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Budget Bow Thrusters - $1500
The problem
When I bought my catamaran its reverse was not functional, nor was the electric start. Unfortunately neither was my budget, in fact it hasn’t been the same since I got her. Propulsion was provided by an unreliable, single, two stroke outboard giving her about the same turning radius of a big rig. With me scrambling back and forth to start the motor every time she died, the heavenly twins being a center cockpit, this gave me some decent exercise. I learnt a few things in the scramble, one, plan several steps ahead coming into an anchorage, two, keep that handbrake “anchor” handy and how to flip a tit with the anchor tied to one of the bows.
Although it was fun, I decided to come up with a solution if I’m to be single handed in a breeze. Problem is I needed something soon and on a budget. After having looked at numerous options; twin diesel engines, twin hydraulic screws, steerable sillette leg, electric propulsion, bow thrusters etc. I think I finally found a budget solution for the docking and windage woes which will solve the problem until I get a diesel in.
The Solution
Well, of course, bow thrusters are the perfect solution, but they are not cheap and installing them on a sail boat is major surgery, not to mention the price tag. My custom solution is not the prettiest solution, granted, as with my installation there will be visible motor mounts, but it can be installed without major surgery and amateur DC electrical knowledge. They can be installed off the stern in various configurations but my current steering configuration didn’t allow for this.
Two, 55lb (0.8HP), trolling motors with the controls mounted at the helm. These can be purchased relatively cheaply because they are mass produced. Total cost was $1500 for all parts which is pretty damn good considering two vetus 55lb thrusters will set you back $3750 before parts and installation, and we all know how much twin screws cost, weather it’s hydraulic or twin diesels, we are looking at well over $10K. In fairness those Vetus thrusters would probably perform better. You could probably do better than this if you hunted around for a bargain on the motors. Once I found all the parts, installation and testing took three days.
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