[Anonymous]

Hi There

I fitted an external bow thruster to Artemis and I must say its the best move I’ve done. No more problem’s with getting blowen off when coming into her berth. I sail mostly on my own so approaching my berth & tying up can be a real pain. What a difference this has made. Installing throught the hull took all but a few hours and the wiring I left to my mate (marine elect) but I would say it could easly be fitted in a day out the water first thing in the morning you could be back in by night time.

Mike
S/V Artemis

[Anonymous]

Hi Mike

Interesting – which unit did you fit?

What, if any, downside is there in the finished set-up?

I have often thought that a thruster would give added peace of mind on Playtime but the layout is not ideal for an interior unit (distance from bow, depth of forefoot etc). An external unit might be the answer?

Thanks

Roger

[Anonymous]

Hi Roger

The unit I fitted is a exturn 180 (see link attached at btm) I had no problems fitting the unit you only need 30cm water depth for the unit you can fit the thruster in a couple of hours and have it back in water then do the wiring.

I had one small hick-up when mounting the thruster it has a stainless steel threaded mounting shaft which says it has to be clean. Well mine was clean but when I screw the nut in place it jamed and I could not get it off either. I was stripping the threads ended up cutting the nut off and putting on teflon spacer’s to cover the damaged thread area. I then spoke to a local machine shop they said you should alway lubricate stainless steel. Thats the only small hick-up.

I aslo inserted a battery fwd so I don’t use the starter battery mind you the thruster is only used when the engine is running with me.

My daughter is not realy into sailing but this past summer (well if you can call it a summer) we went to the west coast Scotland through the caladonia canal and she did most of the boat steering into locks etc she loves the thruster.

If I can help with anything else please let me know.

Rgds
Mike
S/V Artemis.
http://www.marinno.com/e/index.html

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