Docking

[pepmyster]

Ok. Throwing this out there. Our dock is a challenge at best. Getting very good at it but on those windy days, nerve-racking.
People are talking about adding a stern thruster. Worth it? On our 360 we have a bow thruster already. Just wonder if that investment would be worth it and if so, what brands ? Thanks guys......

[Midnightsun]

Not that it is required but for those small adjustments, wind compensation or just having a bad day at the helm, it is sure nice to have and definitely almost eliminates the pucker factor. I always thought they would be unnecessary however since owning our Carver with factory thrusters both for and aft I highly recommend them to anyone.

[km1125]

I'd recommend experimenting more with your boat. On a non-busy day (I used to go out during the week when most folks were at work) I'd putter around the marina and pull into any empty slips I could find, or pull up to different seawalls from different angles. This just gives you more confidence in how the boat responds to controls.

With a bow thruster and twin engines you should be able to move the boat directly sideways. If you practice that with no wind you can use that technique when you have wind to hold the boat against the wind so the wind doesn't push you sideways. You can even use one engine (the one on the leeward side) to "push" the boat into the wind, and then use the bow thruster in short bursts to correct the heading to line up exactly where you want to go. Without a bow thruster, you'd do a similar thing, but use bursts of the windward motor to correct the heading (fwd to swing away from the wind, rev to swing into the wind).

[AaHubb]

Or line the sides of your slip with White bumpers. That way you can bounce off the sides without leaving black marks.




works for me.

[Cooler]

Aftermarket thrusters work well but create drag when not in use. And, they are pricey! One thing you may want to try is to unzip and roll your top windows. That will eliminate the sail effect to a more reasonable level. Good luck. er

[bud37]

QR_BBPOST Ok. Throwing this out there. Our dock is a challenge at best. Getting very good at it but on those windy days, nerve-racking.
People are talking about adding a stern thruster. Worth it? On our 360 we have a bow thruster already. Just wonder if that investment would be worth it and if so, what brands ? Thanks guys......

Does your bow thruster get regularly overcome by the wind ?

My experience has been that some slips are just hard to get in to easily at certain times, especially if there is a current and a breeze. These redesigned boats with the higher bow are fairly light up front and heavy aft and have lots of structure above the water line making it tricky, days of the big keel are gone.......lets face it you can practice all you want ( I think you have had that boat for years now ), but some boats are just difficult to handle, it's a design issue for the most part.

I would just get the stern thruster, guy with the most joy sticks wins....

[pepmyster]

Many many days of practice. Gotten pretty dam good at it. It's just those days where the gusts are a little too much but it's a nice day and everyone else leaves, but you. I know that every day is not a boating day for sure. Just not used to staying at the dock that much. The guy who did our recent survey stated to never buy a Sideshift system due to the quality of them. He was not impressed by them......

[Midnightsun]

QR_BBPOST Many many days of practice. Gotten pretty dam good at it. It's just those days where the gusts are a little too much but it's a nice day and everyone else leaves, but you. I know that every day is not a boating day for sure. Just not used to staying at the dock that much. The guy who did our recent survey stated to never buy a Sideshift system due to the quality of them. He was not impressed by them......

The survey guy is partially right. I have had and worked on Sideshift. The issue is after about 3-4 years you need to remove the unit and change the shaft seals in them as preventative maintenance. Failure to do so will ruin your motor and replacement cost is near what the entire unit is worth. Ask me how I know.

This is not something they recommend but believe me you want to do this. The unit does work extremely well by the way. It is dead silent and does have a lot of power IF you choose one size up of what is recommended.

[pepmyster]

Thank you Hans. If going through with this, Admiral already okayed the whole thing, I do not want to buy it twice. I’ve seen Vetus and Sliepner thrusters .

[Viper]

You'll find Sliepner parts much easier to source than Vetus. If you're handy, installing their stern thruster isn't that difficult a job once you get past the anxiety of cutting a big hole in your transom. Very reliable hardware.