Carver Owners Forum

i have wondered if sometimes a stern thruster would be more useful when you have the wind getting you on the side and have no forward momentem or room to do so

Lads, I have to really bite my tongue here. I have a 506 that looks like an apartment building. It sits 21ft tall from the water line to the top of my radar arch and most of that is either gel coat or glass. There is so much sq footage of flat surface for the wind to catch.

I do not have a stern thruster. I do not need a stern thruster.

I am tied port side along a mooring wall. I have a boat in front and a boat behind. I put the port transmission in reverse and the starboard engine in forward. As the bow starts to move towards the port, I bump the bow thruster towards starboard. The boat moves sideways to starboard. When I come back to the dock, I do the exact opposite - and the boat moves sideways towards the mooring wall.

This happens with or without wind.

Hey Lyndon,

I agree, with twins, there is no problem with the stern, I am installing just the bow thruster due to wind docking, the bow gets a bit out of shape.
Jim
346 Carver Full Canvas

Anyone out there with a 346 or 366 that can send a picture of the bow thruster power head installed in the bilge.

thanks,

Jim
2002 346 Carver

i will disagree with there is no need ever for a stern thruster or for that matter a bow thruster on an aft cabin or any other boat. yes i agree with the operations of the shifters and how the bow moves. my boat does very good reacting to these controls. i feel over the last 25 years i have done my fair share of boating and docking never having a thruster. if pulling along side of a pier yes operating the shifters allows plenty of control either coming or going with the wind and some forward momentum. yes depending on rudder size and other factors you can even walk a boat sideways. however such as in my case i have a 13'10" beam and and barely a 15 ft wide covered slip. with wind abeam (which is most of the time) of me and having barely any forward movement i have to start at my slip by aiming at the ones beside me and judging the wind speed and guessing where i will be when the bow is entering the slip entrance. during this time with hardly any forward momentum it would be nice to be able to kick the stern over because as the bow is good now the stern is somewhere else. the approach angle to this is always a guess. i 've done without any thrusters never had them but i am sure there are times they would be very handy . i dont think i'm too good to not wish for help sometimes.

Your Carver 405 - gas or diesel?

i have a gas 405. i've learned to deal with this docking issue without any thrusters but sometimes..... sure would be nice and while docking i do take some pride in appearing that i am in complete control.
diesel boats are less common in m area.

Going from the gas powered Silverton 42 to the diesel 506 was like going from a pickup truck to a freight train. When I put the boat into gear, it goes - NOW. Nothing stops it, wind, current - nothing. The torque and thrust is unreal. My wife has almost fallen off the swim platform in the locks when I bump it in or out of gear.

My point was, with a bow thruster - one can very easily crank the rudders opposite lock and use the trannys with the thruster and bump the stern in, boat sideways. If I had a bow thruster only on my boat (gas or diesel), I wouldn't waste the money on the stern thruster. If your 405 doesnt have a bow thruster, than obviosly not going to walk sideways. My 42C did not have a bow thruster either - and I could not walk it sideways. I could do a pretty damn good job, but there were some days with the windw howling that brought some f-bombs out of my mouth.

OT....

Tell me some more about losing the wife off the platform - I may be able to use that someday....

Back to topic at hand.

Hahahaha......trick is to get her to old the cinder block!