Leaving the marina and returning to the dock are the two most anxious moments in a boaters day. After all if you mess up it is a little embarrassing. I for one will admit to one very embarrassing departure on board my Back Cove 29. Luckily for me there were only a couple of dock boys who witnessed my stupidity and a kind word to them ensured that the story would go no further. IN truth I bet they are still laughing about it in the dock boats office at the marina.
My error was to leave the dock with the powercord still attached. OK there I said it OK? I was truly surprised at how that tether controlled my desire to turn port and go ahead until I finally realized what was happening.
Not that a stern thruster has anything at all to do with power cords but one sure way to look like a pro both coming and going is to use a stern thruster installed. I was not a huge fan until I tried one after all is it really manly to have people know that you have one? One day I was discussing this with a very experienced professional captain and his advice was “use whatever tools you have available to make all of your maneuvers as smooth and as safe as you can”. I can tell you that now I impress even the real;ly experienced guys with by comings and goings, in any wind and tide conditions.
In this image you can see the thruster body and on either side a downward facing cowl which prevents to thruster from sucking air down and into the tube and increases efficiency. One you try one you won’t want to be without it.
