Bow Thruster in an Albin 25 or 27?

[kerrye]

Under most conditions I just use the main screw. But if I get in really tight quarters I'll stand on the swim platform and use the outboard

[SkipRocks]

I installed a Lewmar 140TT Thruster on our A27 , but we installed it on the stern and I couldn't be happier. I know there are several traditionalists out there, and yes, I too was proud of backing the boat into a slip with the tide running one way and the wind the other. But, sometimes those were 20 point turns by the time it was said and done. Now it's just like running twins with respect to maneuverability. The A27 lazarette is shallow and the thruster sucked some air and cavitated. On the last haul out I added diverters and the results are far more than satisfying. The admiral loves it

[DesertAlbin736]

Our boat came with a MinnKota trolling motor "stern thruster" mounted on the starboard side of the swim platform with a wired remote pedal control routed up to the helm, seen here on the PO's CL listing ad photo & after I removed it and put it up for sale on CL. I don't miss it, because besides "rudder kicks", when docking there's always spring lines which is why I added a pair of midships cleats.

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I'm not sure if he used it as a stern thruster or as a trolling motor for fishing, as he had a couple rod holders clamped to the stern rail. I re-purposed part of the wooden mount for the troller to build the lower part of a mount for my dinghy outboard.

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[Bob Noodat]

I installed a Lewmar 140TT Thruster on our A27 , but we installed it on the stern

I have never seen that before! That's a great idea. And so hidden that other boaters probably think you have astounding skills. Also a lot easier install than a bow thruster.

[DesertAlbin736]

Great idea for an A27. The A25 doesn't have that much room under the aft cabin quarter berth panels & behind the rudder post.

[Bob Noodat]

But... you could have it as a dismountable unit hidden under a swim platform on an A25. Quite a low power MinnKota-size motor would work, with a reversing, speed controlling switch. Hack down the shaft of an old troller, mount the motor in a little tub on the platform, have all control be in the prop rotation direction and speed. I feel a crowd-funding moment coming on! Should be able to sell ..... dozens of them to people like me with poor docking skills.

[motthediesel]

I like that idea Bob! If I could suggest a name for the project, I'd call it the "Albin Azz-Kicker"

[nebulatech]

What's your price point?

If it's reasonable, I'll buy it just for the swim platform because my boat doesn't have one (sad)

[Bob Noodat]

Price point? Details details.... this is crowd-funding, all I want is the money, now!

Albin Azz-Kicker ™ I like.

[tribologist]

Whether ‘needed’ or not, I installed a Lewmar 110TT on my A25 this past fall and a cruising buddy installed one on his A25 last year. They fit very nicely on the A25 though we did have to replace the water tank. Did we do this because we needed a thruster or just needed a winter project....who knows. However, I have had some very nervous situations with narrow fairways in windy marinas. So far I’ve survived without a thruster, but it did take the pleasure out of pleasure boating at the time.

Did you get a good chance to try it? Does it give enough thrust to be useful?

At $850 as a complete kit it is not to bad. I was thinking of putting it right behind the water tank, not ideal but if I can save the hassle of removing the tank it would be nice. I will look at the possibility of getting some flexible tanks and install it further forward but that adds some cost and hassle. Until we figure a shower solution we could probably do ok with 5-10 gal of water.

[hetek]

My A27FC had a Side Power SE40 bow thruster. For me it was necessary. My marina was VERY tight. So much so that hard over rudder just wasn't enough - I had to use the thruster to swing the bow around to point me in the right direction.

I liked it so much that I installed the exact model on my Seasport Pilot 2700. Even though it had twin I/Os, I needed the thruster to fight the windage of the forward pilothouse. The wind would steer the boat more than anything.

I've been boating since age 12 (now 61) and have never had to fight a boat while docking as much as the Seasport without the thruster. Practice be damned! It was like night and day with the thruster.

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[Andrew cook]

We just sold our aft cabin 34’ trawler (Diligent) after a decade. As I age and the arthritis continues, I need a lighter boat, and to consider single handing.. Luckily our Albin 25 , (Resolve) awaits, in the driveway. We bought her in 1984, kept in Boston Harbor, then Lake champlain, Erie Canal, Portsmouth NH to Portland ME.

We kept Diligent in midcoast Maine where I encountered many guys older than I am and as limited or more so. More than one of which used technology, electronics, and automation, to continue. Autopilots, Thrusters, Winches, and Continuously improving Navigation software, may permit a single handed cruiser to continue without risking the lives of others.

So, I asked a dock neighbor how the hell that worked, telling the boat where to go and come here . Don’t get me wrong, I understand technology, I’m just saying that it did not occur to me that the core answer, mega-yacht to A25 is thrusters .

So, I’ll follow the thread and post progress.

[Andrew cook]

We just sold our aft cabin 34’ trawler (Diligent) after a decade. As I age and the arthritis continues, I need a lighter boat, and to consider single handing.. Luckily our Albin 25 , (Resolve) awaits, in the driveway. We bought her in 1984, kept in Boston Harbor, then Lake champlain, Erie Canal, Portsmouth NH to Portland ME.

We kept Diligent in midcoast Maine where I encountered many guys older than I am and as limited or more so. More than one of which used technology, electronics, and automation, to continue cruising. Autopilots, Thrusters, Winches, and Continuously improving Navigation software, may permit a single handed cruiser to continue without risking the lives of others.

So, I asked a dock neighbor how the hell that worked, telling the boat where to go and come here . Don’t get me wrong, I understand technology, I’m just saying that it did not occur to me that the core answer, mega-yacht to A25 is thrusters .

So, I’ll follow the thread and post progress.

[WillieC]

Seems we have a serious problem here in the Puget Sound. Failure to use foghorn in...fog...or wildfire smoke.

We almost literally ran into one of these radar, auto-pilot, margarita blender equipped cruising condos last summer when caught in fog as we approached Anacortes. We had reduced speed from 6 to 5 knots, ha, and were blasting as required every two minutes, listening in between when out of the fog this moron appears. Not a peep. Had anyone been paying attention, between sips, we were clearly visible on his radar since we always use a radar reflector.

This was confirmed yet again by a neighbor here on the Canal who has a very nice welded SS boat with seven or eight outboards strapped to the transom (I exaggerate). On a recent very successful salmon trip in the Strait of Juan de Fuca his radar picked up several offenders, one in Colvos Passage was a gravel barge with a log bayonet protruding well forward, again nary a peep, and was able to avoid unsolicited contact.

Kudos to Washington State Ferries, almost the only foghorns I ever hear on the Sound.

I avoid fog having no radar. Apparently I should install radar with a two pole switch that turns off my horn when activated. Surely that is in the ABYC.