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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2016 21:06:41 GMT
A few years back, I was following a work boat that was leading me along a channel (not very well, took me too close to a bend, my bow touched and I swung off to stbd) Immediately in front and off to stbd were moored boats. going astern the prop walk turned me further to stbd and I swung towards a small moored yacht with an elderly gent sitting in the cockpit with a drink and his paper ......... it was the look of terror on his face as he dropped everything and picked up one of those silly little telescopic boathooks and held it out in front of him............The front of Sabina must have looked like a cliff heading towards him but what good he thought his toothpick was going to be against 80 tons At that moment I wished for a bowthruster ......... anyway I stopped and I didn't have to complete a 180 and go back down the channel to start again .... the work boat played at tugs and pushed my bow back round. I did have some discussions about the practicalities and costs of fitting Sabina H with girly button but the price made my wallet tremble and almost faint ..... I decided that I would just have to learn to be a better helmsman And not to follow work boats
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Post by Ssscrudddy on Jan 30, 2017 13:45:54 GMT
Got them on my NB. Came in very handy when I screwed up getting out of Billing marina, & ended up pinned accross the bridge by the current & wind. Sadly they no longer work, I think a stick went in there & shattered the prop. All I get now is the sound & no water!
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Post by JohnV on Jan 30, 2017 14:11:06 GMT
Is it difficult to get to and replace the prop? Do you need to drydock for it or can you ballast the stern down to lift the bow high enough ?
Seems a pity to have the unit there and for it not to work
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Post by Gone on Jan 30, 2017 16:58:17 GMT
I have one and only time I use it is on the G&S when waiting for a bridge to open (you can wait for upto 10 mins if the bridge keeper is not in the hut) as there is always a bit of a breeze it does keep you away from the moored boats. It can also be useful when using the river seven locks if the front drifts out from the side before the rope is looped through the vertical steel restraints.
Mine stopped working - same as above, lots of noise but no water - it turned out to be a couple of plastic carrier bags stuck against the prop which I found and removed when blacking the boat. So no bow thruster for about a year which taught me that if it ever broke it's not worth fixing.
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Post by phil70 on Jan 30, 2017 23:29:07 GMT
Hmm Bowthruster sounds anything but girlie. Phil
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Post by patty on Jan 31, 2017 6:42:19 GMT
Well would it be OK to mention here that I think bowthrusters have their place..and Im talking about them on a boat...I cannot possibly fathom any other meaning to those words.... If used as aid to ensuring your steel tube goes where it oughta and not where it shouldn't oughta they prove an asset if used to show how easy it is to turn a boat and make lots of noise as a MAN thing.....and TBH I've never seen us of the fairer sex utilise bow thrusters to show off... then they are not So by reasoning from above statements they are mis named and should in fact be called summit else to reflect true nature of their use. In fact whilst I'm on my soap box we should have a poll.....how many have seen women use bow thrusters to excess as apposed to how many have seen men....You know we don't need a poll cos I just know the answer......so girlie button it aint....(carefully climbs down off soap box)
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Post by bodger on Jan 31, 2017 17:07:16 GMT
I have often stood by my boat in a Thames lock on a sunny windless weekend while a 2-storey gin palace creeps into the lock with 3ft clearance on each side, accompanied by repeated groaning noises, whilst on the flying bridge a ruddy-faced gentleman wearing a peaked cap looks hurriedly from left to right, apparently in a state of total panic. The skill of gently coasting in with occasional throttle and rudder movements seems to be a thing of the past.
Even the most uneducated gongoozlers smile with disdain.
Something wrong somewhere if a £500,000 gin palace isn't designed to travel forwards at low speed under calm conditions under full control.
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Post by patty on Jan 31, 2017 18:54:33 GMT
maybe it is but if they glide in silently they don't get everyones attention
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Post by Jim on Feb 4, 2017 11:26:19 GMT
Must be hard steering with one hand, without spilling the g&t in the other!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 12:34:28 GMT
Problem is that gin palaces are not modeled on boats which are used for progressing through locks.
Gin palaces are basically miniature versions of "super yachts" like what proper wealthy fuckers own. These boats are basically designed for sea work with occasional locking into large marinas (with plenty of crew). By miniaturizing this type of boat you get a vessel which is almost pointless except that the owner can portray an impression of being an important wealthy individual (a mini- abramovitch if you like).
I'm sure that's why they seem to have so much trouble in locks, or am I being too generous.
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Post by naughtyfox on Feb 4, 2017 12:50:17 GMT
Lord Flashheart's 'bow thruster'
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Post by bodger on Feb 4, 2017 14:02:50 GMT
Problem is that gin palaces are not modeled on boats which are used for progressing through locks. Gin palaces are basically miniature versions of "super yachts" like what proper wealthy fuckers own. These boats are basically designed for sea work with occasional locking into large marinas (with plenty of crew). By miniaturizing this type of boat you get a vessel which is almost pointless except that the owner can portray an impression of being an important wealthy individual (a mini- abramovitch if you like). I'm sure that's why they seem to have so much trouble in locks, or am I being too generous. no, I think you are being more than fair. these boats can be seen moored all the way up the Thames as far as Oxford, and I'll bet 99% of them have never seen salty water, let alone been out of sight of land.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 14:04:34 GMT
Actually they do see salt water When the potatoes boil over
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Post by bodger on Feb 4, 2017 16:25:44 GMT
actually girlie buttons can be quite useful, in the right circumstances. .............. or so SWMBO tells me.
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Post by quaysider on Feb 26, 2017 17:02:47 GMT
I'd have liked a bow thruster this morning when coming back from the water point.. ruddy wind was blowing a hoolie and getting in my space between Mick and Claire was a nightmare... resulting in a bit of "fender tyre" ramming (then snapping the rope) and more paint off the front end... Still, at least no one was watching.
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