As we look for iur soon new to us boat we know we're getting into a size of boat we've never maneuvered before and thus understand that we'll have a learning/skill curve ... we're looking for things to help flatten that curve.

We're looking for twin diesel Carver 404 cockpits ... bow thrusters would be a great add on to help as our skills develop. Stern thrusters even better.

The number of boats we've come across with thrusters have been next to nothing, and almost all of them had gasoline engines. The cost of adding thrusters seem high, most places I've read about are talking in the range of $18K-$20K, that's not gonna work for us.

An alternative we've seen is the SideShift system. Was wondering if any folk out there have any testimonials.