Installing bow thruster 260 Sundancer

Roland Illvesand

Active Member
Jan 14, 2019
140
Stockholm Sweden
Boat Info
Sea Ray 260 DA 2001 Mercruiser 5.7 EFI and Bravo 3
Engines
Mercruiser 5.7 EFI and Bravo 3
My project this winter is to mount a bow thruster.

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place under the floor
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Opens up the floor and digging out the foam
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Testing a simple mock-up to see if it fits
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Yes, please keep sharing. When I compare maneuverability of my 268 with a single outdrive compared to my 380 with twin v-drives. I could if def used the bow thruster more on the smaller single engine boat than now.
 
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I'm surprised by the color of the stringer. It looks like it has been wet and is starting the early stage of rotting. It is kind of a punky black color. Anyone else wonder about that?
 
Be sure to reinforce the area you removed the stringer. Based on what I know about fiberglass it can fail without notice and at that point you sink. The glass fibers crack and you can not see them fail. Fiber glass used to be a popular crude oil storage tank liner. It was very good until the tank had excessive settlement. I have never put one in; but have watch marinas do it. A good marine uses the correct hole saw. I saw one marina use a Sawzall. It did not look pretty.
 
Interesting. I've never seen one on that size boat!
A few years back there was an early 2000’s Maxum 22’ Bowrider at the marina, it had bow and stern thrusters. The control knob was so well integrated into the helm that I assume it was factory installed.
 
Be sure to reinforce the area you removed the stringer. Based on what I know about fiberglass it can fail without notice and at that point you sink. The glass fibers crack and you can not see them fail. Fiber glass used to be a popular crude oil storage tank liner. It was very good until the tank had excessive settlement. I have never put one in; but have watch marinas do it. A good marine uses the correct hole saw. I saw one marina use a Sawzall. It did not look pretty.

It’s just a support for the floor and table, some 260 Sundancer doesn’t have it
 
it was wet but i have cut it off now
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Cutting off the wet part does not get at the root of the problem. There is a lot more wet stringer buried in that foam that is going to rot. You need to figure out how the water is getting there, stop the flow and dry out the stringers. Otherwise, the structures will rot.
 
Am I the only one who asking WHY! With all due respect, if you need bow thrusters on a 26, maybe you should consider an RV.

With all due respect WHY not? I have had lots of RVs during the years but now I have this boat. I have driven different boats for many years so I’m familiar with that for example this type
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Combat boat 90 52,49ft
Weight 46200lb
Combat boat 90 are easy to drive but my 260 isn’t easy when I have wind from the side when I go to dock.

Do you have a reversing camera on your car or other technical aids? If you have it why?
Maybe you should cycle instead! ;-)
 
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With all due respect WHY not? I have had lots of RVs during the years but now I have this boat. I’m have driven different boats for many years so I’m familiar with that for example this type
View attachment 95251
View attachment 95252
Combat boat 90 52,49ft
Weight 46200lb
Combat boat 90 are easy to drive but my 260 isn’t easy when you have wind from the side when I go to dock.

Do you have a reversing camera on your car or other technical aids? If you have it why?
Maybe you should cycle instead! ;-)
Roland...I see you’ve just been introduced to Pirate Lady :(
 
That size boat a boat hook is cheaper. Never even considered a bow thruster on that size boat way to easy to maneuver. Docked it in all kinds of weather and conditions.
 

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