. #2 In you have a keel, getting your keel perpindicular to the current can be a disaster. In a strong current a bow thruster may not be able to overcome the side setting effect. Unless in an extremely strong wind, in docking situations current usually rules.
With careful analysis then planning you should do quite well. There is usually no big rush. Stay outside the docking area to see how wind and current is going to affect your situation. When you have a plan, set all lines and fenders. Let your crew know exactly what you intend to do. Give them your instructions, and have at it. You'll look like a pro.
JD
Guru
All good advice. One other thing to remember is the thruster is most affective when the forward or aft motion of the boat is nil. Of course you can't totally negate current but the thruster works best if the water isn't flowing past the opening in the hull at some great speed.
Earl34Mainship
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Agree with all above... with near zero wind/current, a single screw w/bow thruster can walk the boat sideways and I've found the thruster to be almost ineffective with a strong side wind. Just out of curiosity I tried the thruster (at the mooring) with a strong port side wind, and the bow moved to port very little. Now I know what the thruster will do and what it won't do in strong winds. Good lesson learned.
myoungbl
Member
I have a 34' Mainship Trawler with twin engines and a bow thruster, but no stern thruster. Rarely use the thruster. Mostly use it when getting into a slide slip, or out. It sure can be handy at those times.
markpierce
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With a bow thruster (or without), the challenge of a single-propellered boat is controlling the stern: employing/countering unequal blade thrust (prop-walk).
The Coot's 24-volt bow thruster has readily handled the minor currents and sometimes-strong winds so far encountered.
The Coot's 24-volt bow thruster has readily handled the minor currents and sometimes-strong winds so far encountered.
Carl Tenning
Member
New owner of a 1978 Mainship-34. Will moor at Tyee Marina in Tacoma, WA.
Does anyone know if an Owners Manual is available?
Does anyone know if an Owners Manual is available?
Comodave
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Congrats on your new boat. You might do better with starting a new thread, you may het more responses.
jleonard
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There is no "owner's manual" however there have been a lot of various component manuals aquired by current and previous owners.
Some are in the library in this site, some in owner's personal files.
Specifically what manuals or information are you looking for?
I have some odds and ends as I owned a 1978 for 14 years in the past.
Carl Tenning
Member
Electrical System
There are some switches on the Electrical Panel
that are unlabeled Don't know what they do?
There are some switches on the Electrical Panel
that are unlabeled Don't know what they do?
Comodave
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A photo might help but you may have to trace the wires or listen and see what turns on. The older 34s usually have had so much modifications done that they are unique boats.
jleonard
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Yes, some good photos would help. Those boats are pretty simple so figuring out what they do should not be all that difficult.
First thing I would do is unlatch the console and look behind to see which ones are even wired. There may be some that have been disconnected.
