Hi all,
been lurking in the background for the last couple of years, but first time poster on any forum.
My vessel is a 37 ft fibreglass hull from the 80's with a 3/4 keel and skeg hung rudder. She suffers from severe propwalk to port most times and the bow generally falls away with the wind when going astern. I think that is how she handles but the only constant is that she seams to behaves differently every time I go astern.
The resulting stress every time i leave the dock has led me to consider installing a bow thruster.
My prelim research has me thinking about a Lewmar or Vetus thruster with a 185mm tube and about 5Kw.
Any feed back, recommendations, warnings, traps ect would be appreciated.

SandS said..


have you tried reversing with a squirt ,then shifting to neutral and steering the boat while drifting back in neutral , this works for me .

Been there and tried that without too much success. The narrow width of channel between fingers generally results in the stern walking to port before it clears the birth when ideally it should be turning in the opposite direction. Have also tried many tricks with spring lines but departure from the berth has never been pretty.

A burst in reverse is less likely to give you propwalk than gentle idling in reverse.

Use the grunt of your engine to get some way on and then use your rudder to control direction.

Just like Southace said:- The only way to steer a yacht in reverse with prop walk is give it plenty of thrust and then counter the walk using rudder.

It's worth a go before you spend the money. I would also worry about performance having a big hole in your bow unless it has some rubber flap over it

You may find that if you walk the boat out if you do need reverse when you get the helm that it may respond better once the boat has got momentum Rather than just going strait into reverse from stop position.

If you do go strait into reverse from stopped position you will Require opposite lock of the rudder until the vessel gets momentem and steerage which basicly you don't have much room to do so in your situation.

It can be good practice on a glassy calm day to test drive your boat out at sea reversing it maybe possible to work out how she performs and this could be put into practice reversing from a berth.

I know I can reverse boats with prop walk from a berth once I have figured the rev range/amount of walk and the rudder response but I find things far more controlling and relaxed by hand.

Most importantly check the wind direction before dropping all the lines I always take my bow line with me and have that at the ready if Sh#t it's the fan...you can always bring her back in.
If she has not backed the direction you wanted you will need to push the bow around once she is all the warty clear of the berth and post this will result In a stretch and scramble onboard manoeuvre! Don't get that one wrong!

southace said..
It's worth a go before you spend the money. I would also worry about performance having a big hole in your bow unless it has some rubber flap over it
ou may find that if you walk the boat out if you do need reverse when you get to the helm that it may respond better once the boat has got momentum Rather than just going strait into reverse from stop position.
If you do go strait into reverse from stopped position you will Require opposite lock of the rudder until the vessel gets momentem and steerage which basicly you don't have much room to do so in your situation.
It can be good practice on a glassy calm day to test drive your boat out at sea reversing it maybe possible to work out how she performs and this could be put into practice reversing from a berth.
I know I can reverse boats with prop walk from a berth once I have figured the rev range/amount of walk and the rudder Re response

I definitely need more practice, but calm days are not the problem which generally occur with varying wind (and Current) directin. I would hate to end up depending on a bow thruster whenever I need to dock and would always try not to rely on it, but I also would hate to "touch" any neighbouring boats and like to appear competent.(not always possible)

Hello Libran, My boat is an Adams40 and I cut (steel hull) a tunnel in my hull (for a 185mm dia Vetus) as I thought it would be nice to have a bow thruster for marina berth entries but never got around to actually installing the thruster. For me going in always seems more interesting than going out. Most time I do a bit of planning. One place I stored my boat sometimes resulted going forward into the berth with the motor in reverse to compensate for the run out tide. Always lots of fun. I refer to my hull shape as a cut-away keel and I would imagine handles differently to full and fin keels.

My boat has prop walk but I do the short bursts of power to limit the effect

When cursing and visiting new marinas I ask if they have a berth available that is blow on with the wind head on.

If I think there is going to be a problem I ask for help (rope catchers)

When leaving a berth, if there is a strong wind that will blow the bow away from the direction I want to go then I use this to my advantage by allowing the wind to get the stern into the wind and then reversing all the way to some where I can revere until the bow is into the wind. My boat has cable steering and does not like reversing fast (hang on tight to the helm), but with a small amount of speed I am able to manoeuvre it in the general direction while reversing.

My boat is not really suitable for reversing into a berth (or maybe it's the operator). But if the planets are in the correct alignment, I have reversed into some unusual places (as long as I don't have an audience). For me it's all about planning. For example when I got fuel at Bundaberg and a strong Northerly was holding me against the pontoon I gave the stern a shove by hand, stepped back on the boat and reversed out into the main part of the river allowing the wind to have it's evil way the the bow. An another time in Gladstone I used the incoming tidal current to boost my water speed as I reversed gently up to the fuel pontoon.

To sum up, I don't think I'll ever install the thruster and most of the time I am entering marinas on my own. For me, learning how to use wind, tide and prop walk to my advantage, instead of trying to fight them has made life easier and less stressfull.

Crusoe said..
Hello Libran, My boat is an Adams40 and I cut (steel hull) a tunnel in my hull (for a 185mm dia Vetus) as I thought it would be nice to have a bow thruster for marina berth entries but never got around to actually installing the thruster. For me going in always seems more interesting than going out. Most time I do a bit of planning. One place I stored my boat sometimes resulted going forward into the berth with the motor in reverse to compensate for the run out tide. Always lots of fun. I refer to my hull shape as a cut-away keel and I would imagine handles differently to full and fin keels.
My boat has prop walk but I do the short bursts of power to limit the effect
When cursing and visiting new marinas I ask if they have a berth available that is blow on with the wind head on.
If I think there is going to be a problem I ask for help (rope catchers)
When leaving a berth, if there is a strong wind that will blow the bow away from the direction I want to go then I use this to my advantage by allowing the wind to get the stern into the wind and then reversing all the way to some where I can revere until the bow is into the wind. My boat has cable steering and does not like reversing fast (hang on tight to the helm), but with a small amount of speed I am able to manoeuvre it in the general direction while reversing.
My boat is not really suitable for reversing into a berth (or maybe it's the operator). But if the planets are in the correct alignment, I have reversed into some unusual places (as long as I don't have an audience). For me it's all about planning. For example when I got fuel at Bundaberg and a strong Northerly was holding me against the pontoon I gave the stern a shove by hand, stepped back on the boat and reversed out into the main part of the river allowing the wind to have it's evil way the the bow. An another time in Gladstone I used the incoming tidal current to boost my water speed as I reversed gently up to the fuel pontoon.
To sum up, I don't think I'll ever install the thruster and most of the time I am entering marinas on my own. For me, learning how to use wind, tide and prop walk to my advantage, instead of trying to fight them has made life easier and less stressfull.

Hi Crusoe,
your boat sounds as challenging as mine to manouvre in reverse, and your right in your statement that it is all about planning. A thruster is certainly not a necessatity, but like GPS, Radar, Depthsounder, Wind Instruments, Refrig, Stereo, Toilet,-ect, ect,--------------------are all nice to have.
I enjoy the challenge of overcoming the hurdles as well, but when it comes to manouvering at close quarters and the possibility of doing damage to someone elses boat, a thruster would certainly come in handy at times.

I once saw a 42ft yacht that had a electric outboard with an extended shaft mounted on the bow....connected to the anchor battery and a remote control. the owner would only mount it if wind/tide was going to be a problem.

while not powerful, mounted so far forward it pointed the bow quite well....and the outboards are far cheaper than thrusters.