Question for those with bow and stern thrusters.

davidbrooks

So i am in a 2003 342EV.  Without a doubt the most stressful time for me of every trip is docking.  Some days it is easy and others it just feels like i am fighting the world. Yesterday was one of those days.  My slip is near the fuel dock and the loading ramp so it can get pretty busy.  Yesterday i missed and had to reposition and i was just about to get in when a guy shoots in front of me.  I was glad i saw him as it would of been easy not to....and that would of messed up both our days.  So when this happens i really start looking more into retro fitting in stern and bow thrusters.  I know there are tons of options from a moderate amount of $$ to a whole bunch of $$$$$$$$.  Long winded setup for my questions.
On older boats what or how do you control the forward and reverse thrust?  Do the controls tie into the gear selectors on the engines to shift in and out of gear?  It is obvious how they handle the side thrust.  For those of us with outdrives it looks like we only have a couple of options for Stern thrusters so that they don't interfere with or get blocked by the outdrives.  What is more important for docking and maneuverability assistance?  Bow or Stern?  Anyone who added these on later notice any decrease in performance?  IE Drag?   Thanks in advance.

LaRea

A bow thruster doesn't affect performance because it's out of the water when you are on plane.  Most have a simple right-left joystick, and that's all you need.  A retrofit thruster control doesn't tie into the propulsion system.  

If I had to choose between a bow thruster and a stern thruster, I'd choose the bow thruster.  The engines can move the stern sideways by turning the wheel.  

With twin outdrives and a bow thruster, you'll be able to dock that boat with confidence in almost any conditions.  

Liberty44140

A guy on my dock has a 34' crown line with twin bravo 3 like we do on the 342. He had a bow thruster installed for $10k. 

Aprice

I have a bow thruster with twins and I am still getting comfortable with both as i came from singles in my previous 4 boats. My bow thruster was added aftermarket for 9k. It moves the boat for sure. 

For everyone the most stressful time is docking as the room for error is so minimal. the biggest thing is practice and don't travel faster than you are comfortable crashing into anything.

davidbrooks

@Aprice so when you are backing in you have one hand on the throttle to bump in and out of reverse and one hand on the bow thruster controls?  

Aprice

I have just been focusing on using the throttles when backing in with putting one drive in forward and one in reverse. Depending on the direction.

Not sure if your familiar with either of the two methods that I learned, the thumb method or the handle bar method. You can look them up on youtube. So far the bow thruster has seen the most use to fight the wind as it blows across the bow. 

I know I have done my share of 360s in the middle of my isle. It so easy to over-correct and harder to regain control. I am no expert and still feel anxious if there is any significant wind. The bow thruster helps, but it is by no means a savior when docking. 

craigswardmtb

I have a thruster on my 360 and it helps but I try not to use it. In 90% of scenarios you should not need it. It's the 10% where you really appreciate it. I actually find if I use it when not needed it messes me up sometimes. You get used to the boat responding without it.  I find that when you do use it, sometimes you correct the bow and then dont realize your thrust angle with the drives has changed. Next thing you know your platform is heading towards a piling. 
With that said last year we were out on Block Island in RI at a busy marina. The wind was blowing hard and we had to back down a 3 boat deep alleyway that was about 20' wide. I appreciated the thruster that day and did it flawlessly.  No thuruster it would have been ugly. I got a round of applause from all the boats around once tied up. It was still crazy to me that they asked me or any boat to dock there. 

Michael T

A bow thruster can also save a lot of money if you get blown off-line in a fairway. I have seen that happen a dozen times and every one was ugly the bow thruster with twin drives would solve a situation like that.

With the Axius on my EC 310 and EC 360 I used them 90% of the time. I'd have been nuts not too. The other 10% was to keep my non-Axius docking skills intact.

Where I boated, with locks, canals, big wind, water and current any boat from a 342 up really, really benefitted from at least a bow thruster.

Bow and stern thrusters can be tied together with a single command stick (Docking on Command) but I agree that a bow thruster - of sufficient power - will be a huge help for you.