Bow thruster

Comodave said:

Measure voltage at and across each connection and see if there is a voltage drop. If there is a drop then the connection is suspect.

Click to expand...

That I know ,but it also needs to be under load. If the boat is on the hard, it can not be done.

On the other hand, I would expect some amount of a voltage drop. It would be pulling about 325A. The question would be, how much is too much? Plus, given the wire is 21 years old I am thinking of replacing it anyways. The house bank and thruster are only 7 or 8 feet apart. Add some twist and turns its about 11 to a 12' run. With 4/0 cost for both wires are about $275.00

Cold Duck said:

Thruster is under powered for very strong winds for sure. With this model having lots of windage, small rudder placed too far forward, the thruster is pretty much mandatory to dock. You can't even turn into a slip down a small channel without using the thruster, turn radius is horrible. Trying to come along side any dock with just the slightest of breeses and using rudder alone will have you swinging the wheel enuff to measure it in rpm LOL! Requiring the use of thruster in the Mainship 350/390 and leaving the rudder amidship is the only way to dock these suckas.

Click to expand...

Sounds odd. I'd have thought gears alone (without rudders or thruster) would work at least 90% of the time. Haven't noticed anyone else with a 350/390 making the same observation.

Your comment got my attention because we shopped hard on those back when the 350s were first introduced....

-Chris

I've seen a few people with single engine 350/390s end up relying pretty heavily on the thruster. After seeing one out of the water, it's not surprising. You have the whole swim platform bustle in the water aft of the rudder (reduces sideways movement aft and reduces rudder effectiveness), and the rudders aren't exactly huge. The single engine 350/390 rudder is a little larger than mine from what I've seen (don't have exact measurements to compare), but with the important difference that those only have a single rudder, I have 2.

I'd expect the 350/390 with twins to handle much better in close quarters, but I haven't seen under one with twins to know how good the layout is.

Ah. Maybe Duck's 350 is a single-screw.

OTOH, we had a single-screw 34, no thruster... no particular issues under normal weather conditions. Didn't use the rudder much for that, either.... mostly just back-and-forth plus prop walk.

-Chris

ranger58sb said:

Ah. Maybe Duck's 350 is a single-screw.

OTOH, we had a single-screw 34, no thruster... no particular issues under normal weather conditions. Didn't use the rudder much for that, either.... mostly just back-and-forth plus prop walk.

-Chris

Click to expand...

With our single screw MS34 the bow thruster is the best upgrade we did. Our slip is oriented N/S (also, tight fit) and with the constant FL east wind the thruster is great.

I can get in the slip without it but it may take 10 shifts and on a blustery day it can be problematic. The thruster made our lives incredibly easy and less stressful.

As a matter of fact, we just got back home after a nice 4 hour cruise