15+ Ways to Share the Gift of Boating
By the Editors of Power & Motoryacht
In league with joysticks, recent advances in thruster technology are making dockside maneuvering easier than ever. One of the best examples comes from Side-Power (www.side-power.com), which put its DC Speed Control package on the market two years ago. With both bow and stern units operating at variable speed settings, the system lets a boathandler temporarily pin his vessel against her fenders dockside while he either ties up or casts off. Moreover, while backing down, he can adjust his thrusters to compensate for set from wind and/or current. “It’s amazing,” says marketing director for Viking Sport Cruisers James Nobel, a guy who’s routinely called upon to move boats from slip to slip, short-handed. “The other day I had to relocate a 60-footer by myself—it was a seriously breezy day. I used the DC Speed Control system while I untied the boat, backed her into the new slip in a crosswind, and then while I tied her up again. Could one guy do such a thing before the advent of this system? No way!”
